he Federal Institution for Catalyzing Knowledge, Leadership and Education (FICKLE) has just announced a new grant program for up-and-coming ecologists to investigate how the world’s biomes are being impacted by anthropogenic effects

Scenario: The Federal Institution for Catalyzing Knowledge, Leadership and Education (FICKLE) has just announced a new grant program for up-and-coming ecologists to investigate how the world’s biomes are being impacted by anthropogenic effects. To be considered for this funding opportunity, each applicant must record and submit a presentation (including both visuals and narrations) that details a plan to research how the ecology of their study site of interest is being impacted by human activity. Given the sheer number of ecologists they are expecting to apply for this funding opportunity, they have had to limit the length of the speeches to 2-3 minutes each.

Assignment:

Your job as an up-and-coming ecologist is to create and submit a persuasive presentation for the above funding opportunity. You can focus on any region/biome you wish (it can but does not have to be the same one as the one you are researching for your discussion research paper), but the focus of the speech should be on persuading the audience that your study site is important and that you have a feasible, effective experiment planned to study human impacts on the ecology of that site.

Submission guidelines:

For this assignment, we are requiring all students to use Microsoft PowerPoint and its recording feature to create your presentation.

Note that recording features can only be used with the desktop app, not the browser-based version. You will need a working microphone, but you are not required to include a face-cam in your presentation. Presentations should be submitted as an .mp4 file. (Note: Canvas has file size restrictions on submissions; if you find that your presentation is too large a file, try reducing the video resolution.)

If recording in this manner will not work out, we can talk about alternative options.

Tips to keep in mind:

• Not only can previously-published papers provide you with information regarding how ecosystems are being affected by human activity, but also examples of how studies were conducted in other regions. You can use their examples to determine what methods of study might be appropriate, and then adapt and improve upon them to better fit the conditions at your site of interest.
• Three minutes is not a lot of time to persuade your audience that your study is important. Be sure to focus on what is important to include in your speech and avoid getting bogged down in extraneous details.
• Your audience is made up of ecologists who will know most basic ecological concepts but may not know about details from specific ecosystems. Avoid using overly-technical terms when presenting your research plan (and if you do have to use some, make sure to explain what they mean).
• Visuals matter! Having a clean, professional, and visually-interesting style can help your audience both follow along with your presentation as well as help your presentation stick out in their mind. On the other hand, cluttered slides and contrasting color schemes can bore or distract the audience, making it harder for them to follow your actual content.
• Remember to cite your sources! A minimum of three peer-reviewed journal articles should be used to support your presentation. The full list of citations should be included at the end of your presentation (in Ecology formatting!).

You will be graded on:

• Content – 10pts
  • Did the student adequately explain the context/background information of the ecosystem?
    • Ecosystem overview (2pts)
    • Human activity (2pts)
  • About the research plan:
    • Will the research methods achieve the goals of the study? (2pts)
    • Does it seem appropriate for the study system? (1 pt)
    • Does this approach seem reasonable/feasible? (1 pt)
  • Did the student explain necessary terms and avoid overly-technical language? (1 pt)
  • Did the student persuade the audience about the importance of this study? (1 pt)
• Visuals – 5 pts
  • Were the slides organized? (2 pts)
  • Were any pictures or diagrams included relevant? (1 pt)
  • Was any text on the slides readable (size and font)? (1 pt)
  • Was the use of color appropriate/effective? (1 pt)
• Delivery – 5pts
  • Was the student speaking at a reasonable speed? (1 pt)
  • Did the delivery of the speech sound practiced? (1 pt)
  • Did the delivery of the speech sound natural? (1 pt)
  • Did the student sound confident in what they were saying? (1 pt)
  • Was the speaker clear with their enunciation and word choice? (1 pt)
• Format – 5 pts
  • Adherence to the 2-3 minute time limit (3 pts)
  • References included and formatted properly
    • On slides (in-text) (1 pt)
    • At the end of the presentation (bibliography) (1 pt)