BSc (Hons) Environmental Science

Course details On this course you will usually be taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This will include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators, technicians and research students. You will also benefit from regular guest lectures from industry. Year 1 Core units Chemistry: You will be provided with an understanding of some aspects and processes within fundamental chemistry and analytical chemistry and develop your laboratory skills. The unit will predominately be delivered through lectures and practical laboratory sessions. The laboratory sessions will enable reinforcement of the theoretical concepts by dealing with experimentally generated data and will allow for one-to-one and small group discussions. Diversity of Life: Gain an understanding of the origin and diversity of life on earth, how the environment and selection have shaped the patterns of distribution of plants, animals and micro-organisms since life first originated some 3.5 billion years ago, and how it is increasingly being influenced by humans. You will have insights into the basis for classifying organisms and in dealing with the relationships among major groups, and examine the organisation and structure of major groups of living (and some fossil) organisms (microbes, protists, higher plants, invertebrates and vertebrates). You will cover aspects of body size and life history strategies. Environmental Research Skills: This unit provides the necessary skills to conduct independent research in environmental sciences. These skills involve finding and evaluating academic literature, formulating scientific arguments and discussion, writing and presenting these ideas as essays, opinions and research papers. You may also collect field or laboratory data and perform simple numeric calculations and present data in graphical formats. To facilitate discussion and questions, much of the unit will be taught in tutorial sessions, which also allows you to get to know the core teaching team. Fundamentals of Environmental Sciences: Introducing you to the field of environmental science; you will explore a range of topics which you may have the option to study in more detail in years 2 and 3. These may include transport and the storage of nutrients; biogeochemical cycles; eco-physiology; hydrology; atmosphere and climate change; sea level change and ocean acidification and Gaia theory/earth system science. You will discuss the concepts and topics involved in environmental sciences and tackle current issues and problems in lectures and tutorials. Physical Geography: Taking an earth systems approach we will look at the evolution of our planet’s lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere focusing on the dynamic interactions between different earth system and how these interactions lead to environmental change through a narrative-based lecture series. Key themes will include the earth’s geological processes; basic principles of our solar system; heat engine atmospheric and oceanographic systems; biogeographical systems and surface processes, focussing on the physics common to all geomorphological processes. Residential Field Trip: This unit allows you to learn important field skills for your discipline and demonstrate your ability to work effectively as part of a team through experiencing the necessary conditions to conduct field research (both academically and socially). You will have four days of activities related to your discipline, followed by a final project day, where you will work on a team designed project of your choice. Year 2 Core units Advanced Skills for Environmental Science: Through small group discussions, this unit builds and refreshes the academic skills required to enable you to plan a successful independent research project and write a research proposal. It will also equip you with necessary survey, experimental design and data analysis techniques for completing the research project independently. Applications of Environmental Science: You will review a range of applied case studies in which environmental science is an important component. Topics likely to be covered are: air quality management, waste management and technology, Environmental Impact Assessment, renewable energy technology & policy, flood risk management & sustainable urban drainage systems, building efficiency & carbon management plans, environmental policy & legislation, concepts of sustainability, environmental economics. Environmental Pollution: On this unit you will learn to understand a range of polluting impacts that human activities have on the environment. It will provide an overview of the causes of environmental pollution, the harm caused to the environment and the strategies used to both reduce and ameliorate negative environmental impacts. Option units International Field Trip: Information on each trip will be provided during option selection sessions in the previous year or semester. Each trip will have a key theme or themes (e.g. conservation in practice in China; preparation for climate change in farming communities in Nepal). Much of the work will involve field-based lectures, discussions and also local speakers, but the bulk of activities will involve work on individual projects focussed on specific tasks within these broad concepts. Tutorial sessions will be available daily when on field work with the unit tutors. Please note that if you choose to participate in the International Field Trip, you will choose either one option unit from each semester or two option units from semester 2 (but this will mean you have asymmetrical work loadings). Semester 1 (choose one): Ecosystems: We will enable you to develop an awareness of the importance of a range of ecosystems and develop your understanding of how ecosystems can be managed to conserve them. Marine Geography: The geography of the marine environment will be covered in this unit through consideration of the key resources found in marine and coastal environments and their management frameworks, including key factors affecting marine and coastal biodiversity and aspects relevant to biogeography, characterisation