I guess I should elaborate on my brief posting. I agree with Jane, but most
courses on ecological modelling (EM) start with cabinet making. I've given a
numberf of short courses on EM at various universities, and almost always
the organisers start by asking what software I plan to use. And in fact many
(perhaps most) courses deal with the use of a specific package, such as
Stella, MatLab or ECOPATH. These packages are restrictive, none can
implement all the different modelling approaches that might be appropriate.
For example, almost none can handle something as simple as a Leslie matrix.
There no "principles of ecological modeling" that I would describe as such,
but there are many concepts that I think should be discussed in a course but
are often omitted when the students dive straight into programming. These
include the concepts of stability and resilience, the various forms of time
series analysis and system identification. As for chaos and catastrophe
theory ....
There is no clearly defined set of principles and approaches in EM, and
basically every course is different and depends on the views of the teacher.
A student who passes one course would likely fail the exam in a different
course. By comparison, a student who passes a course in microbiology could
probably pass the exams in other courses. This chaotic situation can have
disastrous results.
I am sure that most modellers would consider me crazy for some of the things
I do and teach (a view I often reciprocate!). Some of the materials I have
used in modelling courses are on my website,
http://ciencia.silvert.org/models/.
Bill Silvert
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane Shevtsov" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 1:17 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] ecologcal modeling
Ideally, you learn some carpentry before you need to build kitchen
cabinets.
Jane Shevtsov
And Wayne Tyson wrote:
Bill, what about the principles of ecological modeling; are they uniform
across applications?
in response to my posting
On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 4:04 PM, Bill Silvert <[email protected]> wrote:
I find this kind of request similar to asking about courses in
microscopy. I
really don't think that anyone could construct a course that covered all
different kinds of ecological modelling. You start with a problem and try
to
solve it, you don't start with a hammer and look for the right kind of
nail.
Bill Silvert
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Claydon"
<[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 3:59 AM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] ecologcal modeling
I was interested if there were any intensive courses on ecological
modeling
available during this summer. Country is not an issue.
I would be grateful for any advice.
Thanks
John Claydon
--
-------------
Jane Shevtsov
Ecology Ph.D. student, University of Georgia
co-founder, <a href="http://www.worldbeyondborders.org";>World Beyond
Borders</a>
Check out my blog, <a
href="http://perceivingwholes.blogspot.com";>Perceiving Wholes</a>
"Political power comes out of the look in people's eyes." --Kim
Stanley Robinson, _Blue Mars_
