Offered By	ANU Joint Colleges of Science
Academic Contact	Dr Lorrae van Kerkhoff
Areas of Interest	Development Studies, Environmental Studies, Geography, Interdisciplinary Studies - Sustainability, Policy Studies, and Resource Management and Environmental Science

Description:

High quality, integrative research plays a critical role in identifying pathways towards sustainability. The Sustainability Science major builds the fundamental understandings and skills necessary to develop research projects that effectively address complex problems of environment and sustainable development. It focuses on a core set of research skills- and design-based courses, with key choices in areas of quantitative, qualitative and spatial approaches. The skills developed in these courses are extended and applied in a wide range of research and policy relevant courses. This is a ‘hands-on’ major, with many opportunities to conduct small-scale research built into its components.

The major is intended to complement more topic-related minors (e.g. Soil and Land Management, Climate Science and Policy, Environmental Policy) by developing and strengthening broad-based research skills and embedding them in an understanding of the role of research in addressing complex sustainability issues. Its completion at the appropriate level is good preparation for fourth-year 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.

Learning Goals:

On completing the Sustainability Science major, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Build an understanding of the role of research in sustainability, both within and beyond academic domains.
2. Learn and apply the fundamental skills and processes of research design, as they apply to sustainability-related challenges.
3. Learn and apply a range of research methods from different disciplines.
4. Integrate different forms of disciplinary research into more complex, problem-oriented approaches.
5. Develop and conduct research both individually and in teams.
6. Apply a range of written, oral and visual communication skills to communicate research outcomes effectively.

Requirements

This major requires the completion of 48 units, which must include:

A total of 24 units from the following compulsory courses:

ENVS1001  Environment and Society: Geography of Sustainability

ENVS2011  Human Ecology

ENVS3021  Human Futures

ENVS3040  Solving Complex Environment Problems

A total of 24 units to be chosen from the following courses including:

• A maximum of 6 units chosen from the following 1000 level courses:

ENVS1003  Introduction to Environmental and Social Research Methods (recommended)

ENVS1004  Australia’s Environment

ENVS1008  Sustainable Development

STAT1003  Statistical Methods

EMSC1006  The Blue Planet: an Introduction to Earth Systems Science

• A minimum of 12 units chosen from the following 2000 level courses:    

BIOL2202  Experimental Design and Analysis in Biology

ENVS2014  Qualitative Research Methods for Sustainability

ENVS2015  GIS and Spatial Analysis

SOCY2038 Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods

• A minimum of 6 units chosen from the following 3000 level courses*:

ENVS3001 Climate Change Science & Policy in Practice

ENVS3002  Sustainable Agricultural Practices

ENVS3004  Land and Catchment Management

ENVS3005  Water Resource Management

ENVS3007 Participatory Resource Management: Working with Communities and Stakeholders

ENVS3008  Fire in the Environment

ENVS3010  Independent Research Project (recommended)

ENVS3013  Climatology

ENVS3014 Ecological Assessment and Management

ENVS3016  Special Topic

ENVS3020  Climate Change Science and Policy

ENVS3026  Geomorphology: Landscape Evolution under Changing Climate

ENVS3028  Environmental Policy

ENVS3029  Palaeo-Environmental Reconstruction

ENVS3033  International Environmental Policy

ENVS3039 Biodiversity Conservation

ENVS3041  Managing Forested Landscapes

Advice to Students:

What 1st year courses should you enrol in?  ENVS1001 plus a maximum of 6 units chosen from ENVS1003, ENVS1004, ENVS1008, STAT1003 or EMSC1006.

* Courses from outside the Fenner School may be accepted for this major, subject to approval by the major convener or the Fenner School Associate Director (Education).

Students should seek further course advice from the academic convener of this Sustainability Science major.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2013 website applies to the 2013 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2012 website.