Research is the process of using knowledge to generate new understandings of the world. Research is also a social enterprise, with communities and norms of behaviour, and is an industry that is shaped by numerous cultural and economic forces. Taking a holistic approach that includes general research skill development, this subject focuses on four main topics: (1) critical reading, (2) effective writing, (3) research as a professional industry, and (4) the ethics of stewardship and personal responsibility. The subject equips students with vital skills that underpin their discipline-specific learning, and lays the ground for their development as professional researchers.
Students learn how biology, chemistry and the physical sciences interact to regulate environmental processes in natural and built environments. They will evaluate concepts of sustainability and resilience and apply these perspectives to understand how human actions can alter the natural world. Students will use interdisciplinary approaches, including field studies, to investigate environmental processes and evaluate specific environmental challenges. Local and global environmental issues, sustainability, resilience and stewardship will be explored across diverse social and ecological contexts.
A factual understanding of the energy balance of the globe, how this impacts on climate and how climate has varied in the past, is essential for any person working in the climate change area. This subject will introduce students to the concept of energy balance and climate, our understanding of how climate works, and how it has changed through time. Topics in basic atmospheric science will give students a critical understanding of current environmental concerns and debates about radiative forcing (the greenhouse effect), climate change, ozone depletion, photochemical pollution and acid precipitation.
This subject investigates the emerging primary issue in conservation biology: the impacts of anthropogenic climate change on biodiversity and how to design conservation actions to address these impacts most effectively. The subject makes use of the established conceptual framework that defines ‘climate change vulnerability’ as a function of the ‘exposure’ and ‘sensitivity’ of biota to climate change, from local to global scales and from genes to ecosystems, respectively. We will examine how other major threats to biodiversity interact with climate change and assess the ‘mitigation’ and ‘adaptation’ strategies that can prevent the worst of the potential impacts from becoming realised. You will use real-world examples to learn about conservation planning and how this translates into policy and management actions aimed at conserving biodiversity under climate change. In this subject, you will learn the same way career scientists do; that is, by engaging with the relevant primary literature, and by designing, executing, implementing, and reporting conservation-focussed scientific research. This subject will help prepare you for a career as conservation scientists or practitioners in our changing world.
This subject advances the students' training in thinking as a research scientist whilst developing practical skills in a particular area of interest. The student undertakes a minor research project under supervision, during which they plan how to answer a research problem, conduct research and present their findings in a research paper format and seminar.