Postgraduate Course: Environmental Analysis (CHEM10066)

Course Outline
School	School of Chemistry	College	College of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	10	ECTS Credits	5
Summary	Environmental chemistry is the study of the chemical composition and processes in the natural environment. It examines the behaviour of chemical species (whether natural or anthropogenic) in the hydrosphere, pedosphere, atmosphere and biosphere; exploring where these chemicals come from, what they interact with, and their mobility and transport within and between different environmental spheres. An understanding of how the natural environment works on a molecular level allows us to understand the influence of human activities and what can be done to preserve ecosystems and the services they provide. At the heart of topic is analytical chemistry. For example, if asked what will happen if an industrial process puts a chemical into a lake, the environmental chemist needs to understand how to sample the lake, what techniques to use to identify and quantify that chemical, what the fate of the chemical may be and how to put the information in context of the natural processes going on in the lake. This course aims to provide the foundations to sample, analyse and interpret data from our natural environment. The skills and experience gained on this course will enhance career prospects in environmental consultancy, monitoring and various industries.
Course description	The course will build on the fundamental theory and practical skills of Analytical Chemistry semester 1 core modules. It will consist of a series of modules on the following topics: environmental sampling and experimental design; biogeochemical cycles and the interactions; fate and mobility of contaminants; atmospheric processes and analysis; soil and sediment profiling and analysis; natural water chemistry and drinking water quality. Course consists of lectures, tutorials and investigative/field work. The course topics are: - Chemistry of the Earth: Earths spheres, interactions, fluxes, burdens and biogeochemical cycles - Environmental sampling: sampling design, sample storage, risk management - Chemistry of Earths atmosphere: basic introduction to the composition and key chemistry of the atmosphere, with focus on tropospheric photochemistry and pollution - Atmospheric analysis: Sampling and quantification of gases and particles - Chemistry of Earths hydrosphere: water chemistry, water categories - Acidification of our natural environment: acid rain and deposition, consequences, monitoring - Drinking water quality and treatment - Speciation and metal analysis of soils and waters - Chemistry of Earths pedosphere: soil properties, types, reactions, organic matter - Soil profiling and monitoring: soil sampling methods, monitoring protocols, physical characterisation, decomposition, organic matter characterisation - Monitoring our environment (SEPA)

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS2)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 2
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 12, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8, Fieldwork Hours 10, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 68 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	100% Coursework/Practical
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Show knowledge and understanding of the fundamental principles and concepts underlying the chemistry of the natural environment Describe and apply field-based methodologies and techniques used in collecting, analyzing, presenting environmental data Justify appropriate techniques for field measurements of selected environment species Collect, critically analysis and interpret literature-based field surveys to create optimum sampling strategies for specific problems Collect, analyse and interpret environmental molecular-level data