Achievement

ISG 5020 is an introductory course on modeling applications for ecological risk assessment. It covers 1) qualitative, consensus-based methods using Expert Choice; 2) more quantitative methods using @Risk such as Monte Carlo simulation of optimal monitoring for detection of new invasive species, and economic modeling for the management of resistance evolution to transgenic Bt maize; and 3) working with partial differential equations modeling the spread of invasive species. Students learned to form problems with verbal and conceptual models and to analyze models using qualitative and quantitative (deterministic and probabilistic) methods, including methods for addressing uncertainty. Students also learned techniques for determining whether a simulation model is an informative representation of the real-world system under study. Computer models are of growing importance to the ERA process and an understanding of their range and uses adds a valuable skill-set to that of our graduates.