Based upon ecological and environmental principles, it introduces students to scientific reasoning and methodology while also addressing development and mechanisms. Includes classical studies that form the foundation of this field but concentrates on more current work in order to present the thinking and experiments which have led to modern understanding of animal behavior.
Judith Goodenough, from the Department of Biology at the University of Massachusetts, has studied biological rhythms in creatures from planaria to finches to deer mice, and even in the green alga
Chlamydomonas.
Betty McGuire is from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. Her research focuses on parental behavior, reproduction, and ecology of small mammals, and she occasionally dabbles in work with larger domestic animals such as dogs and horses.
Elizabeth Jakob, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, studies the behavior of spiders, asking questions about their learning, perception, and interactions with conspecifics and with other species. She has carried out field projects in California, Mexico, Massachusetts, and Maine.