Courses
Semester 1
- Applied Chemistry in Ecological Restoration SCIE0135
Units/ Hours: 45
This course is designed to be an introduction to some of the basic principles of chemistry which the students will expand upon in Chemistry 1 and 2. The course will also familiarize the learner with topics such as matter and energy, atomic structure, properties and nomenclature of compounds, chemical bonding, chemical reactions, solutions, acids and bases. Students that feel they have the necessary background and training can write a challenge exam to be exempted from this course.
- Applied Mathematics in Natural Resource Sciences MATH0063
Units/ Hours: 45
This course will enable students to apply specific mathematical concepts and acquire foundation skills important in the Natural Resource and Environmental Sciences. It is designed to complement and reinforce learning within other first semester courses and program areas.
- Critical Thinking and Communication COMM0131
Units/ Hours: 60
Communication is an exciting and rewarding part of any career. Successful professional communication requires an understanding of both individual and organizational audiences and the ability to create effective messages for them. Critical Thinking and Communication will introduce students to the critical-thinking, problem-solving and professional communication and writing skills that are required in order to be successful advocates for ecological restoration, technical writers, and academic researchers and authors. Course content will develop skill in writing lab and field reports, academic essays and managing positive and negative messages. In this course students will learn to "see communication, understand it, and manage it." They will learn to recognise and analyse the rich examples of written and nonverbal communication found in personal and work experiences and in current ecological restoration issues as they appear in both popular and academic media. Students make an important contribution to this course in the study and experience of professional communication.
- Ecosystem Skills ECOS0013
Units/ Hours: 60
This course will focus on three areas of study: identification, field and lab skills. Students will identify and classify the living and non-living components of the specific ecosystems described in the Ecology and Environment (ENVR 20) course. Field skills to be developed include the ability to navigate through the natural environment and use a variety of ecosystem inventory techniques. Special emphasis will be placed on safe work habits in lab and field.
- Environmental Science I SCIE0118
Units/ Hours: 45
Environmental Science is a university level foundation course introducing the scientific principles required for an understanding of environmental problems and solutions in our highly technological society. Emphasis will be placed upon developing scientific literacy for students in key areas of concern such as energy use and sustainability, globalisation, human population dynamics and waste management.
- Geospatial Techniques GEOM0036
Units/ Hours: 45
This course is designed around the four pillars of Geomatics: Remote Sensing, Cartography, Surveying and GIS. Students will develop entry-level skills in data capture, surveying, (computer) drafting, principles of remote sensing, air photo interpretation, and in usage of representative Geomatics-related software.
Semester 2
- Environmental Science II SCIE0119
Units/ Hours: 45
Environmental Science is a university level foundation course introducing the scientific principles required for an understanding of environmental problems and solutions in our highly technological society. Emphasis will be placed upon developing scientific literacy for students in key areas of concern such as energy use and sustainability, globalisation, human population dynamics and waste management.
Pre-Requisites
- GIS Principles GEOM0021
Units/ Hours: 45
As one of the pillars of Geomatics, GIS is the science of deriving, determining, and communicating spatial relationships between and within geographic features. This course will provide the student with the fundamental principles supporting the two main spatial data models, vector and raster, and will introduce concepts of spatial relationships and preliminary spatial analysis.
Pre-Requisites
- Introduction to Ecology ECOS0027
Units/ Hours: 45
Introduction to Ecology offers an examination of the interactions between organisms and their environment at the individual, population and community level. The course will cover basic concepts, theories and methods used in ecology and the application of these to ecological and environmental problems.
- Introductory Chemistry I SCIE0120
Units/ Hours: 60
This course introduces the fundamental theories, measurements, calculations and laboratory methods required to apply chemistry principles to applications in organic and inorganic chemistry. The course also provides an introduction to biochemistry. The integrated course concept and its relevance to environmental science is illustrated below.
Pre-Requisites
- Readings in Environment and Restoration COMM0137
Units/ Hours: 45
Readings in Environment and Restoration will introduce students to literature that illuminates and serves as the foundation of the disciplines of restoration ecology and environmental studies. It will provide students with an opportunity to study and contextualize the major themes of these disciplines as they are expressed through poetry, narrative and discursive prose. It will begin with a brief overview of the European religious views of nature represented in literature from the Middle Ages to Renaissance and contrast these with the scientific world-view of the 18th Century. We will then consider the significant redefinition of the environment and human nature in the 19th Century through the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Jack London. Finally, we will examine the emergence of the modern ecological restoration movement in seminal texts by Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Edward Abbey, and native novelist Leslie Marmon Silko. As well, we will examine various selected readings, including poets Robert Frost, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Robinson Jeffers, and Gary Snyder.
