National Conservation Training Center

CSP3156 - Principles of Modeling with Spreadsheets

Course CodeCSP3156
Course TitlePrinciples of Modeling with Spreadsheets
DescriptionTUITION FEES: The Cost To Learner displayed in the Course Details is an approximate amount. Please refer to the 'Class Cost to Learner' displayed in the Class Details for the specific class session you wish to attend. NCTC Standard Tuition fees are scheduled to change beginning October 1, 2012. Additional information is available at the NCTC website.

Note: Tuition is not applicable to FWS, BLM and NPS employees

Students will be introduced to a variety of modeling techniques applicable to resource management and conservation issues. Session topics include Introduction to Modeling, Decision Analysis, Ecosystem Modeling, and Spatially Explicit Models and their use in making conservation decisions. On-line lecture and discussions emphasize hands-on experience with building spreadsheet models to illustrate the values, limitations, and appropriate applications of models. Each modeling topic consists of lectures, spreadsheets exercises using Excel 2007, and a scenario to check your modeling skills. The course schedule will be similar to a typical university course format with lectures, lab sessions, and instructor office hours occurring weekly from early January through May. This course was developed in collaboration between the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, National Training Center, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Conservation Training Center, and the Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

Objectives:
 Students will:
* Discover how to use models in planning for ecological and conservation biology decisions with defensible results.

* Discuss the modeling process, terminology, use of deterministic and stochastic models, what to leave out of a model, scale and resolution, age or state structured models, and how to deal with uncertainty in making conservation decisions.

* Learn how to use decision trees, approach decision-analysis under uncertainty, and how to incorporate a pragmatic modeling approach to data collection methods and data analysis.

* Learn how to design management-oriented modeling frameworks, qualitative models, and where GIS can be useful.


Target Audience: The target audience includes conservation practitioners and fisheries or wildlife biologists involved in preparing or evaluating decisions on resource management issues. Participants are not required to be skilled in mathematics or computing, although familiarity with spreadsheets and how the results of models can be applied is beneficial.
Delivery MethodILT
Instructional Hours72
Credits/CEUs45.0
Primary ContactSO LAN CHING; Phone: 304-876-7771; Email: so_lan_ching@fws.gov;
Secondary ContactALAN TEMPLE; Phone: 304-876-7440; Email: alan_temple@fws.gov;
Extracted from DOI LEARN on2/16/2013 4:03:18 AM

Schedule:  CSP3156 - Principles of Modeling with Spreadsheets

StartEndClass Session InformationLocationRegister
02/18/2013 04/29/2013 This course will begin Tuesday, January 22, 2013 due to the Federal Holiday, Monday, January 21st.
This course is intensive and requires significant committment.
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Last Updated: February 16, 2013 04:03 AM
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National Conservation Training Center
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Shepherdstown, West Virginia 25443-4024
 
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