Ecology and Environmental Change

Ecosystems are currently facing multiple challenges such as climate change, land use, pollution, etc. Students will learn the necessary skills to understand the various responses of organisms to their rapidly changing environments. Our Master's programme brings together the following different fields of ecology: Animal and plant ecology Behavioural ecology Chemical ecology Conservation ecology Theoretical evolutionary ecology In these contexts, we explore how individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems respond and adapt to environmental change. Over the course of the Master's programme, students learn to do the following: design and conduct laboratory and field experiments acquire chemical-analytical methods build eco-evolutionary models strengthen their statistical analysis and scientific communication skills For this course, we expect previous knowledge in both biology and ecology. We teach all classes in English, and international applicants are very welcome! German skills are not required, but we offer free German classes for students at Bielefeld University. In the first year, students take the following classes: The ecosystem of Wadden Sea (with excursion) Environmental change and chemical communication Models in conservation biology Animal ecology in a changing world Effects of environmental change on plant chemistry Plant ecology in a changing environment Nature conservation and environmental protection (with an excursion) The second year consists of individual research modules and the Master's thesis.