Winner of the university’s ‘Excellence in Teaching’ award, Dunk will review several ecological research projects and analyze ecological system relationships in his talk, “Conversation, Conservation, Lecturing and Learning.”
What appear to be obvious factors and impacts in ecological relationships are sometimes mistaken, Dunk says. “Without the scientific method it is hard to discern what is really going on.”
Dunk also will address so-called ‘environmental’ issues, suggesting that in fact they are social, political and economic challenges.
Lastly, the lecture will center on how HSU prepares students to solve problems they are likely to confront in their professional and possibly their personal lives. “For this portion of the talk, I’ll focus on the relationships between and among various academic disciplines,” Dunk says, “then move on to how I think we might better serve our students by recognizing, studying, and understanding the relationships among disciplines.”
The HSU alum has been teaching in the Department of Environmental Science and Management since 1997. He holds degrees in wildlife management and natural resources (wildlife option). His courses have included natural resources conservation, public land policy and management, principles of ecology and California natural history.
Since 1998, Dunk has served as a research wildlife ecologist with the Redwood Sciences Laboratory in Arcata, affiliated with HSU’s Sponsored Programs Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. He was an environmental consultant in the early 1990s for Redwood National Park.