Bachelor of Environmental Science (Marine Biology)
2019 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2019 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Bachelor of Environmental Science (Marine Biology) |
| Course Map | If you started your course before 2019, please refer to the plan your study page or contact a Student Adviser |
| Campus | Offered at Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Warrnambool |
| Cloud Campus | No |
| Duration | 3 years full-time or part-time equivalent |
| CRICOS course code | 053749E Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Warrnambool |
| Deakin course code | S399 |
| Approval status | This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework. |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 7. |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Indicative student workload
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Mandatory student checks
- Fees and charges
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Work experience
- Other learning experiences
Course overview
Deakin's marine biology course is offered at two fantastic coastal locations. The Warrnambool Campus, which is situated on the banks of the Hopkins River estuary at the western end of the Great Ocean Road; and the Waurn Ponds Campus (Geelong) which is situated close to the Surf Coast. Students enrolled at Geelong also have access to the Queenscliff Marine Research Centre on the shore of Swan Bay.
The Warrnambool Campus and Queenscliff Marine Research Centre offer a range of amazing marine habitats and ecosystems, and provide you with the opportunity to study temperate marine biology in a marine environment that has some of the highest biodiversity in Australia. Through extensive hands-on laboratory and fieldwork experiences, you will discover the great diversity of marine plants and animals that exists in coastal and oceanic ecosystems, and learn how to sustainably manage precious marine and coastal environments and resources.
The course has a strong ecological focus, linking biological and oceanographic processes in the study of marine environments. You will learn about a range of marine and coastal ecosystems, from coral reefs to icebergs, estuaries to oceans and from surf zones to the deep abyss. You will also investigate, and directly observe, how marine ecosystems function and how marine organisms interact with their living and non-living environments.
Throughout the course, you will acquire a strong understanding of environmental sustainability, and use scientific methods and tools to practice sustainable management of natural resources within marine and coastal environments, relevant to both Australia and overseas.
You will gain stimulating hands-on experience through fieldwork in natural marine and coastal environments along the Victorian coast, including the Great Ocean Road and Port Phillip Bay. You will develop knowledge associated with scientific research methods, impact assessments and marine and coastal management by conducting fieldwork in estuaries; intertidal rocky shores; shallow marine habitats, such as seagrass beds; and also sandy beaches. You will also have the opportunity to work with government and non-government organisations including Parks Victoria, Catchment Management Authorities, aquaculture industries, environmental consultants, Fishcare and Friends of the Merri, on specific volunteer projects and during professional practice placements,
Elective options also provide you with the opportunity to study tropical marine environments within Australia and gain a broader view of the world by electing to study and volunteer overseas.
The professional practice unit involves a placement within a relevant, course-related organisation within either Australia or overseas. Specific field visits involving industry partners and guest speakers from a range of relevant employers also contribute to this course. This provides you with an opportunity to begin networking with potential employers and prepares you to be 'job-ready' on completion of the course.
Units in the course may include assessment hurdle requirements.
Indicative student workload
Students can expect to participate in a range of teaching activities each week. This could include classes, seminars, field trips, practicals and online interaction. Individual unit details in the course structure provide specific information relating to teaching activities in each unit. Students also need to study and complete assessment tasks in their own time.
Career opportunities
Career opportunities for graduates include marine ecotourism, marine education (e.g. marine aquaria), park rangers, fisheries and EPA compliance officers, biosecurity officers, aquaculture technicians and management, marine biology consultants, laboratory technicians, museum employment, local government environmental officers, sustainability project officers, employees of local water authorities and catchment management authorities, marine ecotourism guides and GIS analysts. Further opportunities include working in scientific research institutes and pursuing postgraduate study. The development of broad generic skills by students during the course also make students more broadly employable across the environmental science and management sectors.
Participation requirements
Students enrolled at the Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus will be required to undertake some of their practical learning experiences at the Queenscliff Marine Research Centre.
Placement can occur at any time, including during the standard holiday breaks listed here: https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses/key-dates.
Elective units may be selected that include compulsory placements, work-based training, community-based learning or collaborative research training arrangements.
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. Click here for more information.
Mandatory student checks
Any unit which contains work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, Working with Children Check or other check.
