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 include 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 successful proposals for the NSF Graduate Fellowship, 3) writes a NSF-style proposal on a topic of their choosing, 3) critiques other students' proposals, and 4) presents their proposal orally to the class. In addition we take a number of field trips where higher level scientific thinking skills are emphasized, e.g., "What hypotheses could you pose at this site?" and "How would you collect data to address that hypothesis?" and "How might your results affect current thinking on some aspect of ecological theory?" In the past students did field projects in the class, and three of these were published as notes in peer-reviewed journals.
• BY 342 Ecology and Biogeography of Patagonia The department teaches this course every other year.  We spend one block in Patagonia and study Andean forests, Patagonian steppe, and marine mammals and birds--sea lions, southern right whales, terns, cormorants, and penguins.
• Taught occasionally: Sustainable Development in the Inuit North--co-taught in an arctic village in arctic Canada; Conservation and Ecology in Africa--co-taught with a consultant with long experience in conservation in Africa.

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. 

Further Research Information

• examples of undergraduate thesis projects I have supervised
• recent publications and grants

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