Environmental science

Environmental science is a discipline that deals with the rapidly changing environmental issues facing the world today. Environmental science at Monash gives students a multi-disciplinary perspective of current environmental challenges, such as climate change, water and land management, resource use and sustainability. Understanding our environment and the biological, geographical and physical processes that occur within it is key to effective management, planning and policy. The extended major in Environmental science equips students with the knowledge and skills to span disciplines and understand interactions between the biosphere and the physical environment. A fundamental understanding of science and the application of this science to address environmental issues are core to Environmental Science at Monash. We begin with a strong basis in environmental biology, environmental earth sciences, chemistry, and the challenges facing the world. The Environmental science major then includes the choice of three streams- Ecology, Climate, and Environmental Earth Sciences-which build upon this knowledge to understand principles and application of ecology, conservation, climate change and earth sciences. Students majoring in Environmental science are equipped with the capability to seek, measure, understand and apply scientific information for the management of our natural systems in a broad scientific context.

Environmental science has wide-reaching applications in society and can contribute to:

• protecting and managing biodiversity
• understanding the impact of climate change on the environment
• developing new approaches to environmental issues that contribute to a healthier society
• identifying and developing cleaner and more sustainable resources for use in industry
• improving the management of natural or cultural areas of importance.

There are many career options available for graduates in environmental science, particularly when combined with a complementary knowledge of environmental legislation, policy, systems analysis, decision-making, or management. Locally and internationally, environmental science graduates are in demand. They work directly in science or management roles for non-government organisations such as Landcare Australia; for environmental consultancies; in research for organisations such as the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial and Research Organisation (CSIRO), or universities; developing policy for government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); in science communication; or helping manage the environmental footprint of local government, industry, or mining or engineering companies.

Availability

Environmental science is listed in S2000 Bachelor of Science, S3001 Bachelor of Science Advanced - Global Challenges (Honours) and S3002 Bachelor of Science Advanced - Research (Honours) at Clayton as an extended major.

Outcomes

In addition to achieving the broad outcomes of their course, students successfully completing this extended major will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the methods of environmental science and explain how scientific knowledge is contestable and testable by further enquiry
• recognise and appreciate the significant role of biodiversity in sustaining life on our planet and articulate the role and relevance of environmental science in society
• demonstrate broad knowledge in at least one area of Environmental science such as ecology and conservation biology, climate science or environmental earth sciences and an understanding of the multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary nature of environmental science.