- Course Code
- BI 1508
- Credit Points
- 20
- Course Coordinator
- Dr Martyn L Gorman and Dr Pete Smith
Pre-requisites
None
Co-requisites
None
Overview
The study of ecology and environmental issues requires us to integrate information from many different subject areas and from a range of habitats, from terrestrial to marine. This course achieves this with an exciting multidisciplinary approach, combining key topics from biology, chemistry, ecology, environmental science and the earth sciences. The course integrates study across spatial scales moving from populations to terrestrial and marine communities to ecosystems and then from ecosystems to the wider environment and the global system. The following topics are covered by the course: biodiversity, conservation, population ecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, the causes and consequences of global environmental change, waste management and recycling, pollution problems associated with the mining and extraction industries, causes and consequences of acid deposition, and agriculture and the environment (including genetically modified organisms). The environmental topics are based on a foundational understanding of biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem functioning which are provided during the course. The course also considers the policies, legislation and practical management options that are being used in an attempt to deal with environmental problems.
Structure
12 weeks - 4 one-hour lectures per week and one three-hour practical class every other week.
To pass this course a pass must be achieved in BOTH the theory exam and the in-course assessment.
Assessment
1st Attempt: 1 two-hour MCQ examination (60%) and in-course assessments (40%).
Resit: A resit exam, in the same format as the main exam. This may contain material from both the practical and lecture components of the course.