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ANIMAL SOCIAL BEHAVIOR: BIOSM 410

dates:              JUNE 2 - JUNE 9, 2008

credit hours:    2 semester credits

total cost:        $1,884 (includes room, board and tuition)

Prerequisites: One full year of college level biology.

The course is an introduction to a field study of animal social behavior. Topics to be covered will include natural selection and behavior, levels of analysis, animal communication, territoriality, kin recognition, orientation, and mating systems. Our field study focuses on the social behaviors of the Herring Gulls that nest on Appledore Island. We will introduce methods of measuring behavior and designing experiments. These lessons will help guide students through their individual research projects on the social behavior of the Herring Gull. The Herring Gull’s World, the classic book of the Nobel Laureate, Niko Tinbergen, is suggested reading to augment the student's understanding of the gull's fascinating social world.

Faculty:
Tom Seeley, Cornell University, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior
Janet Shellman Sherman, Cornell University, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior
Paul Sherman, Cornell Univeristy, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior Back to the Top