Course expenses
In addition to student contribution fees, students should be aware that they may be required to meet their own expenses in connection with travel, food and accommodation while on fieldwork.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on your course, your fee category and the year you started. To find out about the fees and charges that apply to you, visit the Current students fees website.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Appreciate the structural make up of coastal and marine environments, their physical and chemical characteristics and interaction to recognise how organisms live and exist in dynamic environments. Articulate the form and functions of organisms and how they manage environmental challenges in highly diverse and dynamic environments. Assess habitats and organisms and recognise sustainability issues and concerns to manage and conserve animals and plants within marine environments and to evaluate sustainability. |
| Communication | Use appropriate scientific language and formats including written, visual, oral and graphical forms to communicate with a range of audiences, including the general public, environmental managers and scientists. Generate, analyse and present key information in a professional manner with evidence from local, national, and international contributions and contexts. |
| Digital literacy | Use well developed technical skills and judgement to locate, analyse and synthesise information and responsibly disseminate information using a variety of tools and techniques. |
| Critical thinking | Locate and evaluate scientific information from multiple sources and use scientific methods and frameworks to structure and plan observations, experimentation, fieldwork investigations and to undertake environmental impact and risk assessment. Use critical and analytical thinking and judgement to analyse, synthesise and generate an integrated knowledge, formulate hypotheses and test them against evidence-based scientific concepts and principles in the context of aquatic environment. |
| Problem solving | Identify possible causes, effects and underlying environmental problems, brainstorm potential solutions, and develop criteria for evaluating those solutions. Provide specialist advice to solve environmental problems by designing and planning investigations and using scientific tools and techniques to apply systems and management perspectives to formulate future sustainability and conservation solutions to problems. |
| Self-management | Work independently and responsibly with initiative and judgement to function safely and professionally in a manner that assimilates feedback and incorporates refection for future learning and ethical practice. |
| Teamwork | Collaboratively work with others in order to critically analyse, problem solve, develop and manage plans for generating sustainable processes and solutions to manage and conserve the environment. |
| Global citizenship | Adopt and value multidisciplinary knowledge and perspectives for evaluating, integrating and incorporating strategies and solutions in scoping, planning and managing alternative sustainable solutions from local to global environmental problems. Adopt, appreciate and respect scientific morals and ethics, including working with animals. |
Approved by Faculty Board 7 June 2018
Course rules
To complete the Bachelor of Environmental Science (Marine Biology), students must attain 24 credit points. Most units (think of units as ‘subjects’) are equal to 1 credit point. So that means in order to gain 24 credit points, you’ll need to study and successfully complete 24 units (AKA ‘subjects’) over your entire degree. Most students choose to study 4 units per trimester, and usually undertake two trimesters each year.
The course comprises a total of 24 credit points which must include the following:
- 21 core units
- 3 elective units
- Completion of STP050 Academic Integrity (0-credit-point compulsory unit)
- Completion of SLE010 Laboratory and Fieldwork Safety Induction Program (0 credit-point compulsory unit)
- Completion of STP010 Introduction to Work Placements (0 credit-point compulsory unit)
- level 1 - up to 10 credit points
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. Click here for more information.
