Course overview
Chemical analysis - both quantitation and speciation - is one of the most valuable employment skills carried by trained chemists. This course aims to apply environmental and analytical chemistry concepts and techniques to chemical variations in the environment. A sound physical understanding of the techniques used to determine chemical composition and analyse for trace compounds is core. A central theme of the course is the complex intersection of the energy and resources needs of our society with the need to maintain environmental sustainability. The course will address how chemists can provide vital and trustworthy risk assessment data to inform decision making on this front, limiting industrial emission to the environment or helping to remediate past contamination events.
- Industrial Contamination, Risk Assessment and Remediation
- Environmental and Human Toxicity of Heavy Metals
- Nuclear and Radiation Chemistry
- Chemometrics and Multivariate Statistics in the Context of Environmental Chemistry
- Professional Analytical Chemistry Workshop
- Laboratory practicals
Course learning outcomes
- demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding of the principles of quantitative analysis and the underlying principles of the sustainable use of chemicals in a variety of quantitative chemical contexts.
- develop analytical solutions to a variety of chemical problems identified from application contexts; critically analyse and evaluate quantitative & qualitative chemical information.
- as part of a team or individually, design, conduct, analyse and interpret results of an experiment, and effectively communicate these in written reports and other formats.
- describe and explain how chemical analysis has allowed/continues to allow humankind to understand and mitigate its impact on the natural world where it must survive.
- gain an advanced understanding and appreciation for how fundamental analytical chemistry impacts on life, environmental and industrial processes.