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Fenner School of Environment and Society · ANU College of Systems and Society
Unprecedented human-induced environmental change has caused pollution in all compartments of the biosphere. Naturally occurring chemicals such as lead and arsenic have affected human health and the environment for millennia, with the industrial revolution leading to an explosion of synthetic chemical pollutants and effects in the last 200 years. Understanding how pollution causes harm, and how it is measured, assessed, and regulated, are key to mitigating pollution impacts on Earth and its inhabitants. The course will be delivered by industry experts, from federal and state government regulators through to pollution consultants and researchers conducting work on the ground, through a combination of lectures and workshops on the science of pollution. Discussions related to policy, regulations, and societal issues will also be held. By the end of the course, students will have a firm grasp of how pollution causes problems in the environment and practical solutions to solve pollution problems. They will be able to assess pollution and to analyse policy and regulatory options to better manage the environment at both the regional and global levels. This course aims to present environmental chemistry from an environmental lens. While some chemistry knowledge is useful, it is not essential for the course.
Daily quizzes
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4
Presentations (n=5; <10mins each; guided by set questions)
Learning outcomes 1, 2
Conceptual model report
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 5
Case study report
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4
The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the session including: - Face-to face component consisting of 65 hours of contact delivered intensively over 2 weeks comprising: lectures, practicals and field excursion; - Approximately 65 hours of self directed study which will include preparation for lectures, presentations and other assessment tasks. Students are expected to actively participate and contribute towards discussions. Work Integrated Learning Projects The course will be delivered by industry experts, from federal and state government regulators through to pollution consultants and researchers conducting work on the ground through a combination of lectures and workshops on the science of pollution. Student projects are real-world issues supported by real world practitioners (as listed above). Other Information As a multidisciplinary course, the instructor will provide a foundational understanding of each discipline. No extensive prior knowledge in any of the disciplines is necessary. A strong desire for learning, curiosity, and motivation are highly encouraged. There is a compulsory field trip to the local Canberra area which does not requires additional fees. - Field-based teaching and learning activity forms an integral and important part of many courses delivered by the Fenner School of Environment & Society. Fieldwork activities are designed to allow you to put the skills you’ve learned in the classroom into practice in new environments and provide powerful enrichment to student learning. Students should contact the Course Convenor if they have any questions.
All materials will be available on LMS prior to the start of the course. Preliminary Reading • Agathokleous, E. (2018). Environmental hormesis, a fundamental non-monotonic biological phenomenon with implications in ecotoxicology and environmental safety. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 148, 1042-1053. • Camillus, J. (2015). Feed-forward systems: Managing a future filled with wicked problems. Rotman Management, 53-59. • Diamond, M. L., de Wit, C. A., Molander, S., Scheringer, M., Backhaus, T., Lohmann, R., ... & Zetzsch, C. (2015). Exploring the planetary boundary for chemical pollution. Environment international, 78, 8-15. • Levin, K., Cashore, B., Bernstein, S., & Auld, G. (2012). Overcoming the tragedy of super wicked problems: constraining our future selves to ameliorate global climate change. Policy sciences, 45(2), 123-152. • Rosner, D., & Markowitz, G. (2013). Persistent pollutants: a brief history of the discovery of the widespread toxicity of chlorinated hydrocarbons. Environmental research, 120, 126-133. • Schneider, L., Shulmeister, N., Mariani, M., Beck, K.K., Fletcher, M.S., Zawadzki, A., Saunders, K.M, Aquino-López, M.A., Haberle, S.G. Colonialism and the environment: The pollution legacy of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest copper mine in the 20th century. The Anthropocene Review 9, no. 1 (2022): 3-23. • Steffen, W., Grinevald, J., Crutzen, P., & McNeill, J. (2011). The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 369(1938), 842-867. • Stewardson, M.J., Bond, N., Brookes, J., Capon,J. , Dyer, F., Grace, M. Frazier P. The politicisation of science in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: discussion of ‘Scientific integrity, public policy and water governance’. Australasian Journal of Water Resources 25, no. 2 (2021): 141-158. • Waddell, W. J. (2010). History of dose response. The Journal of toxicological sciences, 35(1), 1-8. • Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change, by Schlesinger, W.H., Academic Press (ISBN 0-12-625155-X)