World population is projected to reach 9 billion within 50 years and food production needs to double in a sustainable manner in order to feed human population. This profound challenge will be met by improving our knowledge and management of agroecosystems. This unit of study is designed to provide an introductory understanding of the biology and management of plants in dryland agroecosystems, with a focus on major Australian broad acre crops. Dryland agroecosystems can be defined as ecosystems modified for the purpose of producing crops, pastures and animals in environments where water limits productivity during part of the year (and are typical in Australian agriculture). These agroecosystems are characterised by regular agricultural interventions, such as cultivation, sowing, nutrient, weed, pest and disease management, and harvest. The program will involve developing an understanding of the interactions between the environment, crops/pastures and agricultural management in dryland agroecosystems. The model for describing and analysing agroecosystems will be centred on a typical cropping cycle, with an emphasis on cereals. You will gain knowledge and skills on crop physiological, growth and development responses to the combined climatic, edaphic, biotic and management factors in the growing environment. The unit will also provide a sound understanding and analysis of the practical farming framework in which this knowledge is applied through weed, disease and pest management, approaches to managing climate variability and precision agriculture. There will be a focus on assessing the effects of climate and weather in dryland agroecosystems, especially on understanding crop-water-nutrition relationships. Successful students will be able to appreciate and analyse the most important limitations to crop production and yield in Australia and how those limitations can be minimized or overcome through science-based planning and agronomic management practices.

This intensive field-based course provides a practical introduction in the experimental analysis of terrestrial populations and assemblages. The experience is best suited to students who will continue into senior units of study in ecology. Students learn a broad range of ecological sampling techniques and develop a detailed understanding of the logical requirements necessary for manipulative ecological field experiments. The field work takes place in native forest and incorporates survey techniques for plants, small mammals and other fauna and thus provides a good background for ecological consulting work and an introduction into large-scale project management. Students attend a week-long field course and participate in a large-scale research project as part of a large team, as well as conducting a research project that they design with a small group of students. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking in the context of environmental management and technical skills are developed in the area of data handling and analysis, report writing and team work. Invited experts contribute to the lectures and discussions on issues relating to the ecology, conservation and management of Australia's terrestrial flora and fauna.

Australia has a unique terrestrial vertebrate fauna and native wildlife management presents special challenges for biologists, conservationists and land managers because of Australia's climate, landforms, and the rarity of many species. This unit of study considers fundamental questions in biology by addressing the biogeography, ecology and management of Australia's terrestrial fauna, with a focus on the wet-dry tropical savannah woodlands. Study in this unit includes a one-week field trip at Mary River Park in the Northern Territory and at Litchfield National Park. Professional biologists working on a range of environmental issues in wet-dry tropical woodlands from the Northern Territory will present guest lecturers to students and, in the field, students will track and identify wildlife and conduct faunal surveys. The fieldtrip is followed by a one-week intensive of lectures and prac sessions on Camperdown campus. This unit of study provides a suitable foundation for senior biology units of study.

This unit covers the key biological organisms and processes in coral reef environments and linkages between them. Emphasis is given to corals, other reef associated invertebrates (e.g. echinoderms), plankton and fishes. Ecological and physiological aspects of key organisms are explored. Aspects covered include oceanography, biogeography, distribution of corals, coral bleaching and health, symbioses, the input of plankton to reefs, the role of fishes and invertebrate bio-eroders in reef environments, and impacts of environmental change on coral reef health. The unit is well suited to students with interests in marine science and ecology, environmental sciences and broader disciplines (e.g. education, arts, and environmental law).

This unit of study provides an overview of the functional and phylogenetic diversity of invertebrate and vertebrate animals. The material is presented within the conceptual framework of evolution, the foundation of biology. Lectures explore the diversity of major functional systems and behaviour in the context of environmental challenges and the ecological roles of different animal groups. Laboratory classes include dissections and demonstrations of the functional anatomy of invertebrates and vertebrates, as well as experiments. This unit of study provides a suitable foundation for senior biology units of study.

This unit of study examines the ecological principles driving the major ecosystems of the world and ecological processes behind the world's major conservation issues. It aims to develop in students the core foundations for an understanding of Ecology and its application in conservation. Lectures will focus on the ecology of the major terrestrial and marine biomes of the world. Application of ecological theory and methods to practical conservation problems will be integrated throughout the unit of study. Practical sessions will provide hands-on experience in ecological sampling and data handling to understand the ecology of marine and terrestrial environments, as well as ecological simulations to understand processes. This unit of study provides a suitable foundation for senior biology units of study.

