fourth year
Module leader: Dr Adam Hughes
The aim of the dissertation module is to provide each student with the opportunity to undertake a substantial piece of research requiring advanced levels of self-motivation, presentation, and time and resource management in addition to independent and critical thought. The dissertation develops and tests many of the skills important to professional marine scientists, which would be difficult to demonstrate as part of a taught module.
The dissertation gives students the opportunity to undertake an in-depth investigation into a relevant marine science topic of personal interest. Students are encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary approaches to research that cut across conventional subject boundaries. Interdisciplinary research helps students synthesise the various strands in the taught elements of the course demonstrating how each is relevant to marine science. Students may select their project from a list of topics or may wish to write their own proposals with an agreed supervisor.
Module leader: Dr Lois Calder
This module consolidates the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary nature of marine science through the consideration of topical and important case studies. Analytical, presentational and team-working skills are strongly developed in this module to a level expected of a professional scientist.
SEMESTER ONE
Module leader: Dr Kim Last
This module develops an understanding of the behavioural mechanisms used by animals to find prey and to avoid capture by predators. It further investigates how some behavioural patterns such as migrations, defences, communities and movement are influenced by the environment and the scale of the animal. A significant focus lies on the behaviour of fish.
Module leader: Professor Axel Miller
The aim of this module is to develop a critical understanding of the complex philosophical and scientific issues surrounding the assessment of the marine carbon cycle.
The oceanic carbon cycle is linked to the global carbon cycle through atmospheric, fluvial and crustal exchanges. The cycling of carbon in marine environments is intimately related to the cycling of major nutrients (e.g. nitrogen and phosphorus) and, through autotrophic and heterotrophic productivity, the localised and global oxygen cycle. Despite this complex role, the measurement of carbon reservoirs and the fluxes between them is often subject to significant limits and uncertainties, the definition of which is critical to our ability to predict the effects of global change.
This module, therefore, builds up a detailed understanding of the oceanic carbon cycle, qualitatively assesses the implications of its reactivity, and critically evaluates the processes by which we seek to quantify its dynamics from microscopic to global scales. Students will gain hands-on experience of techniques used for the quantification of carbon reservoirs and fluxes in the oceans. More importantly still, they will have the opportunity to discover the – perhaps surprising – limits of certainty of the data.
Module leader: Dr Thom Nickell
This module explores the legal and scientific backgrounds to Marine Environmental Impact Assessments. Subjects studied include: sustainability in theory and practice; the ecosystem approach to sustainable development; information vs. propaganda; and sources of information for environmental strategies.
The module is illustrated with examples from oil exploration, aquaculture, fisheries, marine power generation and other developments.
Module leader: Dr Tracy Shimmield
This module develops a detailed and critical understanding of the study of palaeocirculation, the controls of the development of palaeoceanographic conditions, and the rates of climate change. The module explores the methodology behind the study of records of past climate and environmental change archived in marine sediments and carbonates such as coral skeletons. Key proxy indicators that can be used to reconstruct surface ocean temperatures are considered including key techniques and models. The module also considers the evidence for major palaeoceanographic events.
Module leader: Dr Anuschka Miller
This module looks at the role of science in society and provides students with knowledge and understanding of key audiences including the media, politicians, peers and the general public. It also aims to raise students' awareness of the power of human communication to influence attitudes and behaviour, and how these are employed in business and politics in particular.
The main focus of the module, however, lies in improving the students' communication skills. It develops skills in writing (press releases, articles, websites, presentations), speaking (radio, lectures, and public engagement) and non-verbal/graphical communication (posters, displays, websites, photos) etc. The module aims to impress the power of two-way communication.
This module is wholly assessed by coursework and includes the planning, advertising and delivery of a public lecture to an unknown general audience.
SEMESTER TWO
Module leader: Dr Keith Jackson
This module builds on the third year module 'Marine Technology'. It develops a critical understanding of the underlying physics of ocean observing systems and technologies used in studying the oceans, and equips the student with the knowledge and experience to make informed choices amongst a range of technology solutions for a particular scientific question.
Lab work combines electronics with sensor evaluation, mechanical design and data processing. Project work focuses on the practical evaluation and use of satellite technologies.
Module leader: Dr Mark Inall
The module investigates the dynamics of coastal regions and shelf seas, with particular emphasis on the waters around the British Isles.
Shelf seas are relatively shallow, so tides and tidal currents are of major importance and are discussed in detail. The competition between tidal stirring, fresh river inflows, wind forcing and summer stratification (that controls the vertical structure and non-tidal current flows of shelf seas) are all examined in detail. Students also learn about water circulation in sea lochs and estuaries, and about exchange at the shelf edge. This module comprises lectures and practicals. By the end of which students are able to describe the geographical variation in the dynamics of our coastal waters and assess the relative importance of the different forcing mechanisms in determining those dynamics.
Module leader: Dr David Hughes
The deep ocean is the least-known marine environment and poses the greatest challenges to scientific study. The former view of an unchanging and monotonous deep sea has been overturned in recent decades by spectacular discoveries of exotic ecosystems, unknown life-forms, and unexpectedly rapid ecological changes. It is now also clear that human activities have major, and escalating, impacts on the deep ocean ecosystem. This module examines the structure, functioning and global role of deep sea ecosystems in the context of the changing image of the deep sea over the last century.
The material covered by the module will be organised along three major themes:
- The deep sea as a variable and dynamic environment
- The diversity of life in the deep sea
- Human impacts on the deep-sea environment
In the context of these major themes particular emphasis will be placed on:
- Recent discoveries in deep-sea biology
- The importance of sampling methods and technological advances in shaping our view of the deep-sea environment
This module aims to convey the excitement of deep-sea ecology as an active and growing field of study, in which major discoveries are still to be made.
Module leader: Dr Sheila Heymans
This module introduces students to the study of the dynamics of complex systems through the techniques of simple mathematical modelling. Models are used to describe the ecology of individuals, populations and communities of organisms, ecosystems and the linkages between these levels of ecological organisation. Modelling techniques includes predictive modelling (such as foraging theory, life history strategies etc.), population models (such as Lotka-Volterra models) Ecopath with Ecosim, spatial models, multi-dimensional box models, and physical process models. The main part of this course will be self-directed learning with some face-to-face teaching of the modelling techniques.
Module leader: Dr Tim Boyd
The marine systems of the Arctic and Antarctic are unique in the fact that each year the sea freezes over. This module explores the influence of ice on the marine environments of the polar regions by examining the physical, chemical and biological processes at work in these systems. Both poles also have particular and contrasting political and economics influences and the relationship between environmental science and environmental management are considered.
The multidisciplinary nature of this module draws on the material learnt during all the core modules taken in preceding years. It applies it to a region that is experiencing rapid changes in ice, ocean and ecosystems. The module develops a detailed and critical understanding of the unique processes and ecosystems that characterise high latitude marine environments.
