Graduate Diploma Ecology

Are you a graduate from another discipline (arts or sciences) who aspires to work in ecology and nature conservation research, consultancy or advocacy? Do you require a fast-track route to transforming your career?

This is an intensive one-year conversion course designed to equip you with the essential concepts, skills and experience needed for entry into the ecology and conservation sector. Students on the Diploma benefit from UEA’s outstanding international reputation for research and training in ecology, conservation and environmental sciences at the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (CEEC). You can tailor the course to suit your own interests and aspirations through modules developing core ecological and evolutionary principles and theories, to applied conservation ecology and its interface with human societal demands and impacts on biodiversity. A strong emphasis is placed on practical and field-skills via our field-training opportunities (and we plan to maintain this component as far as possible, dependent on pandemic restrictions).

About

This Graduate Diploma in Ecology combines a selection of Honours level modules specifically designed to give you a strong training in ecological and conservation theory and skills.

While you’ll focus primarily in the areas of population and community ecology and conservation biology, the course is flexible so that it enables you to strengthen your knowledge in other areas of ecology too. Prepare to explore the functioning of aquatic, marine and terrestrial ecosystems; the importance of community structure, succession and population dynamics; the processes of predation, competition and other plant/animal interactions; population and biodiversity responses to natural environmental disturbance and human-induced stress; the current research agenda in ecology, evolution and conservation; and the potential contribution of integrating sustainable development with biodiversity conservation.

We’ve also specifically designed our Graduate Diploma to ensure you develop a wide range of transferable skills, which will apply to any career or further graduate study at MSc or PhD level. You'll gain skills in communication, information technology, data mining and analysis, teamwork, critical writing, reasoning and time management.

What’s more, you’ll be in the perfect place to study. We have very strong academic expertise in ecology, based around UEA’s Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (CEEC) – one of the largest groups of its kind in Europe, with strong links to major institutions such as the RSPB, BTO, CEFAS and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative.

So whatever scientific career you aspire to, this Diploma is the perfect preparation for further study or the world of work.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You will be assessed on your learning and progress on this course through a range of methods which may include the presentation of your own taxonomy collection, creating social media articles, presentations, writing executive reports for clients, as well as the more formal course tests, exams and assessed practical work. The Diploma has a strong emphasis on coursework and practical reporting, preparing you for the workplace after you graduate.

Structure

Study for the Diploma takes one year full-time or two years part-time, based at UEA. During the course you'll complete 120 credits of study, with all modules accruing 20 credits each except for the optional Ecology Research Project module (40 credits).

You’ll take a combination of compulsory and optional modules. Most modules are scheduled to run for one semester only, either autumn (semester 1) or spring (semester 2).

Your core modules include Biodiversity, Conservation and Human Society (semester 1), which focuses on the interactions between biodiversity and human societies, providing exposure to real-world conservation issues and the first-hand experience of practitioners, and gives insights to potential career pathways. In Population Ecology and Management (semester 1) you’ll explore the human dominated era we live in – recently designated ‘the Anthropocene’. You’ll look closely at how populations are regulated and managed, and learn about population properties and modelling. Community, Ecosystem and Macro-ecology (semester 2) introduces you to major concepts and analytical approaches in community ecology, macro-ecology and biogeography. You will use these to explore how communities are structured in relation to local-scale to regional-scale processes, and how biodiversity mediates ecosystem functions and services and responds to environmental change, before scaling up to look at emergent macro-ecological and global patterns of biodiversity distribution and extinction risk.

Conservation Ecology and Biodiversity in the Tropics is an additional optional field ecology module which takes place during the Easter break (dependent on any pandemic restrictions nearer the time). In 2022, Eswatini will be the chosen field destination for this module.

You’ll also be able to choose from a selection of optional modules, covering topics including: Aquatic Ecology (semester 1), Behavioural Ecology (semester 2), Biodiversity and Sustainability (semester 2), Biological Oceanography and Marine Ecology (semester 1), Evolutionary Biology (semester 2), Environmental Politics and Policy making (semester 2), GIS for Project Students (semester2), Evolutionary Biology and Conservation Genetics (Semester 2), Social Evolution (semester 2), and Ecology Research Project (year-long).

