ENVI100 Environmental Issues

10 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation 3 contact hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent

Explores the evolution of the conservation movement in Australia and globally and the changing philosophies of resource use in their economic, sociological, and political contexts. Selected issues will be researched by students and may include specific topics such as population increase and food security, biodiversity and habitat destruction, climate change, land degradation, marine resources, and sustainability.

 

ENVI201 The Australian Environment: Values and Ethics

10 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation 3 contact hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

Environmental philosophy and ethics play a central role in environmental science. This unit begins to provide a strong ethical framework by analysing the major traditions of ethical thinking about the environment with extensive reading, discussion and reflective writing. Students study the works of various writers ranging from Christian traditions to radical theories to understand the various philosophies and their influence on people. Students will begin to explore Australian Indigenous spirituality and connection with the land, and the conflict between Western and Australian Indigenous values.

 

ENVI202 Environmental Legislation and Planning

10 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation There is no practical component to this unit. Rather, the unit seeks to communicate information to the students through lecture and tutorial-based learning and the students’ own research into specific areas of environmental legislation. A compulsory half-day excursion to the Land and Environment Court will be undertaken. A mock inquiry of a relevant environmental issue will also be held.

This unit examines legislation regulating environmental development and management. The current delineation of responsibilities between local, state, and federal government, the Australian Constitution and the scope of Commonwealth powers, Aboriginal heritage, the development of international law and international heritage agreements are discussed. The institutions, policies, specific regulations concerning environmental development and management, and procedures for dispute resolution are studied in detail.

 

ENVI204 Soils and Water

10 cp
Prerequisites ERTH100 Earth Science
Teaching Organisation 4 contact hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent of lectures, seminars, laboratory sessions, workshops and fieldwork.

This unit is designed to give students an understanding of the hydrologic and geomorphic processes associated with the development of soils, experience in the identification of soil characteristics, limitations and constraints, and the implications for management. Fieldwork uses techniques of land evaluation to determine suitability for specific user requirements.

 

ENVI205 Volunteer Experience

0 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation Students undertake a 15 day period or equivalent of voluntary service in a community organisation. This is normally undertaken in the period between semesters and must be completed by end of Year 2.

ACU National endeavours to prepare graduates who are able to exercise moral and professional autonomy in a pluralistic society. The Mission Statement identifies ACU National as having a commitment to serving the common good with a fundamental concern for justice and equity, and for the dignity of all human beings. Graduates should be persons whose moral development is mature and who are professionally competent, and able to make significant contributions to the profession and the wider community. The Volunteer Experience unit enables students to contribute to community service in tangible ways and thereby fosters their ethical, spiritual and personal development.

 

ENVI206 Environmental Impact Assessment

10 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation 4 contact hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit covers the legal and institutional requirements for environmental impact assessment, identification of the types of development proposals that are affected by these requirements, and the nature of the assessment procedures used to evaluate various aspects of development proposals. Students will examine critically past environmental impact statements and assess the accuracy of their predictions by field observation.

 

ENVI300 Applied Studies 1 – Occupational Health and Safety

10 cp
Prerequisites CHEM100 Fundamentals of Chemistry
Teaching Organisation 6 contact hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

Applied Studies I: Occupational Health and Safety facilitates the transition of participants from students to practitioners of environmental science. The unit draws upon the principles communicated throughout previous years of study while giving students a degree of autonomy in the selection of topics of research. A major investigation will focus on a current environmental problem and skills will be developed in the techniques associated with environmental assessment, management, analysis and communication. Furthermore, Applied Studies I introduces the student to the principles of occupational health and provides a context for the development and implications of Occupational Health and Safety legislation. An introductory section to this Unit will ensure that students are competent in the use and care of instrumentation required for sampling during an environmental field study. The emphasis will be on the acquisition of chemical and physico-chemical data. Aspects of sampling procedures, record keeping and presentation of deductions based on acquired data will be re-enforced by a supervised field experience.

 

ENVI301 Applied Studies 2 – Environmental Management

10 cp
Prerequisites ENVI300 Applied Studies 1 - Occupational Health and Safety
Teaching Organisation 6 contact hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit represents a continuation of ENVI300. Students complete the fieldwork component, including the analysis and interpretation of results. The written and verbal presentation of the research findings to a variety of audiences is stressed as an important aspect of contemporary environmental science. Furthermore, Applied Studies 2 introduces the student to the principles of environmental management and provides case studies of their application from both government and industry perspectives.

