COURSE INFORMATION

• The environmental problems that we face in a rapidly changing world require solutions developed by skilled scientists and innovators. UNE's Bachelor of Environmental Science gives you a broad foundation in the theories and practice that underpin a multidisciplinary career working to solve environmental issues on regional, national and global environmental scales.

• With a range of majors and interdisciplinary minors covering the breadth of environmental science, you will find a program of study that suits you. Access state-of-the-art facilities in our interactive learning environment both on-campus and online, allowing you to tailor your study.

? Why study the Bachelor of Environmental Science with UNE?

• The world requires skilled scientists and innovators to develop solutions to the complex environmental problems facing a rapidly changing planet. Our Bachelor of Environmental Science is a highly flexible course that provides you with a broad foundation in the core theories and specialised applied skills that underpin environmental science, together with a strong scientific understanding of local and global environmental issues and their management.

• UNE sits in the New England region of NSW surrounded by diverse and unique ecosystems with a patchwork of managed and natural land uses. Our course provides practical experience and easy access to the arid rangelands, wetlands and cropping and grazing systems to the west, and the Gondwana World Heritage semi-tropical rainforests, coastal environments and more densely populated urban centres to the east.

• We address major environmental challenges such as water security, pollution, climate change and conserving biodiversity and threatened species, particularly in rural and regional Australia. UNE is regionally based, with national and global collaborations, ensuring that our research and teaching is of the highest quality and positively influences our communities, industry and government.

COURSE STRUCTURE

• Students must complete Environmental Science in Practice for each year of full time study (or equivalent)When unit choice is given in Majors, Minors and/or Electives ensure overall compliance with Course Requirements: 'that the candidate must pass not more than 60 credit points at 100-level, at least 36 credit points at 300-level and not more than 12 credit points at 400-level

• To qualify for the award a candidate must pass units to the value of 144 credit points with a maximum of 60 credit points at 100-level, at least 36 credit points at 300-level and a maximum of 12 credit points at 400-level.

• Introduction to Biology: Cells and Life (BIOL110) – 6 credit points

• Organisms to Ecosystems (BIOL120) – 6 credit points

• Plant Diversity (BOTY203) – 6 credit points

• Chemistry I (CHEM110) – 6 credit points

• Aquatic Ecology (ECOL308) – 6 credit points

• Ecology - Populations to Ecosystems (ECOL203) – 6 credit points

• Environment in Practice I (ENSC111) – 2 credit points

• Australian Aboriginal Sustainability Systems (ENSC220) – 6 credit points

• Environment in Practice II (ENSC222) – 2 credit points

• Environment in Practice III (ENSC333) – 2 credit points

• Our Blue Planet (GEOL110) – 6 credit points

• Introduction to GIS and Spatial Thinking (GISC334) – 6 credit points

• Foundational Quantitative Methods for Environmental and Rural Sciences (QMER100) – 6 credit points

• Soil Science (SOIL222) – 6 credit points

CAREER OUTCOMES

Environmental science is a diverse and evolving field, projected by the Australian Government’s Job Outlook website to have strong future growth. You will graduate from UNE with in-demand knowledge and practical skills. You could consider opportunities in the private sector, state or federal agencies and local government including:

• environmental protection

• environmental consultancy

• wildlife management

• water and land management

• ecotourism

• research and conservation

• policy development and analysis.

COURSE AIMS

• The Bachelor of Environmental Science will provide students with a systematic and sound scientific understanding of regional, national and global environmental issues and their management. The course provides for flexible and personal learning with students gaining generic and specialist skills to be job ready in a range of career pathways including environmental protection, conservation, land, wildlife and water management, and further postgraduate study. Fundamental knowledge, and well-developed field and practical skills, are gained in core units of the degree with four majors (conservation ecology, envirobusiness, natural resources management, remediation and restoration) enabling specialisation. Industry engagement and experiential opportunities will enable students to operate as competent professionals in a wide range of different environmental science careers.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• demonstrate a coherent understanding of environmental science by articulating the scientific basis for the multi disciplinary nature of environmental science and explaining why current scientific knowledge is both contestable and testable by further inquiry;

• demonstrate a broad and coherent understanding of environmental science by demonstrating well-developed knowledge of the conceptual and theoretical scientific basis of environmental issues and their drivers at various scales; interdependencies between humans and the environment through holistic systems thinking; and demonstrating understanding of the regulatory frameworks relevant to multidisciplinary areas of environmental science;

• demonstrate an understanding of diverse approaches to environmental science, including transdisciplinary approaches to identifying and conceptualising environmental and sustainability challenges through different frameworks of knowing, including reflection on personal values and value of others including the ethical positions and interests of indigenous peoples;

• demonstrate well developed cognitive and technical skills though critical analytical approaches to solve environmental problems by gathering, synthesising and critically evaluating information from a range of sources; designing and planning investigations; selecting and applying practical and theoretical field or laboratory techniques or tools in order to conduct investigations; and collecting, accurately recording, interpreting and drawing valid conclusions from scientific data;

• be effective communicators of environmental science by conveying scientific results, information or arguments, to a diverse range of audiences in a range of contexts, and using written, electronic, visual and oral delivery modes, inclusive of engaging with indigenous approaches to environmental and sustainability challenges; and

• demonstrate professional, personal and public conduct, and demonstrate accountability for their own learning and scientific work; demonstrate ethical, responsible and safe work practices as an individual and in teams.