We are surrounded by plants, and rely on them every day for our wellbeing. Ecologists use botanical knowledge to help manage marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and public health and land management professionals depend on their understanding of plant science to help solve environmental problems and to enhance biosecurity. Botany aims to increase and improve our supply of medicines, foods, and other plant products, and is critical for anyone interested in contributing to the sustainable future of our planet. In this unit, you will explore the origins, diversity, and global significance of plants. You will gain insights into the micro- and macro-evolutionary processes and patterns behind how plants moved from aquatic ecosystems to terrestrial ecosystems. Integrated lectures, practical classes, and extensive online resources will allow you to develop and integrate practical skills and conceptual frame works in plant identification, plant physiology, plant anatomy, and plant morphology. Lectures and practical classes are augmented by self-instructional audio-visual sessions and by small group discussions to foster a sense of self-reliance and collaboration. Successful completion of Botany will allow you to contribute to a range of disciplines including: ecology, bioinformatics, molecular and cell biology, genetics and biotechnology, environmental law, agriculture, education and the arts.

Plants grow across a range of environments, influencing form, function and ultimately reproductive success. Being sessile, plants lack the luxury of seeking an alternative 'stress-free lifestyle' and therefore rely on genetic and physical adaptations to survive and reproduce. To understand how a plant can achieve such flexibility requires knowledge of plant structure and the influence of environmental drivers on plant growth and function. In this unit, you will examine the physiological processes controlling plant growth and reproduction linked to environmental constraints. You will understand the relationship between tissue and cellular structure and their underlying role in physiological and metabolic activities, particularly processes involving light capture, photosynthesis, water regulation, nutrient management and metabolite redistribution. Lectures and interactive practicals will together introduce you to plant processes that underpin life on earth. Experimentation and analysis of plant physiological processes will develop a skill base that will lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of common plant processes. As a component of the Plant Science minor and the Plant Production major, BIOL2031 will provide an important platform to extend your interests in plant science and plant related fields across the curriculum.

Australia is home to a broad diversity of vertebrate wildlife species, many of which are unique to the Australian environment, having evolved in isolation from other large land-masses for millions of years. This unit examines the diversity of Australian reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals (including all three mammalian lineages; monotremes, marsupials and eutherian mammals). We focus on the unique anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations that have enabled our wildlife to survive and thrive within varied Australian ecosystems. We also examine how the uniqueness of our wildlife is also one of its greatest challenges, being naive to the new threats that are present in our rapidly changing environments. At the end of this unit you should have an appreciation of the diversity and uniqueness of Australian wildlife; be able to determine the links between form and function in wildlife and understand the significance of these functional adaptations in relation to ecological challenges. You will also have an understanding of the interactions between humans and wildlife, and how the unique characteristics of our wildlife also make them vulnerable to threats within the rapidly changing Australian environment. Students will also develop enhanced scientific literacy and communication skills through tutorial activities and assessment tasks.

Insects are the most abundant and diverse group of animals on earth; beetles alone account for 25% of animal life. Insects impact almost every facet of the ecosystem and our lives. Many insects play valuable and essential roles in pollinating different plant species, in predating and controlling insect pests and in recycling nutrients. Other insects are harmful and are the vectors for major diseases such as plague, malaria and recently emerged viral disease Zika. This unit will provide students with a broad introduction to entomology including insect evolution, ecology, anatomy and physiology. Students will learn applied entomological topics such as sustainable insect management in agricultural ecosystems, medical and veterinary entomology, insect-inspired technologies, and insects as a future food source for both livestock and humans. This theoretical background will be complemented by training in how to use and evaluate a range of identification tools such as lucid and traditional dichotomous keys that enable you to identify and classify major groups of insects. Practical classes will allow you to develop your identification, classification and preservation skills though examination of boxes of 'mystery insects' and through creating a museum-quality insect collection. Students will also learn procedures for caring and rearing live insects. By the end of the unit you will be well prepared to work in fields that require entomological skills.

