The course will present basic mathematics of population growth and introduce various approaches for modeling populations, including population viability analysis (PVA). PVA, the quantitative assessment of the extinction risk of rare species or populations, takes biological information (habitat requirements, birth and death rates, population size) and makes predictions about future population sizes. Real examples will be discussed for a range of organisms, from bacteria to plants and mammals. This course will provide also the background for understanding human population growth. The impacts of human population growth in the developed and developing world on the ecology of other organisms, habitats and systems will also be discussed. Formerly offered as SBC 204; not for credit in addition to SBC 204.