Undergraduate - Area of study Environmental science

Extended major in environmental science (72 points)

• ATS1309 and BIO1042
• ATS2548*, BIO2040, BIO2011 and ENV2022
• BIO3111, BIO3070, ENV3022 and either ATS3259 or ATS3552
• two of ATS3545, ATS3546, ATS3553, ATS3554, ATS3788, ATS3791, BIO3082, BIO3091 and ATS3259 or ATS3552 (if not already completed in other requirements)

* This unit has an additional pre-requisite at level one that needs to be taken in addition to the units listed.

Additional information

Level one

In their first year, students studying environmental science will take BIO1042 and ATS1309. The focus in first year is to provide the basic knowledge to understand the global challenges to the environment and the biological processes that occur within it. Examples come from the impact of humans on the environment and the fundamental interactions between living and non-living things and the environments in which they are found.

Level two

Students planning to complete the extended major must complete BIO2011, BIO2040, ENV2022 and ATS2548. These units provide the knowledge to understand the biological challenges in ecology and conservation, how to monitor the environment and then how to apply this information in the context of environmental policy and management. Level two environmental science builds upon first year to examine patterns of biodiversity and the processes that underpin that biodiversity, in addition to ecosystem processes that occur in natural food webs. A strong emphasis is placed on the ecological generalities that underpin occurrence and interactions of animals and plants with their environments and the application of ecological principles to manage species of conservation influence, drawing heavily on examples from Australia and overseas. This learning is complemented by an introduction to the perspectives and issues that influence environmental policy and management and the importance of understanding appropriate ways to design monitoring and sampling programs in air, soil and water. The teaching in the units at level two is a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials and practical activities, including field exercises and laboratory sessions.

It is strongly recommended that students enrolling in any level-two environmental science units read the requirements of their desired level three sequence units carefully to ensure that they have satisfied the specific prerequisites.

Level three

The final year of the environmental science extended major broadens and enhances the knowledge and skills gained in earlier levels. Students must complete BIO3111, BIO3070, ENV3022 and either ATS3552 or ATS3259. These units provide advanced understanding of the principles and applications of ecological knowledge in an environmental context, technologies that impact the environment, and techniques and methods for remote sensing of environmental state. These units draw heavily upon real-world examples of ecological and environmental issues, as well contemporary techniques for addressing them. The two remaining units in the major can be selected from BIO3091, BIO3082, ATS2545/3545, ATS3788, ATS3554, ATS3546, ATS3791, ATS3553 and either ATS2549 or ATS3552 (if not already taken as a core unit). This range of units allows students in the extended major to mix both ecological and geographical disciplines equally or to focus primarily on one. They complement the core units by broadening the base of ecological principles and the responses of plants and animals to their natural environment, as well as putting management, assessment and decision making of environmental issues in a strong, applied context. Students may choose to specialise in areas of soil science, environmental hydrology, applied resource monitoring and evaluation or Australian vegetation. Students that complete the extended major will have encountered a broad range of biological, geographical and technological concepts that will provide them broad and advanced knowledge in the environmental science area of study.

Honours

Honours is not presently available in Environmental science but students may consider honours in a related discipline, like geographical science or a biological sciences area. With careful planning, students must meet the entry requirements for the relevant science honours discipline as published in the handbook. This may require the completion of additional relevant science units. Students should contact Science Student Services for assistance before enrolling to ensure that the program they wish to follow will satisfy the entry requirements for honours in another discipline.