- Trees and Shrubs Of Ontario FSTY0050
Units/ Hours: 45
This course deals with the identification of approximately 100 species of trees and shrubs of importance to those managing the forests resources of Ontario. Throughout the semester identification features for common trees and shrubs in both summer and winter condition are introduced and applied. A number of field trips are utilized to assist students with their identification skills. In the weekly lecture series topics such as tree growth, reproduction, photosynthesis, respiration, forest ecology and uses of trees will be introduced. At the completion of the course students will have a sound working knowledge of dendrology. The skills introduced in this semester may then be used in following semesters when working with Forest Ecosystem Classification, Restoration Ecology, Conservation Planning and other habitat management situations.
Semester 3
- Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Studies: History and Culture ECOS0031
Units/ Hours: 45
In this course students will be given the opportunity to explore Indigenous worldviews, environmental philosophies, values and ways-of-life through exposure to the perspectives of traditional Indigenous Teachings, lectures, and guest speakers. This course will cover such topics as approaches to studying the environment, the impact of colonization and colonialism on Indigenous Peoples and their environment. Students will also investigate Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives on Indigenous Environmental Knowledge and its use and application in environmental management with special attention being paid to interactions between Indigenous knowledge and western science. This course is designed to encourage students to use Indigenous Knowledge and western science, as well as knowledge from the social sciences, to develop sustainable resolutions to specific environmental issues currently facing Indigenous communities.
- Introduction to Plant Community Systematics FSTY0075
Units/ Hours: 45
Introduction to Plant Community Systematics introduces students to concepts in systematic classification with an emphasis on local flora. The course is fundamental to the understanding of relationships, both evolutionary and ecological, among plant and animal communities; their roles in the ecosystem, and the underlying reasons for their geographical distributions. The importance of plant taxonomy in ecological restoration will be explored in terms of rebuilding viable communities based on the historical data, current conditions and the appropriate plant associations that can be reconstructed.
Pre-Requisites
- Introductory Chemistry II SCIE0121
Units/ Hours: 60
This course introduces the fundamental theories, measurements, calculations and laboratory methods required to apply chemistry principles to applications in organic and inorganic chemistry. The course also provides an introduction to biochemistry. The integrated course concept and its relevance to environmental science is illustrated below.
Pre-Requisites
- Math I MATH0086
Units/ Hours: 45
This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of descriptive and inferential statistics with an emphasis on inference. The major topics include methods of analysing sets of data, probability, probability distributions, estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, simple linear regression and correlation. Course concepts are applied to the natural sciences.
- Principles of Hydrogeology GEOL0021
Units/ Hours: 60
This course introduces the fundamental theories and applications of groundwater studies. Lecture topics will include basic principles of groundwater, aquifer investigation, wells, groundwater management, and groundwater geotechniques. Lab efforts will be directed to hydraulic conductivity determinations, flow nets, pump tests, piezometric tests, and uses of test data.
- Restoration Ecology Field Camp APST0083
Units/ Hours: 80
This field course provides students with exposure to the principles and practices in ecosystem restoration. Ongoing or completed projects addressing both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems will be visited thus exposing students to current techniques in the field. Students will get the opportunity to further develop their skills in taxonomical classification, ecosystem monitoring, and ecosystem assessment.
Pre-Requisites
Semester 4
- Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment ECOS0007
Units/ Hours: 45
This course provides students with technical skills and knowledge related to monitoring and assessing ecosystem health and change in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. An emphasis will be placed on scientific methodology, report-writing skills, and experimental design principles. Students will also become familiar with the federal and provincial Environmental Assessment acts.
- Geomatics in Surveying SURV0018
Units/ Hours: 45
This course places the emphasis on the fundamental principles of Geomatics as they apply to Surveying. Electronic instruments will be used with emphasis on data loggers to obtain field positions with features and attribute data. These field locations and attributes will be used to create GIS related survey plans. Coordinate Geometry will be used in the computation of boundaries areas and volumes. The GIS features will be implemented using practical field projects and the projects will be related to land information systems.
- Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Studies: Culture and the Environment ECOS0030
Units/ Hours: 45
This course will be an extension of Indigenous Environmental Studies I and will continue to explore the relationship between Indigenous communities and their environment and the connections between western science and Indigenous and local knowledge systems.
- Math II MATH0087
Units/ Hours: 45
A continuation of Math I, this course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of descriptive and inferential statistics with an emphasis on inference. The major topics include methods of analysing sets of data, probability, probability distributions, estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, simple linear regression and correlation.
Pre-Requisites
- Methods in Environmental Science SCIE0136
Units/ Hours: 45
The primary objective of this course is to provide the student with the theoretical and practical knowledge of the different methods that practitioners use in the field and the different techniques used to assess impacts on the environment and understand basic ecosystem processes.
- Remote Sensing GEOM0041
Units/ Hours: 45
Geographic Information Systems are using many new remote sensing computer programs to build and analyse map features. This course introduces the basic physical concepts and the major imaging systems employed in remote sensing. Spatial and spectral resolution of the image is processed and interpreted to create map features and design and to build the database.
Years 3 and 4 (At Trent University)
These courses may be taken in either years 3 or 4, provided the course prerequisites have been met.