Postgraduate Course: Conservation and Sustainability (PGBI11043)

Course Outline
School	School of Biological Sciences	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	The overall aim of this course is to provide students with the necessary understanding and tools to use science to contribute to conservation. Teaching on this course has a strong applied focus and consists of a mixture of lectures and practicals. The main focus is plant conservation but a lot the issues and techniques that are covered are transferable to other taxa. The course begins by introducing global challenges, current conservation issues, conservation policies and mechanisms. Students will learn about different types of conservation interventions and their pros and cons, drawing on examples from many parts of the world and covering both in- and ex-situ conservation. This is followed by an introduction to several state-of-the-art techniques that are used to prioritise areas and species for conservation - including GIS, Red List assessments, Species Distribution Modelling, and an introduction to (biodiversity) survey planning and data analysis. The course therewith provides students with transferable skills. It also includes a brief session on how to apply for (conservation) jobs and PhDs.
Course description	Not entered

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 (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 2
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 20, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 15, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 63 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Assessment is through two separate written assignments in semester 2 (individual).
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Understand major global challenges and current conservation issues Understand relevant international policies, mechanisms and the pros and cons and different types of conservation interventions Evaluate the degree to which species are under threat (e.g. from habitat loss and climate change) Apply Geographic Information Systems and Species Distribution Models (e.g. to map plant species distributions and threats) Analyse biodiversity data and design surveys (introductory level)