Offered By	ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU College of Law, ANU College of Business and Economics, ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, ANU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, and ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science
Academic Contact	Dr Lorrae van Kerkhoff
Areas of Interest	Development Studies, Earth and Marine Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Interdisciplinary Studies - Sustainability, Policy Studies, and Resource Management and Environmental Science

High quality, integrative research plays a critical role in identifying pathways towards sustainability. The Sustainability Science major builds the fundamental research understandings and skills necessary to develop research projects that effectively address complex problems of environment and sustainable development. It is a ‘hands-on’ major, with many opportunities to conduct small-scale research built into its components. It is intended to complement more topic-related majors (e.g. Natural Resource Management, Climate Science & Policy) by strengthening broad-based research skills and embedding them in a broad understanding of the role of research in addressing complex sustainability issues. Its completion at the appropriate level is good preparation for Honours (see the Honours section of the ENVS entry in the Undergraduate Handbook), and is recommended for students considering a future career in sustainability-related research.

The Sustainability Science major focuses on a small number of skills- and design-based research methods courses, with key choices in areas of quantitative, qualitative and spatial approaches. It offers students the opportunity to:

• build an understanding of the role of research in sustainability, both within and beyond academic domains;
• learn and apply the fundamental skills and processes of research design, as they apply to sustainability-related challenges;
• learn and apply a range of research methods from different disciplines;
• integrate different forms of disciplinary research into more complex, problem-oriented approaches; and
• apply a range of written, oral and visual communication skills to communicate research outcomes effectively.

Requirements

A minimum of 42 units of courses including:

• *ENVS1003 Environment and Society Research Methods
• *ENVS3040 Solving Complex Environmental Problems, plus

a. no more than 6 units from:

• ENVS1001 Resources, Environment and Society
• ENVS1004 Australia’s Environment
• ENVS1008 Sustainable Development
• STAT1003 Statistical Methods

b. at least 6 units from:

• *ENVS2009 Quantitative Methods and Applications in Environment
• *ENVS2014 Qualitative Research Methods for Sustainability
• *ENVS2015 GIS and Spatial Analysis

and 6 units from:

• Any 2000-coded ENVS courses not listed above
• SCOM2001 Practical Skills for Communicating Science

c. and at least 12 units from:

• ENVS3010 Independent Research Project
• *ENVS3040 Solving Complex Environmental Problems
• Any other 3000-coded ENVS courses
• SCOM3001 Science, Risk and Ethics

* Students pursuing this major must include at least one of the starred courses.

Fenner School Course and Major Advice

Students considering taking fourth-year Honours in the Fenner School, or enrolled in a direct-entry Honours degree program and studying in the Fenner School, are expected to take ENVS3040 Solving Complex Environmental Problems.  This course may be included in an appropriate major or taken as part of the degree more generally.

Students seeking advice on appropriate course selections are invited to consult the convener of the Sustainability Science major.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2011 website applies to the 2011 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2010 website.