of the physical environment and associated dynamic processes, environmental change and implications to the sustainable management of renewable and non-renewable resources. An important element of this unit is the collection and interpretation of marine and coastal data. Semester 2 (choose two): Behavioural Ecology: Concepts will include the evolutionary underpinning of behaviour, and an understanding of the ways in which organisms make behavioural decisions. Applications will include how behavioural ecology can be used to understand population ecology, and support nature conservation. Topics covered will include foraging and reproductive behaviour, and the interactions between competitors, and predators and prey. The unit will focus on animals, but will also stress how behavioural ecology can be applied to plants, fungi and protists. Environmental & Societal Challenges: Whilst you consider the relationships between humanity and the environment, you will be introduced to some of the big challenges faced by society today that stem from the impact of humanity on the earth system. By discussions about your place in society and your role in providing solutions to these challenges this unit will further your knowledge of science policy and application. Geographic Information Systems: Developing your expertise and knowledge in the area of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geo-spatial science, we will provide you with an understanding of the principles underpinning spatial information science and its associated technology as well as its use in the real world to answer a wide variety of questions. You will manipulate and interrogate spatial data of various kinds whilst developing expertise in GIS and modelling. Emphasis is placed on data capture, analysis and the application of spatial information science for geographic and environmental decision making. Microbiology: Providing detailed knowledge of structure, organisation, metabolism, growth and evolution of viruses, bacteria, protists and fungi, information is also given on microbial motility, adhesion and on some of the diverse metabolic pathways present in microbes, including anaerobic micro-organisms. Selected aspects of microbial ecology, including the microbial loop, will be introduced to enable you to appreciate the roles of microorganisms in natural habitats and in some created by man. There will be a short formal treatment of sterilisation, disinfection, and cryopreservation. Climate change and past environments will be explained from a microbial perspective as well as microbial consortia (e.g. symbioses). Practicals will aim to further elucidate material covered in the lectures and to develop skills in handling, characterising and identifying microorganisms. Practicals will try to accommodate field work and/or a visit an industrial unit. Quaternary Environments: The aim of this unit is to enable understanding of the principles and practice of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and how palaeoecological and Quaternary data can inform our understanding of the climate and environmental change during the Quaternary. We will also look at the changes that are believed to have taken place during the last 2.6 million years of the Quaternary. Data covered will include different biological and physical proxies such as pollen, molluscs, insects, mammals and sediments as well as more modern methods including ancient DNA. The applied nature of the discipline will also be covered. Data on past environmental change is beginning to be used to a greater extent as a base-line to understand what the environment was like before the increase in human influence i.e. during the time of hunter-gatherers (during pre-agricultural and pre-industrial times). Palaeoecological data from different proxy organism remains (animals and plants) also provide a longer timescale over which to understand ecological processes that operate beyond the length of a human lifetime or even the time represented by written history. Both climate change and other forms of environmental change such as human changes to the landscape will be covered and case studies from around the world will be included. Case studies will be used to further illustrate the theoretical perspective of the “past as the key to the future”. Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester by semester basis. They may also change from year to year. Year 3: optional work placement You may choose to complete an optional a 30-week minimum work placement, or two 5 week placements, which can be carried out anywhere in the world. The placement year offers a chance to gain experience and make contacts for the future. Year 3/4 (Final year) Core unit Independent Research Project: The independent research project provides you with an opportunity to gain experience of research in a topic of your choice relevant to your degree and to demonstrate your ability to report that research. Such experience is considered essential for those students interested in pursuing academic and/or professional research at a higher level of responsibility and achievement. Option units Semester 1 (choose two): Biological Oceanography: Making use of our fantastic location along the south coast, this unit will give you the opportunity of practical ‘hands on’ study, via field trips to locations such as Poole Bay and Poole Harbour. Through a combination of lectures, group problem-solving sessions and field trips, you will develop knowledge and understanding of the history of biological oceanography, the plankton, the benthos, the overall functioning of the ocean biota, as well as introducing some practical problems in biological oceanography (accumulation of pollutants, ocean acidification, and the possible manipulation of the biological pump). Climate & Environmental Change: Combining the expertise of our lecturers and special guest lecturers, this unit will provide a scientific background in the causes of climatic change, both natural and anthropogenic, and the trends that characterise and attribute this. With a key focus on examining the environmental, social and economic impacts of