Course Listing

This course will introduce students to the basic principles and theory of biological and environmental monitoring and assessment. Students will learn about tools for monitoring biotic systems in the environment, the importance of geomatics, the role of environmental action plans, environmental monitoring and forecasting, as well as environmental law and policy considerations.

This course will provide students with the opportunity to learn about current environmental monitoring and assessment issues and challenges faced by environmental professionals in the field. This course will be comprised of seminars led by instructors, guest lecturers from university and industry, and students.

This course will introduce information on environmental ethics, stakeholder perspectives, indigenous land claims, environmental repair and remediation, and provide students with working experience on environmental assessments and action plans. Students should expect to get a good grasp of key players within the environmental sector, and know methods, considerations and key components used in assessments of current or future-impacted environmental systems.

This course will include approaches and tests that are especially relevant to uncontrolled environmental research, including how to draw inference from previous research results and how to include expert opinion in statistical analysis. Students will gain the ability to quickly, efficiently and correctly draw statistical inference from messy data, develop skills in translating statistical results to environmental inference, and develop familiarity with the open-access R statistical software platform.

This course will cover effective writing and presentation of scientific information for both scientific and non-scientific audiences. Issues regarding authorship, language and selection of reputable references will be covered in detail. Students will learn strategies and styles for effective writing and presenting and will learn how to effectively interpret scientific information for non-scientific audiences.

This course will provide an introductory overview of the geomatics discipline, including remote sensing, geographical information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), spatial modelling, and terrain analysis. Students will be introduced to analytical operations in vector, raster and integrated environmental datasets, with practical applications learned through online labs, field, student participation and group project activities.

This course will provide insight into how DNA is being used to trace contaminated food, track the source of disease outbreaks, enforce wildlife protection statutes, enforce environmental protection laws, enhance invasive species detection, identify bioterrorism agents and their source, and a variety of other applications. Assignments will include case reports addressing the leading-edge technologies in forensic cases using non-human DNA to help solve crimes.

This course involves comprehensive study in applied problem-solving in the science of geomatics and the creation of a unique geomatics application (or geo-app). Students will have an opportunity to engage in-depth with theories and applications in earth observation, geospatial database development, and spatial analysis. A student-led and designed project will lead to a geo-app for applied environmental research, monitoring and assessment outputs for mapping and analysis.

This course will introduce students to a variety of quantitative techniques used to make predictions and assessments regarding environmental health and viability. Students will learn how to quantify changes in environmental parameters, model species distributions and population changes, determine the long-term viability of existing populations, and make predictions regarding the fate of ecological communities and ecosystems

This course provides a review of environmental legislation in Canada and abroad, and how it relates to the support, management, and exploitation of ecosystems. Specific attention will be given to past and present environmental standards and regulations, Species-at-Risk legislation, international treaties and obligations regarding air, land, and water, as well as anticipated changes to environmental policy that will impact future standards and practices for industrial development and resource exploitation.

This course will provide students with a solid foundation in landscape ecology including new approaches to resource management and conservation that consider ecosystem processes in large spatial and temporal scales. Important concepts central to landscape ecology research such as dispersal, connectivity, and habitat fragmentation will be examined in detail, as well as the current methods used in landscape ecology research design and analysis.

This course will introduce students to quantitative and contemporary methods in population viability analysis (PVA). Students will develop skills for robust analysis of a range of plant and animal data to determine rates of change and its variation, extinction time and probability, and population sensitivity to various forms of intervention.

This course introduces students to a wide range of quantitative methods used in landscape genetics using R. While this course focuses on data analysis, a companion course (DGS Landscape Genetics) discusses the underlying biology. Students should either enroll in both courses or at least read the textbook of the companion course (Balkenhol et al. 2015: Landscape Genetics - Concepts, Methods, Applications; Wiley).

This course will consist of a 15-week placement experience with a government agency, industry, or non-governmental agency, or related laboratory or work unit, on themes and principles learned during coursework associated with the M.BEMA degree. Students will work closely with the instructor and placement host to determine deliverables that will be presented to various stakeholders, as technical report(s) and/or presentation(s).

This course will consist of a 1-week capstone experience located at the Trent Peterborough campus that will provide students with the opportunity to present their placement work to peers, participate in professional skills workshops, complete an e-portfolio to showcase their work, and prepare an application for certification as an Environmental Professional in Training (EPt) from ECO Canada.