Human population growth is causing irreversible change to almost all environments on earth. The extent of human change has been so great that a new geological epoch, the anthropocene, has been defined. Global warming, the introduction of pollutants and excessive use of nutrients are stressors affecting the biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems, and pose threats to human and environmental health. These human impacts carefully need to be monitored to guide appropriate management of urban, natural and agricultural systems. In this unit you will learn about transport pathways of pollutants, bioaccumulation, environmental toxicology (e.g., LD50 values), environmental monitoring and remediation techniques. Through lectures, laboratories and group work, concepts and methods of environmental monitoring will be illustrated and discussed including findings from the latest research. You will participate in structured practical exercises and field trips where you will apply sampling techniques, use bio-indicators and diversity indices to monitor ecosystem functioning. You will interpret the results and assess what the implications are for the ecological functioning and sustainable management of the environment. These hands-on exercises will be complemented with case-studies to guide you in critically analysing and evaluating environmental monitoring data. By taking this unit, you will acquire the necessary skills and knowledge in monitoring sites impacted by human activity.

Environmental regulation and governance plays an important role in regulating human impacts on the environment. This unit provides an introduction to environmental regulation. We investigate key environmental issues through an examination of environmental policies, legislation and case law at a variety of scales (international, national and state/local). The ethics component helps students develop thoughtful and informed positions on issues in environmental ethics. The aim of this Unit is to enable students to understand the broad principles of environmental law and ethics and to apply this understanding to contemporary environmental problems.

This unit of study focuses on environmental impact assessment as part of environmental planning. It seeks to establish a critical understanding of environmental planning and the tools available to improve environmental outcomes. The unit of study addresses the theory and practice of environmental impact statements (EIS) and environmental impact assessment processes (EIA) from scientific, economic, social and cultural value perspectives. Emphasis is placed on gaining skills in group work and in writing and producing an assessment report, which contains logically ordered and tightly structured argumentation that can stand rigorous scrutiny by political processes, the judiciary, the public and the media.

This unit covers many aspects of energy and the environment: energy resources and use; electrical power generation including fossil fuelled and alternate methods; environmental impacts of energy use and power generation including greenhouse gas emissions; transportation and pollution; energy management in buildings; solar thermal energy, photovoltaics, wind power and nuclear energy; embodied energy and net emissions analysis and, importantly, socio-economic and political issues related to energy provision.

The era of genomics has revolutionised our approach to biology. Recent breakthroughs in genetics and genomic technologies have led to improvements in human and animal health, in breeding and selection of economically important organisms and in the curation and care of wild species and complex ecosystems. In this unit, students will investigate/describe ways in which modern biology uses genetics and genomics to study life, from the unicellular through to complex multicellular organisms and their interactions in communities and ecosystems. This unit includes a solid foundation in classical Mendelian genetics and its extensions into quantitative and population genetics. It also examines how our ability to sequence whole genomes has changed our capacities and our understanding of biology. Links between DNA, phenotype and the performance of organisms and ecosystems will be highlighted. The unit will examine the profound insights that modern molecular techniques have enabled in the fields of developmental biology, gene regulation, population genetics and molecular evolution.

The unit provides an essential framework for understanding the environmental response to short- and long-term geologic, oceanic and atmospheric processes. This Unit of Study introduces students to a variety of natural phenomena that affect society with impact levels ranging from nuisance to disastrous. The discussion of each hazard focuses on: (1) the process mechanics, (2) hazards and risk, and (3) methods for mitigation. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used by scientists, planners, policy-makers and the insurance industry alike to address many issues relating to natural hazards. This Unit of Study will introduce students to the major concepts relating to GIS and provide practical experience in the application of GIS techniques to hazard mapping, risk assessment and mitigation.

This unit of study introduces core concepts about how the formation of ocean basins and their influence on climate govern the development of coasts and continental margins. These concepts provide a framework for understanding the geographic variation of coasts, continental shelves and sediment accumulations in the deep ocean. Ocean-basin evolution is explained in terms of movements within the Earth's interior and how these movements determine the geometry of ocean basins, and their alpine counterparts, which interact with the global circulation of the ocean and atmosphere. This interaction plays a key role in marine sedimentation and controls the environmental conditions responsible for the development of coral reefs and other ecosystems. The Unit of Study systematically outlines how these factors have played out to produce, by gradual change, the coasts we see today, as well as the less familiar deposits hidden beneath the sea and coastal lands. The Unit thereby outlines how knowledge of responses to climate change in the past allow us to predict environmental responses to accelerated climate change occurring now and in the future due to the industrial greenhouse effect, but places these responses into perspective against the geological record. Overall therefore, the Unit aims to provide familiarity with fundamental phenomena central to the study of marine geoscience and environmental impacts, introduced through process-oriented explanations. The Unit of Study is structured around GIS-based practical sessions and problem-based project work, for which lectures provide the theoretical background.

