Semester: 1st (lecture), with Kier C. Dela Cruz (Laboratory)

Year: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Description: This course provides an in-depth exploration of how biological resources are conserved, managed, and sustained in a rapidly changing world. It introduces key concepts in conservation biology, including species and habitat protection, population viability, and ecosystem resilience. Students will examine pressing environmental threats, such as habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, and overexploitation, and learn how these shape biodiversity patterns and management decisions.

Emphasis is placed on biodiversity prioritisation, from global conservation frameworks to local and regional planning tools used to identify critical species, ecosystems, and areas. The course also highlights sustainability principles, equipping students with practical approaches for balancing ecological integrity with human needs.

By the end of the course, students will gain the knowledge and analytical skills needed to evaluate conservation challenges, design evidence-based management strategies, and contribute to the long-term stewardship of biological resources.

Semester: 1st (lecture), with Kier C. Dela Cruz (Laboratory)

Year: 2025

Description: This advanced course builds on foundational concepts from Community Ecology and Biological Resource Management to provide an integrated understanding of ecological patterns and processes in terrestrial environments. Students will explore key principles of Terrestrial Ecology, including species interactions, energy flow, nutrient cycling, ecosystem dynamics, and the influence of abiotic and biotic factors on terrestrial communities.

A major emphasis of the course is the application of Landscape Ecology, where students investigate how spatial patterns, habitat configuration, and landscape change shape ecological outcomes. The course includes practical training in geographic information systems (GIS), species distribution modelling (SDM), and spatial modelling, enabling students to analyse real-world ecological data and address complex spatial questions.

By the end of the course, students will be equipped with both theoretical grounding and applied skills to understand terrestrial ecosystems, conduct spatial ecological analyses, and inform conservation and management strategies across diverse landscapes.

Semester: 1st (lecture), Asraf K. Lidasan (2024)

Year: 2023, 2024, 2025

Description: General Ecology introduces students to the fundamental principles that underpin the study of organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems. As a core course for all Biology students, it provides a comprehensive overview of basic ecological concepts, hypotheses, and theories that explain how living systems function and interact with their environment.

The recently enhanced curriculum places strong emphasis on foundational ecological ideas, such as energy flow, nutrient cycling, population dynamics, species interactions, and ecosystem structure, while also highlighting the scientific process that guides ecological inquiry. Through lectures, discussions, and applied activities, students learn how ecological knowledge is developed, tested, and applied to real-world biological and environmental issues.

By the end of the course, students gain a solid grounding in ecological thinking and are prepared to engage with more advanced topics in ecology, conservation, and environmental science.

Semester: 1st (lecture), with Kier C. Dela Cruz (Laboratory)

Year: 2025

Description: General Zoology offers an essential introduction to the biology of animals, providing students with a broad understanding of animal diversity, structure, function, and evolution. As a foundational course for Biology majors, it explores key concepts in zoological science—from cellular and tissue organisation to organ systems, development, and physiological processes across major animal groups.

The course emphasises the evolutionary relationships that shape animal form and function, highlighting both the unity and diversity of life in the animal kingdom. Students will examine patterns of adaptation, behaviour, reproduction, and ecological roles of animals in various environments.

Through lectures, laboratory exercises, and hands-on activities, students develop skills in observing, identifying, and comparing animal forms, as well as understanding their ecological and evolutionary significance. By the end of the course, students will have a strong grounding in zoological principles, preparing them for advanced studies in animal biology, ecology, conservation, and related fields.

Semester: 1st (lecture)

Year: 2025

Description: Macroecology examines broad-scale ecological patterns and processes, offering graduate students a rigorous exploration of how biodiversity, species distributions, and ecological dynamics vary across large spatial, temporal, and phylogenetic scales. The course integrates theory, quantitative approaches, and empirical evidence to understand fundamental macroecological principles such as species–area relationships, body-size scaling, diversity gradients, and the drivers of extinction risk.

Students will engage with contemporary research and analytical tools used to study large-scale ecological phenomena, including biodiversity databases, spatial modelling, phylogenetic comparative methods, and global environmental datasets. Emphasis is placed on formulating and testing macroecological hypotheses, interpreting large-scale patterns, and critically evaluating how these insights inform conservation and biogeography.

Through lectures, discussions, data-driven exercises, and independent research, students develop advanced skills in analysing macroecological data and synthesising patterns across systems. By the end of the course, students will be equipped to apply macroecological frameworks to pressing questions in ecology, evolution, and global change science.