Professor of Biology, 2002- Began career at Colorado College: 1988  E-mail: jebersole@ColoradoCollege.edu  Phone: (719) 389-6401 Fax: (719) 389-6401   Address:  The Colorado College, Biology Department 14 East Cache La Poudre Street Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Ph.D. Plant Ecology, 1985. University of Colorado, Boulder.

B.A. Natural Science, 1977. Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana.
 

 Courses Taught

I emphasize a strong research-based, experiential component to my teaching. This means that in addition to teaching a great deal of what other scientists have learned about a particular topic, students in all classes do their own research and write scientific papers as part of a small group. I am convinced that students learn much more by actually experiencing the process of science rather than simply learning what others have discovered.

• BY 105 Biology of Plants
• BY 208 Ecology
• BY 220 Statistical Analysis
• BY 308 Advanced Ecology In this class each student 1) gives a graduate-style seminar, 2) studies a successful proposal, then writes a proposal for their own field project, 3) critiques other students' proposals, 4) carries out their project, and 5) presents results orally to the class and in a scientific paper. In addition we take a number of field trips where higher level scientific thinking skills are emphasized, e.g., "What scientific questions could you ask at this site?" and "How would you collect data to address that question?" and "How might your results affect current thinking on some aspect of ecological theory?" Three recent student projects done in this class have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

Restoration of alpine vegetation damaged by recreational use. With students I am studying the best ways to restore the vegetation on closed social trails on Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks. Colorado Fourteeners Initiative is constructing trails to summits of these peaks, and we are studying how to restore the vegetation on the numerous trails closed after these new trails are built. Details of restoration techniques. 

Recovery of anthropogenically disturbed arctic vegetation: a circumpolar comparison. Two European coauthors and I recently published a paper summarizing similarities and differences in recovery around the globe. I contributed data and perspective from my work on recovery of Alaskan arctic vegetation.

Synchrony of mast year seed production of Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) at four landscape scales. I have 9 years of data examining at what geographic scales mast years (years of very high seed production) are synchronous and what controls patterns of high and low years of seed production.

Long-term recovery of alpine vegetation, Colorado. A forth-coming paper evaluates recovery at sites disturbed 13 and 30 years previously.

Further Research Information

• examples of student research projects
• recent publications and grants

• Back country skiing (tours, telemarking, peak descents), hiking, running.