Important Notes:

BIOL424/ESRM478 are joint and identical courses and either course should meet graduate requirements of your major but do make sure to confirm this with your department advisor.

In winter 2022, we are excited to get back to offering this course in-person for both lecture and lab (except for the first week of the quarter per University's policy). Through the experience of offering the course online last year, we have learned that some aspects of online learning can be effectively incorporated to our course as a whole to enrich students learning experience, deepen their understanding of plant ecophysiology,  and broaden their perspectives about the relationship between plants and the environment. Thus, we are hoping to keep many of the positives from the online learning experience. It should be made clear that this does not mean that online contents will replace in-person activities and learning experience.

This Canvas is being updated as needed.

Last updated: 1-9-2022

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Welcome to ESRM478/BIOL424. This course will cover physiological and biophysical basis of how plants function and interact with the environment. Students will be introduced to plant physiological mechanisms underlying ecological processes and observations. In addition, students will be exposed to key instrumentation and measurement techniques in plant ecophysiology. This course will address stress responses, acclimation and adaptation of plants to the environment with an emphasis on organismal (i.e., whole-plant) responses. The climate impacts on plants and their role in ecosystem processes will be discussed towards the end of the course.

General Information

Instructor: Dr. Soo-Hyung Kim (he/him), Professor, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, soohkim@uw.edu, (206) 616-4971, Merrill 037

TAs:

• Arthur Hsin-Wu Hsu (he/him), PhD candidate in SEFS, hwhsu@uw.edu  
• Yasmine Farhat (she/her), PhD candidate in CEE, yfarhat@uw.edu  

Lectures: Tuesday & Thursday 10:00 am – 11:20 am PST (Meet online until Jan 28; Smith Hall room 211)

• Zoom Link for Lecture
• For week 1, we will meet on-line synchronously on both Tue and Thur classes as well as all lab sections.
• The plan for the rest of the quarter is to meet for all Thursday classes synchronously. We will not meet synchronously for Tuesday classes unless announced otherwise.
• Most lectures will be delivered as pre-recorded videos and posted by Saturday prior. 
• Students will have viewed the pre-recorded lectures for the week before in-person classes.
• If a quiz is scheduled, it will be due on Friday by 11:59pm.
• Thursday in-person classes will be set aside for topic review, Q&A, live PollEv polls, discussions, guest lectures, and other activities. 
• Some Tuesday classes (in-person or online) will be synchronous for review sessions and special topics.

Lab (Meet in-person in Douglas Research Conservatory at the Center for Urban Horticulture)

• Zoom Link for Lab
• AA: Wednesday 8:30 am – 10:20 am PST
• AB: Wednesday 10:30 am – 12:20 pm PST
• AC: Friday 8:30 am – 10:20 am PST
• AD,AE: Friday 10:30 am - 12:20 pm PST

Textbook

1. R, Schmidt S, Beveridge C. 2016. Plants in Action (click on PDF links). 2nd ed. Australian Society of Plant Scientists, New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists, and New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science (free online: https://www.asps.org.au/plants-in-action-2nd-edition-pdf-files)
2. Peer-reviewed scientific journal articles in plant science will be used to complement the textbook. On-line access to these papers will be provided as needed. 

Grading (Grade scale)

1. Labs: 35% (See below)
2. Online quizzes: 15%  (Late penalty for quizzes: 10% per day)
3. Exams: 30% (15% each; No late submissions accepted)
4. Participation and engagement (e.g., PollEv live polls, surveys, breakout group activities): 10%
5. Journal Discussion: 10%
   • There will be scientific journal article discussions on relevant topics including stomatal relations, plant-microbe interactions, and plants and people relationship.
6. There may be extra credit opportunities: TBD

Labs (See lab assignments and lab manual for details):

1. Scientific report on the experiment (group report; no late submissions accepted)
   • First draft: 20%*
   • Final draft: 30%
   • Optional writing credits: Expanded literature review and discussion related to the group project report (individual). Contact instructor and TAs for more information. 
2. Group presentation: 30%
3. Two peer evaluations of group work: 20% (10% each)

* percentage of total lab grade

Exams

1. Mid-term : Feb 8 (Tue) 10:00am
2. Final (cumulative): Mar 14 (Mon) 10:30am

Office hours 

• Zoom Link for Office Hours
• Instructor: TBA
• TAs: By appointment

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Our university, college, and school support an inclusive learning environment where diverse perspectives are recognized, respected, and seen as a source of strength. In this course, the instructor and the class as a whole will strive to create welcoming spaces where everyone feels included and engaged regardless of their social and cultural backgrounds.

Academic Integrity

At the University level, you must do your own scholarly work.  Presenting anyone else’s scholarly work (which can include written material, exam answers, graphics or other images, and even ideas) as your own, without proper attribution, is considered academic misconduct.

Plagiarism, cheating, and other misconduct are serious violations of the University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478‐120). We expect that you will know and follow the university’s policies on cheating and plagiarism. Any suspected cases of academic misconduct will be handled according to University of Washington regulations. For more information, see the College of the Environment Academic Misconduct Policy (http://environment.uw.edu/intranet/academics/academic-policies/academic-misconduct/) and the University of Washington Community Standards and Student Conduct website (http://www.washington.edu/cssc/).

Disability Accommodations

It is crucial that all students in this class have access to the full range of learning experiences. At the University of Washington, it is the policy and practice to create inclusive and accessible learning environments. To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disability Services for Students (DRS), 011 Mary Gates, (206) 543-8924, or uwdrs@uw.edu. If you have a letter from DRS indicating that you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructor so we can discuss the accommodations needed for this class. More information can be found at: http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/

Religious Accommodations

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).