The 40-credit Ecology Research Project option provides students with the opportunity to design and undertake an independent research project under the supervision of academic faculty from the Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation (CEEC).

Teaching and Learning

Teaching

Our teaching staff are all members of the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (CEEC), a multi-disciplinary centre that comprises researchers in ecology and conservation across the university. Many of your lecturers are internationally recognised researchers in their fields, and with research-led taught modules you'll benefit from learning at the cutting-edge of the discipline.

You’ll be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and fieldwork designed to help you understand the theory and concepts behind evolution, behaviour, ecological processes, services and conservation.

Independent study

Throughout the programme, you'll be expected to undertake search and selection of scientific literature and data, use information technology for scientific study of ecological processes and problems.

100% of our research environment was rated world leading and internationally excellent in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) for Biological Sciences.

You’ll also get the chance to attend research seminars conducted by world-leading scientists to keep up with the latest research in ecology. These are organised by The Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (CEEC) – one of the largest groups of ecologists and evolutionary biologists in Europe, with scientists from UEA, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS).

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Students must complete minimum 40 credits from the compulsory modules ENV-5014A, ENV-6006A or BIO-5014B, and 120 credits in total for the Diploma

Assessment for Year 1

Compulsory Modules

COMMUNITY, ECOSYSTEM AND MACRO-ECOLOGY

Code BIO-5014B

Credits 20

This module introduces you to major concepts and definitions in community ecology, macro-ecology and biogeography. You will use these to explore how communities are structured in relation to local-scale to regional-scale processes, how they function and respond to perturbations at different scales, and result in emergent macro- to global-scale patterns of biodiversity distribution. Throughout the module, there is an emphasis on the relevance of theory and fundamental science to understanding the current environmental and biodiversity crisis. Anthropogenic impacts on natural communities through land-use, species exploitation, non-native species, and climate change, are a recurrent theme underpinning the examples you will draw upon.

POPULATION ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

Code ENV-5014A

Credits 20

We live in a human dominated era recently designated “the Anthropocene”. Humans harvest more than half of the primary productivity of the planet, many resources are over-exploited or depleted (e.g. fisheries) never before has it been so important to correctly manage natural resources for an exponentially growing human population. It is, thus, fundamental to predict where other species occur and the sizes of their populations (abundance). Population Ecology is an area dedicated to the dynamics of population development. In this module we will look closely at how populations are regulated, from within through density dependent factors and from external density independent factors. We start the module with a global environmental change perspective to the management of populations and the factors that affect the population size. We then extend these ideas to help us understand population properties and processes both intra-specifically and inter-specifically. Finally we examine several management applications where we show that a good understanding of the population modelling is essential to correctly manage natural resources on the planet. Practicals include learning to survey butterflies and birds using citizen science monitoring projects and will be focused on delivering statistical analyses of “Big data” using the programme R-studio. The projects will provide a strong training in both subject specific and transferable skills.

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND HUMAN SOCIETY

Code ENV-6006A

Credits 20

The global biodiversity crisis threatens mass species loss. What are the implications for society? How can communities solve this problem in a world that is facing other challenges of climate change, food security, environmental and social justice? In this inter-disciplinary module, (designed for students of Geography, Environmental Science, Ecology and International Development who have an interest in biodiversity and its conservation), you will focus on the interactions between biodiversity and human societies. The module adopts a rigorous evidence-based approach. You will first critically examine the human drivers of biodiversity loss and the importance of biodiversity to human society, to understand how underlying perspectives and motivations influence approaches to conservation. You will then examine conflicts between human society and conservation and how these potentially can be resolved, reviewing institutions and potential instruments for biodiversity conservation in both Europe and developing countries. Coursework is inter-disciplinary and will require you to evaluate and communicate the quality of evidence showing effectiveness of conservation interventions and approaches.

