Enrolments are still open for a collection of new courses launched over the Winter break, for Undergraduate and Masters students at The Fenner School and beyond. The courses - ranging from a remote sensing collaboration with the College of Engineering and Computer Science, to a no-prerequisites Environmental Chemistry lab - are focused on giving students the opportunity to spend a semester learning from academics who are applying the skills they're teaching, in their own research. We've put together this handy guide to break down what the courses are, and help you understand how to enrol. Enrolments for these courses close on August 1, 2022 and you can find out how to enrol at the bottom of this article. Here are our four new courses for Semester 2:

1. Environmental Chemistry and Systems with James Latimer
Course Code: ENVS3016/8048 Special Topics

Co-taught with the School of Engineering, This course will provide students with the skills and knowledge to understand and explain the complex chemical and biogeochemical cycles that drive environmental systems and processes. The course will provide a foundation in modern environmental chemistry, exploring the interaction between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. Building upon these foundational topics, the course will investigate the chemical nature and physical properties of pollutants. Students will develop an understanding of the chemical behaviour of polluting compounds in the environment, with an emphasis on aquatic, marine, atmospheric, and soil chemistry. Using this understanding, the course will address the measurement and treatment of air, water, and soil pollutants to prevent future environmental contamination and ensure that environmental health can be maintained. This course will provide an important focus on Indigenous perspectives and contributions to this field of study. Students will be able to draw on course materials that provide diverse gender, cultural, and geographical perspectives on these topics.

If you're still not sure if this is the course for you, check out James Latimer's takeover of the Fenner Instagram account last week, which features a tour of Sullivan's Creek and how the ANU waterway relates to Environmental Chemistry!

2. Environmental Sensing, Mapping and Modelling with Marta Yebra and Nicolás Younes
Course Code: ENVS3016/8048 Special Topics

Co-taught with the School of Envineering (ENGN3903), this course is designed to better understand and manage the rapid pace of environmental change by developing accurate and effective environmental sensing, mapping and modelling techniques. In this course, students will learn about and compare the methods used to investigate environmental systems and parameters including techniques for measuring water, air, soil, vegetation, light, noise and vibration. Students will also learn about remote sensing from ground-, and space-based platforms, including how these platforms allow the collection of information essential to monitor, quantify and forecasting the condition and behaviour of the environment. Students will then investigate mapping tools to represent spatial and temporal changes of environmental values and develop computational methods and models to extrapolate societal understanding of the measured and mapped environmental data. Collectively, the topics explored in the course will give students experience in using spatiotemporal environmental data to underpin evidence based environmental decision making. Students will be able to draw on course materials that provide diverse gender, cultural, and geographical perspectives on these topics.

3. Agricultural Innovation with Steven Crimp
Course Code: ENVS3042/6342

This course will introduce students to advanced concepts associated with agri-food system innovation and adaptation. This course will build on understanding gained in ENVS2023 and ENVS6223 and explore how innovation and adaptation:

• can identify future opportunities and mitigate threats or productivity declines in agri-food systems;
• can alter existing trajectories away from commodity-specific and incremental change, towards transformational change;
• can ensure that a more balanced approach to delivering agri-food system outcomes is achieved, that considers multiple outcomes e.g. economic, environmental and social;
• must operate in tandem with an improved regulatory environment in order to achieve sustained agri-food system outcomes.

To get a sense of the kinds of students we this would really enjoy taking Steve's course, you can check out Rachel Rodney-Harris talking about studying agricultural systems over on our TikTok.

4. Sustainable Futures: Staying on Track with Steven Lade
Course Code: ENVS8019

The course is designed to engage students in the practice of collaborative, integrative multidisciplinary research needed for tackling complex multi-scale issues involved in creating sustainable futures. Topics will include the ‘science wars' and knowledge systems, justice and fairness dimensions of interventions for sustainability, the role of institutions and civil society in regulating human behaviour, and patterns of consumption, resource use versus conservation, living with risk and uncertainty, balancing individual wants and social needs, global equality of access and opportunity. You can check out Steven's simple explainer about this subject on our TikTok.

How do I enrol in these subjects, especially if they're Special Topics with the same course code?
Great question. Simply email the course code and the name of the particular course you would like to study to: fses.coursework.enquiries@anu.edu.au
We'll take care of you from there - it's that simple.