Course structure
Core - Geelong (Waurn Ponds)
Level 1 - Trimester 1
| STP050 | Academic Integrity (0 credit points) |
| SLE010 | Laboratory and Fieldwork Safety Induction Program (0 credit points) |
| SLE103 | Ecology and the Environment |
| SLE111 | Cells and Genes |
| SLE133 | Chemistry in Our World |
Plus one elective unit
Level 1 - Trimester 2
| SLE132 | Biology: Form and Function |
| SLE105 | Marine Pollution (removed from offer from 2020) |
| SLE104 | The Blue Planet: Water and Life (removed from offer from 2020, replaced by SLE108 Ocean Processes) |
| SLE123 | Physics for the Life Sciences |
| STP010 | Introduction to Work Placements (0 credit points) |
Level 2 - Trimester 1
| SLE219 | Marine Invertebrates (removed from offer from 2021) |
| SLE265 | Marine Botany (removed from offer from 2021) |
| SLE263 | Marine and Coastal Ecosystems (removed from offer from 2021) |
| SLE251 | Research Methods and Data Analysis ^ |
^ available at Warrnambool from 2020
Level 2 - Trimester 2
| SLE261 | Diversity of Fishes (removed from offer from 2021) |
| SLE223 | Water Quality and Ecological Health (removed from offer from 2021) |
| SLE244 | Aquatic Ecology (removed from offer from 2021) |
| SLE262 | Aquaculture and the Environment |
Level 3 - Trimester 1
| SLE301 | Professional Practice # |
| SLE348 | Freshwater Biology (removed from offer from 2022) |
| SLE304 | Geographic Information Systems: Uses in Aquatic Environments |
plus one elective unit
Level 3 - Trimester 2
| SLE315 | Marine Animal Physiology |
| SLE319 | Environmental Protection and Planning |
| SLE325 | Marine Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment (removed from offer from 2022) |
plus one elective unit
# Must have successfully completed STP010 Introduction to Work Placements (0 credit point unit)
Course structure
Core - Warrnambool
Level 1 - Trimester 1
| STP050 | Academic Integrity (0 credit points) |
| SLE010 | Laboratory and Fieldwork Safety Induction Program (0 credit points) |
| SLE103 | Ecology and the Environment |
| SLE111 | Cells and Genes |
| SLE133 | Chemistry in Our World |
Plus one elective unit
Level 1 - Trimester 2
| SLE132 | Biology: Form and Function (not available at Warrnambool from 2020) |
| SLE105 | Marine Pollution |
| SLE104 | The Blue Planet: Water and Life (offered in Trimester 1 from 2020) |
| SLE123 | Physics for the Life Sciences (not available at Warrnambool from 2020) |
| STP010 | Introduction to Work Placements (0 credit points) |
Level 2 - Trimester 1
| SLE219 | Marine Invertebrates |
| SLE265 | Marine Botany |
| SLE263 | Marine and Coastal Ecosystems (re-coded to level 1 unit from 2020 – SLE163 Marine and Coastal Ecosystems offered in T2/20) |
| SLE251 | Research Methods and Data Analysis ^ |
^ available at Warrnambool from 2020
Level 2 - Trimester 2
| SLE261 | Diversity of Fishes (code and title change to SLE291 - Marine Vertebrates from 2020) |
| SLE223 | Water Quality and Ecological Health (removed from offer from 2021) |
| SLE244 | Aquatic Ecology |
| SLE262 | Aquaculture and the Environment ^ |
Level 3 - Trimester 1
| SLE301 | Professional Practice # |
| SLE348 | Freshwater Biology (code and title change to SLE349 - Catchments to Coasts: Ecological Health from 2020 offered in T2/20) |
| SLE304 | Geographic Information Systems: Uses in Aquatic Environments |
plus one elective unit
Level 3 - Trimester 2
| SLE315 | Marine Animal Physiology |
| SLE319 | Environmental Protection and Planning (removed from Warrnambool from 2020, replaced with SLE305 - Integrating Marine, Coastal and Catchment Management offered in T1/20) |
| SLE325 | Marine Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment |
plus one elective unit
# Must have successfully completed STP010 Introduction to Work Placements (0 credit point unit)
Course structure
Electives
Select from a range of elective units offered across many courses. In some cases you may even be able to choose elective units from a completely different discipline area (subject to meeting unit requirements).
It is important to note that some elective units may include compulsory placement, study tours, work-based training or collaborative research training arrangements.
Work experience
The course includes a compulsory professional practice unit that requires you to undertake at least 80 hours of work experience in a course-related host organisation. You’ll gain practical experience by completing a two week placement at a course-related host organisation to provide you with opportunities for workplace visits, field trips, industry learning and to establish valuable networks – giving you better insight into your possible career outcomes.
You’ll also have the opportunity to undertake a discipline-specific industry placement as part of your course. deakin.edu.au/sebe/wil.
Elective units may also provide additional opportunities for Work Integrated Learning experiences.
Other course information
Course duration - additional information
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as accessing or completing work placements.
Other learning experiences
To broaden your experience of the world, you will have an opportunity to participate in overseas placements and study tours as an elective option in your course.