Optional A Modules

(80 credits)

EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

Code BIO-5008B

Credits 20

This module investigates the principles of evolutionary biology, covering various sub-disciplines, i.e. adaptive evolution, population ecology, molecular and population genetics, speciation, biogeography, systematics, and finishing with an overview of Biodiversity. This module will enable you to understand, analyse and evaluate the fundamentals of evolutionary biology and be able to synthesise the various components into an overall appreciation of how evolution works. Key topics and recent research will be used to highlight advances in the field and inspire thought. Weekly interactive workshops will explore a number of the conceptual issues in depth through discussions, modelling and problem solving. Although there are no pre-requisites in terms of specific modules, students will need a basic understanding of Evolution and Genetics to undertake this module.

BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY

Code BIO-5010B

Credits 20

We will explore how evolution and ecology shape animal behaviour, examining how important traits have evolved to maximise survival and reproduction in the natural environment. Darwinian principles provide the theoretical framework, and we will explore key concepts of selfishness, altruism, conflict, survival, optimality, reproduction, parental care and death. Relevant research will be used to lead our understanding of the ultimate function of key traits. In parallel with the lectures, students design, conduct, analyse and present their own research project, working in a group to collect original data in order to answer a question about the adaptive significance of behaviour.

COMMUNITY, ECOSYSTEM AND MACRO-ECOLOGY

Code BIO-5014B

Credits 20

CONSERVATION, ECOLOGY AND BIODIVERSITY IN THE TROPICS (FIELDCOURSE)

Code BIO-5020K

Credits 20

Conservation ecology and biodiversity are central areas of research in the biological sciences and they share many theories, concepts and scientific methods. This module intends to take a practical approach to the commonalities in these areas using a combination of seminar work and fieldwork. The seminars will develop ideas in sub-tropical and tropical biology: students will research issues affecting conservation of biodiversity in the tropics, considering the species ecology and the habitats, threats and challenges. There will be a significant component of small group work and directed, independent learning. The field component of this module will be a two week residential field trip to the tropics, one of two field sites (depending on numbers of students and availability).The field sites are run by expert field ecologists and during the two weeks we will explore the local environment, learn about the ecology of the landscape and about the species that inhabit the area. We will develop and run practical sessions on survey and census techniques, use of technology in modern field biology and the role of protected areas in species conservation. Students will conduct original research on the field trip, informed by prior research at UEA, to gain a deeper understanding of an aspect of tropical biology. There will be an assessed presentation on the field trip and many opportunities to develop the students own interests. All student participants will take an active role in the organisation and running of the module in order to gain project management and field logistics experience. Students will be responsible for the sourcing, storage and transport of field equipment on the way to the field site and of samples on the return to the UK. Students will gain experience of travelling to a remote area and of working through licensing and customs processes. At the end of the module a report is written on the field project in the style of a journal article addressing specific questions in ecology conservation or biodiversity. Throughout the module students will be expected to maintain a modern-media record of their project from the initial desk based work at UEA, through the field component to outcomes and reporting. NOTE: There will be a significant additional cost to this module to cover the costs of transportation and accommodation in the field. Costs will be detailed at an initial meeting for interested students and will be clearly advertised. 2018/19 costs were £1300 per student. Students will need to provide any visas required for entry into the host country, sturdy walking boots and appropriate field clothing. All attendees must ensure that all travel vaccinations etc are in order prior to departure.

EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION GENETICS

Code BIO-6008B

Credits 20

You will gain a deep understanding about conservation genetics / genomics based on an evolutionary / population-genetic framework, thereby covering contemporary issues in conservation biology, evolution, population biology, genetics, organismal phylogeny, Next Generation Sequencing, and molecular ecology. This is an advanced course in evolutionary biology / conservation genetics that will benefit you if you plan to continue with a postgraduate degree in ecology, genetics, conservation, or evolution. It is also ideal if you are wishing to deepen your knowledge in 1st and 2nd year conservation / evolution / genetics modules. A background in evolution, genetics, and/or molecular biology is highly recommended.

