Bernhardt Lab
Aquatic–Terrestrial Biogeochemistry
Teaching · linked from Research & Join the Lab
Along with a set of practical guides the lab has put together for students of ecology more generally.
Practical guides
A practical guide to reading, tracking, and building on the primary literature.
A method for organizing ideas before you start writing or designing an experiment.
Resources for working in R and approaching ecological datasets.
Compiled advice on scientific writing, drawn from the lab's own experience and favorite external resources.
Courses
A discussion-based course open to students across the university.
Borrows its title and viewpoint from a 2004 Science paper — this general ecology course emphasizes the role of humans in local, regional, and global environments throughout an overview of ecological interactions and theory. Redesigned around active learning and student-led inquiry; often team-taught with Justin Wright, using the online textbook SimUText Ecology.
Built around getting students into streams, wetlands, and ponds as much as possible. The goal is field observation skills — turning observations into questions and hypotheses, then testing them in the field. It's more about the scientific process than specific content: the class collectively makes field observations and develops the questions that guide subsequent ones. Grading emphasizes scientific writing. Good fit for students enthusiastic about fieldwork or wanting hands-on experience with the scientific method.
A graduate course spanning the breadth of biogeochemistry — from the origins of the universe and formation of Earth, through controls on primary production and nutrient retention in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, to global element cycles. Throughout, the focus is on recent human-driven changes to global biogeochemistry. Closely follows the textbook of the same name (3rd & 4th editions co-authored by Bill Schlesinger and Emily), with lectures and readings tracking the latest research.
Duke PhD students interested in ecology discuss topics spanning evolutionary and ecosystem ecology, and the interesting intellectual space between the two subdisciplines. Taught as discussion; the meta-learning goal is how to have great conversations about ecological science.
A short field course — four days at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC, exploring coastal wetland diversity, ecological function, and the services these systems provide. Students design and run short-term field experiments in the marsh, comparing biodiversity across salt marsh, oyster reef, seagrass bed, and sandy beach habitats. Feet wet, hands muddy, chasing fish, crabs, snails, and microbes around the NC coast.