Course Announcement
Arctic Winter Ecology Course (AB-329A)
University Centre on Svalbard (UNIS)
Application Deadline: Tuesday, 1 August 2006
For further information, please go to:
http://www.unis.no
The University Centre on Svalbard (UNIS) is a Norwegian institution
located in the high arctic community of Longyearbyen on Svalbard. UNIS
offers specialized field-based courses in arctic biology, geology,
geophysics, and technology at the undergraduate and graduate level. All
courses are open to international students.
UNIS would like to announce an arctic winter ecology course (AB-329A),
developed in cooperation with the University of the Arctic.
The course aims to provide Master and Ph.D. students in biology with a
comprehensive introduction to processes and mechanisms among organisms
living in seasonal, northern, and arctic environments. Emphasis is
placed on winter survival, adaptations, the impact of the physical
environment on ecosystems and living organisms, and their expressed
anatomical and physiological characteristics. How these influence life
history strategies, demography, population dynamics, ecosystem
structures and function, and trophic interactions is discussed. The
consequences of climate change for arctic ecosystems and organisms will
be considered.
The course is structured in two modules:
An introductory module addresses geophysical characteristics, northern
environments, energy flow in ecosystems, metabolic processes, etc.
A terrestrial module focuses on ecosystem function during winter:
- vegetation structure, plant traits related to winter survival, and
plant-herbivore interactions
- terrestrial invertebrates, diversity, and strategies for winter survival
- terrestrial vertebrates, anatomical and physiological properties,
energy budgets and activity, feeding ecology, population dynamics, and
social structures
The introductory module takes place on 6-17 November 2006 and the
terrestrial module takes place on 26 February-9 March 2006.
Application forms are available at:
http://www.unis.no/studies
For further information, please e-mail:
studadm [at] unis.no