Marine Conservation - This unit aims to enable you to critically evaluate approaches to the conservation and management of marine biodiversity including fisheries and protected areas. You will also examine legal processes and mechanisms that are applied to the conservation of marine and coastal environments.
Independent Research Project - Your project provides you with an opportunity to gain experience of research in a topic of your choice relevant to your degree and to demonstrate your ability to report that research. Such experience is considered essential for those students interested in pursuing academic and/or professional research at a higher level of responsibility and achievement.
Marine Mammal Ecology and Behaviour - This unit, taught at Kingston Maurward College, develops a key understanding of Marine Mammals and their interactions with their environment and other marine organisms. You will take an applied approach to aspects of behavioural ecology, aspects of animal behaviour such communication and conservation ecology in relation to Marine Mammals. You may also get the opportunity to observe boat surveys and observe marine mammals in-situ as part of the module.
Marine Field Study Techniques - You will carry out extensive field work studies of marine physical and coastal geomorphological environments, from your base at Kingston Maurward College. You will use range of equipment, enabling you to critically analyse data using geodatabases and create maps using GIS software. You will also create a detailed field book and write up a case study on an aspect of marine studies.
Option units: choose 1
Environmental Law - You will need a critical understanding of the body of law that is concerned with threats to environmental quality and ecosystems. In a complex world, functioning legal rules and other governance tools are mainstays of the movement towards environmental protection, security and sustainable development. Laws on permitting, standards, compliance and enforcement mechanisms, voluntary instruments, liability regimes and citizens’ environmental rights all play a part in translating policies, goal and social objectives into reality. In this unit, we aim to critically consider the dynamics of the legal and policy applications of environmental law and its role in environmental protection.
Freshwater Resource Management - Providing you with a framework to actively make managerial decisions, this unit enables problems to be identified, analysed and solutions to be proposed including the promotion of sustainable communities and public participation in the planning process and environmental assessment. You will cover a range of aspects of freshwater resource management including sustainable development, conservation and key issues from a planning policy and decision making perspective.
Biological Oceanography - This unit examines the fascinating range of organisms that make up the plankton. Planktonic organisms are critical components of aquatic food webs and by studying this unit students will gain an understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of planktonic organisms and how different aquatic ecosystems function across the seas and oceans of the world. The unit includes field sampling and lab analysis and also covers the applied and topical areas of plankton studies, such as the growth of harmful algal blooms and the predicted effects of ocean warming and ocean acidification on plankton production. The overall aim of the unit is to equip students with an in-depth understanding of how the base layer of aquatic ecosystems works and how it might be affected by environmental change.
