MSU Homepage

Teaching

Dr. Riley's Teaching:

Shawn currently teaches FW434: Human Dimensions of Fisheries and Wildlife Management.  He previously taught courses in wildlife ecology, wildlife management, leadership, and seminars in application of management science to fish and wildlife management, and coping with uncertainty in wildlife management.

FW434 Human Dimensions of Fisheries and Wildlife Management (3 credits, spring every year)

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course endeavors to prepare students for professional positions and graduate studies in fisheries and wildlife through exploration of the theory and application of human-oriented aspects of fish and wildlife management. Management is by definition an anthropocentric enterprise. Management of fish and wildlife resources is no different. Part of the semester is dedicated to understanding how to make better decisions whether they are for fish and wildlife management or life in general. Decisions are the essence of what managers do. Decisions are the essence of what people do – the rest just happens! Decisions in fisheries and wildlife management are informed partially by knowledge about the organismal (the natural history of the organism) and environmental (the organism’s environment) dimensions of management. Everything else IS humans dimension of management. This course explores some specifics of that dimension. The course also will provide continued exposure to people, agencies, and organizations involved in management of Michigan’s fish and wildlife resources.

OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE: A basic assumption is that learning results when continually discussing and “using” information presented to and among the students. At the end of this course, students should be better able to appreciate, understand, and incorporate insights from the human dimensions of management into decisions. Students will be more comfortable with the lexicon of social sciences for which fisheries and wildlife students typically do not have much previous exposure, at least in the context of fisheries and wildlife management. Students also will be prepared for advanced study in the application of social sciences in fish and wildlife management, or be better prepared to initiate human dimensions inquiries in consultation with experts from the field.

The outcome most hoped for by this professor is an enhanced ability of students to make better decisions in their personal and professional lives. Whereas I certainly hope there will be short-term benefits to students from taking this course, I am more hopeful that the meaningful outcomes will not be readily apparent for several – perhaps many – years when this year’s students are leaders in their respective fields of study.

TEXTS:

• Human dimensions of wildlife management in North America (Decker et al. 2001)
• Smart choices: a practical guide fo making better decisions (Hammond et al. 1999)
• Who moved my cheese? (Johnson 1998)

Look for a new two-semester graduate course in Structured Decision Making, currently being developed in collaboration with Dr. Michael Jones. We hope to launch the course in fall 2010.

Click here to view a list of other undergraduate and graduate courses in fisheries and wildlife at MSU. Click below to view the MSU course scheduler.

MSU Schedule of Courses Webpage

Back to top