The surface of the planet on which you live is the product of a balance between tectonic forces and numerous agents of erosion. The landscapes in which you live and work, and from which you draw resources, are therefore the legacy of many processes operating synchronously over long time periods. It is also true that Earth's landscapes are dynamic, and constantly changing around you in response to climate, tectonics and patterns of life. The sustainable management of landscapes is strongly dependent upon an awareness of those processes and the ways that they constrain human-environment interactions. In Earth Surface Processes, you will learn how landscapes are produced, and what this means for contemporary land use. Lectures by experts in physical geography, geology, soil science and environmental science will introduce you to the planetary and regional-scale controls on landforms and landscape dynamics, and the nature and distribution of major Australian landscape types. Focussed around 'hands on' field and laboratory-based tasks, students will gain essential practical, analytical and interpretive skills in the analysis of landscapes and earth surface processes that shape them. This is a unit for anyone wanting to better understand the planet on which they live.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented global ecological and climatological crisis, and consequently need to transform our social, political and economic systems. This crisis - its causes, its effects, and its solutions - are geographically unevenly distributed and situated. Therefore, this unit of study uses geographical concepts to consider what has caused this global crisis, how we should think about the relations and interactions between humans and their environments, and what some strategies are for managing our environment and resources to negotiate this predicament. Using examples focused in Australia, Asia, and the Pacific region, students will learn how to integrate environmental, economic, political, social and cultural considerations and perspectives, and how to evaluate environmental and resource management policies and ideas.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to a variety of Coastal Environments and the major processes which control the morphodynamic evolution of these systems. The course offers a unique opportunity of learning the full spectrum of marine sedimentary environments from siliciclastic, temperate, highly urbanised and impacted estuarine ecosystems to carbonate, tropical, pristine and undeveloped/protected coastal and continental margin environments. The course is divided in three sections: Section A covers the basic morphodynamics and processes impacting carbonate-dominated coastal and continental margin environments. The focus is on carbonate reefal and margin systems and their geologic and biologic responses to past, present and future environmental changes; Section B covers the basic morphodynamics of temperate and tropical coasts, including beach morphodynamics and basic knowledge on waves and currents; Section C consolidates all concepts learnt in the previous sections by applying them to numerical modelling.
There is a compulsory weekend fieldtrip to the NSW coast to study beach morphodynamics and fieldwork techniques. Depending on the year, there may be a voluntary fieldtrip to a coral reef environment, for example, The University of Sydney One Tree Island Research Station.

Coastal Management is about how scientific knowledge is used to support policy formulation and planning decisions in coastal environments. The course links coastal science to policy and practice in management of estuaries, beaches and the coastal ocean. The principles are exemplified through specific issues, such as coastal erosion, pollution, and impacts of climate-change. The issues are dealt with in terms of how things work in nature, and how the issues are handled through administrative mechanisms. These mechanisms involve planning strategies like Marine Protected Areas and setback limits on civil development in the coastal zone. The coastal environments and processes that are more relevant to coastal management including: rocky coasts; beaches, barriers and dunes; and coral reefs will also be introduced. At a practical level, the link between science and coastal management is given substance through development and use of 'decision-support models'. These models involve geocomputing methods that entail application of simulation models, remotely sensed information, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The course therefore includes both principles and experience in use of these methods to address coastal-management issues. (It thus also involves extensive use of computers.) Although the focus is on the coast, the principles and methods have broader relevance to environmental management in particular, and to problem-solving in general. That is, the course has vocational relevance in examining how science can be exploited to the benefit of society and nature conservation.

The unit of study uses classroom and field-based learning to introduce students to the application of geographical concepts and methods to environmental and development problems in Asia-Pacific countries. The location and timing of this unit may change from year to year in accordance with the availability of lecturers and climatic considerations. In 2019, it will be run over two to three weeks in February, in India. This unit can be taken only with prior permission from the unit of study coordinator, and involves mandatory attendance at pre-departure briefings. You will learn skills and knowledge about: (1) India's environmental and development challenges at a national scale (2) processes of rural social, environmental and economic change; (3) the challenges of sustainable urbanisation; (4) social transformations in India, specifically relating to gender, migration and mobility, and class. The unit is conducted in partnership with pre-eminent Indian universities, who provide guest lectures as appropriate in addition to those by the unit of study coordinator. The unit will also expose students to civil society groups working on issues of geo-political, economic and environmental importance. By doing this unit you will develop skills and knowledge that are highly relevant to research and careers in the Asia-Pacific.

