Prof. Dr. Jonathan Chase

• The students will understand the value of Biodiversity Sciences for the functioning of ecosystems, for natural products, human health and economy has increased and so has the interest in the field and complexity.
• They will reach the understanding that Biodiversity science is the study of the variety of life.
• They will understand Biodiversity science is rapidly changing from a small-scale endeavor based on descriptions and intuitions to a global endeavor filled with complexity theory,

Big Data, statistical modelling, and informatics.

• They learn how the incipient field of "Biodiversity Informatics" emerges.
• The students will get an introduction to the field of Biodiversity Informatics.
• They will understand the overall development in this field starting from the founding fathers of the field, including Humboldt, Darwin and Wallace to early quantitative ecologists, including Hutchinson, MacArthur and others who transformed the field into a quantitative science.
• The students will learn to discuss the core questions and approaches regarding the measurements of the patterns of biodiversity and the processes that lead to its generation (e.g., evolution) and maintenance (e.g., ecology).
• The students will understand that tools critical to our understanding of these patterns and processes emerge from differential equations, information theory, network dynamics and other computational approaches.
• The students will achieve this knowledge by "hands on" exercises on the computer.
• The students are capable of using the tools while developing their own project and to apply to contemporary problems in biodiversity informatics, even potentially serving as a basis for thesis work.

Biodiversity science is the study of the variety of life. Its origins, its maintenance, and its change in the face of ever-growing anthropogenic pressures. As the recognition of the value of biodiversity for ecosystems, for natural products, and even for health and economy has increased, so has interest in the field...and so has the complexity. Biodiversity science is rapidly changing from a small-scale endeavor based on descriptions and intuitions to a global endeavor filled with complexity theory, Big Data, statistical modelling, and informatics. Thus the emergence of the incipient field of "Biodiversity Informatics".
This course will provide an introduction to the field of Biodiversity Informatics. It will begin with a discussion of the history of the field, from the founding fathers of the field, including Humboldt, Darwin and Wallace to early quantitative ecologists, including Hutchinson, MacArthur and others who transformed the field into a quantitative science. We will then discuss the core questions and approaches regarding the measurements of the patterns of biodiversity and the processes that lead to its generation (e.g., evolution) and maintenance (e.g., ecology). Tools critical to our understanding of these patterns and processes emerge from differential equations, information theory, network dynamics and other computational approaches. In addition to lectures on the topic, these will be overviewed using "hands on" exercises on the computer. Finally, we will discuss the emergent "role" that biodiversity plays in the functioning of ecosystems, in human health and other more applied realms. Again, hands on exercises and reading of the primary literature will play a key role in addition to lectures, during this period. Students will have the opportunity to develop independent projects with guidance from the instructor, which will allow students to use the tools they have developed in other coursework to apply to contemporary problems in biodiversity informatics, even potentially serving as a basis for thesis work.

Hausarbeit (15-20 Seiten)