The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Freshman Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics may vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to fifteen freshman.

Seminar Description: In this seminar, we will learn about the history of the East Bay Regional Parks District, and then spend three Saturdays in the field learning about plant ecology and park management. Topics will include an introduction to tree identification, fire ecology, and climate-smart conservation strategies. Participants should be comfortable walking up to 5 miles on park trails. Transportation to/from parks will be provided for Saturday field trips. Faculty Bio: David Ackerly is a climate change biologist and professor in the departments of Integrative Biology and Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and Dean of the Rausser College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley. Ackerly’s research group studies the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in California, and post-fire forest dynamics in mixed hardwood and oak woodlands. He has focused on the importance of spatial climate heterogeneity at landscape and regional scales to enhance resilience and facilitate range shifts for native plants and animals. Ackerly is a recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award, a Senior Fellow with the Berkeley Institute of Data Sciences, a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. Seminar website: Faculty website: https://ackerlylab.org/

Class meetings times will be in-person
Friday meetings will be held in Giannini 132

Friday 2/10 2-3:30
Saturday 2/11 9:00a-4:00p
Saturday 2/25 9:00a-4:00p (back up if 2/11 rained out)
Friday 4/21 2-3:30p;
Saturday 4/22 9:00a-4:00p

Requisites

• Students with 1-2 Terms in Attendance

Repeat Rules