• Offered by Fenner School of Environment and Society
  • ANU College ANU Joint Colleges of Science
  • Course subject Environmental Science
  • Areas of interest Earth and Marine Sciences, Environmental Science, Biodiversity Conservation
  • Academic career UGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof Saul Cunningham
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Co-taught Course
  • Offered in Winter Session 2023
    See Future Offerings

This is an intensive course offered on an annual basis. The face-2-face component will be delivered from 4-15 September 2023

To work effectively as a professional in environmental science and environmental management you need to apply a range of knowledge and skills in a practical context. This course provides hands-on opportunities for you to apply your theoretical understanding to critical observation and measurement of biodiversity, biogeography, landscape ecology, soil-vegetation processes and sustainable land management. You will develop skills in describing soils and landforms, measuring vegetation patterns, identifying habitat features and detecting faunal associations. You will learn to appreciate how soils, landforms, vegetation and fauna should be considered holistically in research and decision-making. 

The course is based at the ANU Kioloa coastal campus for four nights during the second week of the mid-semester break, as well as day long field trips from the ANU Canberra campus during the first week.  You will be contributing to long-term field research informing management decisions across a range of biomes (farmland, forests, coastal and intertidal). The field work is complemented by pre-field trip workshops. 

This course develops a diversity of field skills for graduates seeking careers in all fields of natural resource management.  It provides mandatory field training for those students concurrently enrolled in ENVS2001 Biodiversity Science: Wildlife, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology. Students enrolled in ENVS2023 Sustainable Agricultural Systems are strongly encouraged to consider enrolling in this course.

 

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. Collect a diversity of data that describe the biophysical attributes and processes of ecosystems.
  2. Recognise and understand strengths and weaknesses of a range of field sampling techniques and survey designs.
  3. Demonstrate a capacity to choose appropriate data collection methodology, design appropriate sampling strategies and communicate findings about ecosystem patterns, processes and resource management impacts.

Other Information

There are additional field trip fees of approximately $400 applicable to participation in this course (payment to ANU Science Shop).

As required please contact the Fenner School of Environment & Society at fses.coursework.enquiries@anu.edu.au to request a permission code to enrol in this course

Indicative Assessment

  1. Quiz based on required reading (20) [LO 2,3]
  2. Group Work (Task A: Group reflections, Task B: Data Management) (30) [LO 1,2,3]
  3. Research Design (Soil-Landscapes) (20) [LO 3]
  4. Reflective Learning Journal (30) [LO 1,2,3]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the session including:

  • Face-to face component which may consist of 65 hours of contact delivered intensively over 2 weeks comprising: lectures, practicals and field excursions. This also includes a 5 day compulsory field trip at the Kioloa Coastal Campus
  • Approximately 65 hours of self-study which will include preparation for lectures, presentations and other assessment tasks.


Inherent Requirements

To be determined

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must have completed 48 units towards a degree including ENVS1001 or ENVS1003 or ENVS1004. You are not able to enrol in this course if you have completed ENVS6218.

Prescribed Texts

There is no prescribed text. Reading material will be provided throughout the course.

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees

Student Contribution Band:
2
Unit value:
6 units

If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2023 $4560
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2023 $6180
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

Winter Session

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
4255 04 Sep 2023 08 Sep 2023 08 Sep 2023 01 Oct 2023 In Person View

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