Environmental Monitoring, Research and Management

The aims of this module are for the student to:

• acquire an understanding of the temporal variability of lake ecosystems over a range of timescales;
• acquire the necessary skills to be able to undertake environmentally relevant monitoring and surveying of lake ecosystems;
• develop the ability to evaluate critically a range of physio-chemical limnological data;
• become aware of the importance of temporal variability for lake management.

The aim of this module is to enable students to:

• acquire an understanding of the hands-on fundamentals of GIS;
• apply GIS techniques to analyse environmental data, generate and present useful information and support decision making processes;
• appreciate and explain the key benefits and limitations associated with the use of GIS and its underpinning data.

The aim of this module is to develop knowledge, understanding and skills required to undertake hydrological and meteorological measurements, and to evaluate measurement and monitoring practices and policies for a changing climate.

The aims of this module are for the student to:

• acquire an understanding of the dynamic linkages between fluvial sediment transport, river hydraulics and river ecology;
• obtain the theoretical understanding and practical training necessary to make measurements and/or estimates of key geomorphological and ecological characteristics;
• gain the appropriate skills to design and execute research programmes in fluvial hydromorphology and river ecology;
• develop the ability to quantitatively analyse and critically evaluate geomorphological and ecological data from rivers;
• become trained in the application of techniques appropriate for the solution of practical problems in river management.

The principal aim of this module is to produce an original piece of research specific to the programme on which a student is registered, using appropriate theoretical material, research methodologies and skills in data collection, analysis, interpretation and writing-up.

The aims of this module are for students to develop research project and proposal ideas and to relate their research experience to environmental management practice through interaction with professionals in a range of careers, with a view to enhancing their own professional development.

Environmental management has traditionally made use of anecdotal evidence and prior experience to inform management interventions. The shortcomings of this approach, due to the inherent unreliability of this evidence,can result in poor quality decision-making.
In this module students will study the research approaches used to evaluate the effectiveness of management interventions. The use of this research-base by environmental management practitioners will be considered in the context of 'evidence-based conservation'. The practicalities of designing and running conservation management experiments will be studied through a field visit to a long-term ecological experiment.

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theoretical basis of numerical modelling;
• explain the need and requirements of modelling and the ways in which these techniques can be undertaken to physical processes associated with natural hazards (e.g. flooding, earthquake);
• evaluate the design, uses and limitations of geospatial risk models (e.g. catastrophe models).

The aim of this module is to:

• equip students with an understanding of wind-related processes and their importance for landscapes and their management where wind is significant in shaping the environment, and
• provide students with the theoretical understanding and practical training necessary to quantitatively characterise the work of the wind in different environmental systems.

The principal aim of this module is to produce an original piece of research specific to the programme on which a student is registered, using appropriate theoretical material, research methodologies and skills in data collection, analysis, interpretation and writing-up.

The principal aim of this module is to produce an original piece of research specific to the programme on which a student is registered, using appropriate theoretical material, research methodologies and skills in data collection, analysis, interpretation and writing-up.