SCI 06 — Photographing Nature: Using a Camera to Study the Natural World
Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Robert Siegel
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 19
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—9:30 pm (PT)
Please Note: Class schedule: 10 Wednesdays, January 15 – March 19, 7:00 – 9:30 pm (PT); Optional field trips will be scheduled after the course begins. See the syllabus for more information.
Tuition: $745
Refund Deadline: Jan 17
Unit(s): 2
Enrollment Limit: 10
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Winter
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 7:00—9:30 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 19
Unit(s): 2
Tuition: $745
Refund Deadline: Jan 17
Instructor(s): Robert Siegel
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Enrollment Limit: 10
Recording Available: No
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
Please Note: Class schedule: 10 Wednesdays, January 15 – March 19, 7:00 – 9:30 pm (PT); Optional field trips will be scheduled after the course begins. See the syllabus for more information.
This course will utilize the idiom of photography to help students learn about nature, enhance their powers of observation, and better understand scientific concepts. The course builds upon the pioneering photographic work of Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904), who used his camera to answer questions about human and animal locomotion. (Much of this work was funded by Leland Stanford Sr.) A secondary goal will be to discuss the grammar, syntax, composition, and style of nature photography in order to enhance the use of this medium as a form of scientific communication. Themes to be explored include change across time and space, taxonomy, habitat preservation, weather and climate change, species diversity, survival and reproductive strategies, ecological niches and co-evolution, carrying capacity and sustainability, population densities, predator-prey relationships, open-space management, and the physics of photography. Assignments will have a photographic, a written, and an oral component.
This course utilizes photography for scientific observation. Students should have a DSLR or equivalent camera available for use. Field trip transportation will be the responsibility of the student. More details will be provided prior to the first class.
ROBERT SIEGEL
Professor (Teaching) of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford Medicine
Robert Siegel has received numerous teaching awards, including the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is an affiliate at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. He received an MD from Stanford and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His nature photos have been published in scholarly journals and popular publications. Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.