LSC-30043 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

Conservation biology takes a practical approach to introduce you to biodiversity, conservation and the necessity for protecting species, habitats and ecosystems from anthropogenic impacts. In this module, you will work on a real-world ecological consultancy scenario which forms the basis of your assessment. Through the use of field sessions, desk studies and tutorials you will learn how to produce a biodiversity net gain report for a site of biological and historical importance. This will give you hands on experience of the work that a graduate ecological consultant is expected to complete and help to highlight the array of conflicting interests which have to be taken into consideration when managing the natural world for humans and species. Guest speakers from conservation organisations will be used to demonstrate the practical aspects of nature conservation and provide you with a wider view of what conservation biology entails.

The module aims to enhance student learning by using an applied evidence-based approach to introduce students to the science and practice of Conservation Biology. The module builds on the Ecology and Environment theme that runs through the degree. The practical nature of this module will prepare students for a career in ecological consultancy.

Intended Learning Outcomes

explain the fundamental principles of Conservation Biology: 2
critically appraise the role of conservation programmes in maintaining biodiversity over a range of resolutions, from genes to biomes: 2
critically evaluate practical management techniques for conservation: 2
appraise the conservation status of a habitat and carry out a UK Hab survey to use biodiversity net gain calculations:

Study hours

Active learning:
20 hours of tutorials (debates, field sessions, report writing and exam revision support, etc)
5 hours of guest lectures
72 hours of engagement with asynchronous content (active learning hours) (assumes ~6 hours watching videos, reading core texts and writing notes, etc., for each weekly topic)
Independent study:
18 hours of data analysis, research and write-up of consultancy report
2 hours online authentic assessment
33 hours of private study

School Rules

Human biology students must have undertaken LSC-20097 (Environmental biology)
International/transfer students must have a module in ecology or equivalent.

Description of Module Assessment