 

ENVI303 Geographic Information Systems

10 cp
Prerequisites INFO201 Environmental Data Analysis
Teaching Organisation 4 contact hours for 12 weeks or equivalent.

The choice of sampling strategies in different types of investigations and their validity and reliability are examined. Statistical packages for the analysis of environmental data and geographic information systems software as a tool for the integration of textual and spatially–referenced data are applied in a variety of environmental investigations.

 

ENVI305 Water and Waste Management

10 cp
Prerequisites ENVI204 Soils and Water
Teaching Organisation 5 contact hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit examines the basic principles associated with water and waste management, including sources, allocation and management of water resources, water and waste water management, liquid and solid waste management and management of contaminated sites.

 

ENVI308 Field Experience

0 cp
Prerequisites Students will normally have completed all Year 1 and Year 2 units and be enrolled in Year 3 of the course.

The University, in consultation with students and host organisations, arranges appropriate placements for students. Field Experience is normally for 15 days in the mid–year period between semesters. It provides students with a wider range of experiences than those available in a formal lecture/tutorial/laboratory setting and assists them to gain a broader knowledge and understanding of organisations operating in the areas of environmental planning, monitoring, assessment and management.

 

ENVI400 Honours Thesis A (Full–time)

20 cp

 

ENVI401 Honours Thesis A (Part–time)

10cp

The thesis will be prepared under the guidance of a supervisor appointed by the School Committee on the recommendation of the Head of School. The selection of a topic or general area of research should be discussed with appropriate staff well before the commencement of the academic year. An initial proposal for a research area is to be submitted to the relevant Head of School on the prescribed form normally no later than 1 December of the previous year. A more detailed research proposal, set out according to Faculty guidelines, is to be submitted. At this stage, the Head of School will make a formal recommendation to the School Committee concerning the appointment of a supervisor.

 

ENVI403 Advanced Coursework Unit 1

10 cp
Prerequisites Entry into the BEnvSc (Honours) course

Students undertake advanced coursework in a unit which develops an area of particular interest to the individual student. With the prior approval of the Course Coordinator this unit may be undertaken at another institution.

 

ENVI404 Advanced Coursework Unit 2

10 cp
Prerequisites Entry into the BEnvSc (Honours) course

Students undertake advanced coursework in a unit which develops an area of particular interest to the individual student. With the prior approval of the Course Coordinator this unit may be undertaken at another institution.

 

ENVI405 Advanced Field Experience

10 cp
Prerequisites Entry into the BEnvSc (Honours) course
Teaching Organisation Introductory lecture, followed by individual meeting with Course Coordinator and lecturer to negotiate a four–week placement with a host organisation, normally in the winter session, followed by a final week reserved for report preparation.

Students are provided with the opportunity to develop further an industry perspective on their academic studies by gaining extended experience in the workplace at an advanced level. Students prepare a case–study of one specific aspect of the work done in a host organisation, which examines the nature of the problem being addressed, the resources required, the various factors involved in the process and the expected outcomes. Consideration is given to ethical issues and the ways in which individuals, organisations or society contribute to and/or influence the work being undertaken by the host organisation.

 

ENVI406 Honours Thesis B (Full-time)

30 cp

 

ENVI407 Honours Thesis B (Part-time)

10 cp

 

ENVI408 Honours Thesis C (Part-time)

10 cp

 

ENVI409 Honours Thesis D (Part-time)

20 cp
Prerequisites Entry into the BEnvSc (Honours) course
Teaching Organisation The thesis will be prepared under the guidance of a supervisor appointed by the School Committee on the recommendation of the Head of School. The selection of a topic or general area of research should be discussed with appropriate staff well before the commencement of the academic year. An initial proposal for a research area is to be submitted to the relevant Head of School on the prescribed form normally no later than 1 December of the previous year. A more detailed research proposal, set out according to Faculty guidelines, is to be submitted. At this stage, the Head of School will make a formal recommendation to the School Committee concerning the appointment of a supervisor.

The preparation and presentation of a thesis of 15,000 words related to an aspect of environmental science and involving appropriate individual research supervised by staff appointed by the School Committee.

 

ERTH100 Earth Science

10 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation 4 contact hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

The unit presents an examination of the process that has changed the surface of the earth with specific reference to the Australian land mass. The processes are considered over a geological time scale with progressive finer resolution to provide an historical and contemporary perspective.