climatic change, you will have the opportunity to explore and voice your predictions of future impacts and the inevitability of uncertainty of those predicted futures. Including a local field trip to investigate microclimates, this unit will allow you to critically evaluate the potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation and the role of policy makers in this. Earth Surface Processes & Landforms: To introduce students to practical geomorphological research using selected case studies thereby developing their ability to design and execute research projects and undertake professional practice within geomorphology. Emergence & Extinction - Reconstructing Pliocene & Pleistocene Environments: Giving you an understanding of past and current theories surrounding the nature and effects of environmental change during the last 10 million years, various lines of evidence are considered including geomorphology, palynology, ice cores, fossil flora and fauna and genetics. The unit will include aspects of evolutionary theory and will consider theories relating both the emergence and extinction of species to wider environmental change. Consideration will also be given to differing approaches to understanding broad ecological changes and to competing hypotheses regarding both individual and mass extinctions. Environmental Remote Sensing: The unit develops expertise and knowledge in the area of environmental remote sensing, providing a detailed understanding of the principles of remote sensing as a source of spatial information. You will learn to manipulate and interrogate remotely sensed data of various kinds whilst developing expertise in image analysis and integrated Geographical Information Systems. Emphasis is placed on data acquisition, analysis and the application of spatial information science for environmental assessment and decision making. Indicative topic areas include land cover mapping, climate change monitoring, coastal management, landscape ecology, habitat characterisation, urban modelling, archaeological prospecting, pollution or hazard mapping. Marine Conservation: This unit aims to enable you to critically evaluate approaches to the conservation and management of marine biodiversity including fisheries and protected areas. You will also examine legal processes and mechanisms that are applied to the conservation of marine and coastal environments. Semester 2 (choose two): Applied Biogeography: Applied biogeography focusses on the analysis and description of geographical patterns and their effects on biological processes. The unit will look at changes in such patterns over time in response to natural and anthropogenic factors, and the relationships between spatial pattern and biological processes that operate at landscape and regional scales. Many of the environmental pressures affecting sites managed for conservation relate to the surrounding patterns of land use, and to a range of processes operating at larger spatial scales. Contemporary environmental management is thus increasingly supported by spatially explicit analyses that take a broad geographical perspective. Successful completion of the unit will enable you to recognise, assess and analyse landscape and regional scale patterns of land use resulting from both natural processes and human activities, and critically evaluate how such patterns influence key processes affecting biodiversity and the provision of environmental services. Environmental Law & Management: You will need a critical understanding of the body of law that is concerned with threats to environmental quality and ecosystems. Together, we will examine how environmental law seeks to regulate damage to the environment, focusing on particular areas such as climate change, air pollution control, conservation of natural environment, water, waste and environmental management systems. The focus is primarily on the system of environmental laws and regulations in the UK, but will also consider how this has been impacted by European and international environmental law. The broader themes and ideas underpinning the unit will be explored by reference to examples taken from both the UK and other jurisdictions. Freshwater Resource Management: The aim of the unit is to present theory and practice for issues relating to the conservation and management of freshwater resources. It covers a range of aspects of freshwater resource management including sustainable development, conservation and key issues from a planning policy and decision making perspective. By providing a framework to actively make managerial decisions, the unit enables problems to be identified, analysed and solutions to be proposed including the promotion of sustainable communities and public participation in the planning process and environmental assessment. Globalisation & Sustainable Development: Exploring the inter-relationships between controversial and contested terms, sustainable development and globalisation, you will develop the knowledge and skills to analyse, interpret and evaluate, the current issues and debates related to both concepts. We will extend conceptual knowledge of how sustainable development might be achieved in a context where globalisation is the predominant development ethos and unsustainable development and social injustice are accepted. The concepts will be examined from a number of disciplinary perspectives to enable you to evaluate the potential for, and limits to, the development of alternative relationships between people and their environments in a rapidly globalising world. Topics in Wildlife Conservation: You will critically evaluate currently important topics in wildlife conservation from a range of perspectives and develop i) your skills in evaluating ecological data in the context of conservation ecology ii) your powers of reflection on your own perspective and ability to appreciate and integrate other perspectives within conservation ecology. Please note that option units require minimum numbers in order to run and may only be available on a semester by semester basis. They may also change from year to year. Scheduled learning and teaching activities