SOCIAL EVOLUTION

Code BIO-6011B

Credits 20

Life is organised hierarchically. Genes aggregate in cells, cells aggregate in organisms, and organisms aggregate in societies. Each step in the formation of this hierarchy is termed a major evolutionary transition. Because common principles of social evolution underlie each transition, the study of altruism and cooperation in nature has broadened out to embrace the fundamental hierarchical structure common to all life. This module investigates this new vision of social evolution. It explores how principles of social evolution underlying each transition illuminate our understanding of life's diversity and organisation, using examples ranging from selfish genetic elements to social insects and mammals.

ECOLOGY RESEARCH PROJECT

Code BIO-6022Y

Credits 40

You will design and undertake an independent research project under the supervision of staff members from the Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation (CEEC). You may choose to conduct fieldwork in the summer vacation preceding the third year or during the Autumn semester. Project topics should be selected during the spring semester of your second year (or beginning of the third year, in the case of Year Abroad Ecology students), in consultation with CEEC faculty. You are strongly encouraged to develop your own project ideas. Recent issues of ecological journals in the library can be consulted for ideas.

SUSTAINABILITY, SOCIETY AND BIODIVERSITY

Code ENV-4006B

Credits 20

Striking a balance between societal development, economic growth and environmental conservation has proven challenging and contentious at many scales and over time. The concept of `sustainable development’ was coined to denote processes aiming to achieve this balance. This module introduces sustainable development, and examines the challenges and opportunities to achieving this, drawing together social and ecological dimensions. Drawing upon the social sciences, this module examines the theory and practice of sustainable development. From an ecological perspective, the module covers a range of concepts relevant to the structure and functioning of the biosphere, and topics ranging from landscape and population ecology to biodiversity conservation. This module is assessed by coursework and an examination.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS AND POLICY MAKING

Code ENV-5002B

Credits 20

The most significant obstacles to problem solving are often political, not scientific or technological. This module examines the emergence and processes of environmental politics. It analyses these from different theoretical perspectives, particularly theories of power and public policy making. The module is focused on contemporary examples of politics and policy making at UK, EU and international levels. The module supports student-led learning by enabling students to select (and develop their own theoretical interpretations of) ‘real world’ examples of politics. Assessment is via seminar slides and a case study essay. The module assumes no prior knowledge of politics.

POPULATION ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

Code ENV-5014A

Credits 20

GIS SKILLS FOR PROJECT WORK

Code ENV-5028B

Credits 20

This module builds upon the introduction to GIS provided in the first year Research and Field Skills module, focusing on how you obtain your data, integrate it and then undertake analysis and presentation tasks. ESRI ArcGIS will be the main software used, but the module also offers information on online GIS (ArcGIS Online) as well as scripting tools (Python) and open source software (QGIS) that you may wish to progress in your own time. Teaching will consist of a one-hour lecture and a three-hour practical class each week.

AQUATIC ECOLOGY

Code ENV-5041A

Credits 20

Explore how chemical, physical and biological influences shape the biological communities of rivers, lakes and estuaries in temperate and tropical regions. Three field visits and laboratory work, usually using microscopes and sometimes analysing water quality, provide an important practical component to this module. A good complement to other ecology modules, final-year Catchment Water Resources and modules in development studies or geography, it can also be taken alongside Aquatic Biogeochemistry or other geochemical and hydrology modules. Students selecting this module must have a background in basic statistical analysis of data.

BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE ECOLOGY

Code ENV-6005A

Credits 20

Explore the evolution, biodiversity and ecology of bacteria, diatoms, coccolithophores and nitrogen fixers, and the physiology and distribution of zooplankton. You will study ecosystems such as the Antarctic, mid ocean gyres and Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems in detail, and predict the impact of environmental change (increasing temperature, decreasing pH, decreasing oxygen, and changes in nutrient supply) on marine ecosystem dynamics. Biological oceanographic methods will be critically evaluated. The module will include a reading week in week 7 and a voluntary employability visit to the Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) in Lowestoft. You will be expected to have some background in biology, e.g. have taken a biology, ecology or biogeochemistry based second year module in order to study this module.

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND HUMAN SOCIETY

Code ENV-6006A

Credits 20

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Open Days

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

Graduate Diploma ECOLOGY