Ecological Issues I

The principal aim of this course is to provide students with knowledge that will enable them to participate actively in an informed debate about environmental problems. It provides students with an opportunity to learn about the 'scientific method' and to practice using it during laboratory and field practicals that are written up as assignments. It also supports students learning and understanding of science communication by including assignments formatted as scientific posters, blog posts, and more traditional reports. The lectures cover the significant environmental issues of resource utilisation, pollution and waste; ecosystem services and ecological footprints; global cycles; Australian landscapes and soils; biodiversity, grazing and Traditional Ecological Knowledge; invasive species; freshwater and marine ecosystems; climate change; past extinction events and paleoecology (what can we learn from the past?); and environmental management. As a result, the students will come away from the course with a better understanding and ability to communicate the major ecological issues facing the environment today, their causes and severity, and what can/is being done to address them. There is the opportunity to discuss problems and assignments in tutorials. Details of field trips and lab practicals are communicated at the start of the course.