This unit examines the processes that form energy and mineral resources, outlines the characteristics of major fossil fuel and metal ore deposits and introduces the principles that underpin exploration strategies used to discover and develop geological resources. The unit will focus on a variety of topics including: coal; petroleum formation and migration, hydrocarbon traps and maturation; precious metal, base metal and gemstone deposit types; and exploration strategies. An integrated approach will relate tectonic processes through time to the formation of fossil fuel and mineral provinces. Practical exercises will introduce students to the techniques used to identify economically viable geological resources using a variety of exercises based on actual examples of resource exploration drawn from both the petroleum and minerals industry.

GEOS3333 is designed to be the 'capstone' for a Major in Geography. Its aim is to bring together the core concepts within the discipline; connect these to methodological practices, and further develop the field-based skills associated with geographical research. Reflecting the straddle of the discipline across the natural and social sciences, this unit draws on a wide diversity of material to impart key insights about the essential qualities of 'doing Geography'. This includes (i) a weekly lecture program which addresses three thematic concerns of Geography (human-environment interactions; spatial relations; and politics, policy and practice) using examples from the natural and social science perspectives at global, national and local scales; (ii) a two-hour prac class each week which introduces key methods (relevant to both the natural and social science parts of the discipline) and which leads to a major research proposal exercise; and (iii) 24 hours fieldwork through the semester, which can take the form either of a three-day field trip to rural NSW or three separate day-trips within Sydney. GEOS3333 is one of two compulsory units for the Geography Major (the other is GEOS3053) and is highly recommended for students contemplating Honours in Geography.

More than half the world's population now live in cities. The contemporary growth of cities, however, is attached to profound political and environmental questions about what it means to be urban, what 'being urban' means for the planet, and how we might produce more just and sustainable urban spaces and experiences. This Unit provides grounding to these crucial questions by examining urban environments from the dual perspectives of citizenship and sustainability. The Unit has three modules. Module 1 examines the intersection of urban environmental change with questions of citizenship and justice. Module 2 considers key urban environmental issues such as energy, transport and food, and how cities and citizens might address stresses and shocks in these systems. Module 3 studies new models for governing emergent urban environmental challenges. Throughout the semester, a Practical Project will involve a research project with real-world partners to introduce key skills related to working in collaboration with external organisations.

This unit of study provides students with grounding in core theories and frameworks used in Geography to account for the social, spatial and economic unevenness in global development. During the first half of the semester, we focus on questions relating to who are the winners and losers from contemporary patterns of global economic change. This includes the analysis of relevant conceptual approaches to understand processes of global development and inequality (including comparative advantage, global value chain theory, developmentalism, structuralism, neo-liberalism, and post-development). Then, in the second half of the semester, we adopt a livelihoods approach to better understand these broader processes from the perspective of individuals, households and communities. In general, issues are tailored to themes being played out in Asia-Pacific countries. Students are expected to participate in a variety of practical class exercises throughout the semester. This unit provides a feeder-unit into the Southeast Asia Field School.

Science and technology are powerful modern institutions, and they are social endeavours, undertaken and often contested by different groups of people in different historical, cultural, political, and geographical contexts. These social underpinnings are the subject of this course. What does it mean to say scientific knowledge is socially constructed? How does science relate to social and political values? Can scientific facts simply be independent of these values? Should they be independent? Scientific knowledge is often difficult to understand without years of training, and yet this knowledge is crucial to social welfare and to political and environmental futures. So how should publics relate to scientific knowledge? We investigate sociological and ethical issues related to modern science, technology, and medicine, and we develop different approaches to thinking critically about what it means to live in a society so profoundly bound up with the methods and results of the long historical process of scientific knowledge-making. Topics include scientific expertise in public policy and law; fact/value distinctions; industrial science; human/non-human animals and recent biomedical challenges to human self-understandings; scientific and legal constructions of human difference; and recent global challenges that are both social and scientific in nature, in particular environmental change.

The topics covered in 'What is This Thing Called Science?' will be covered in more depth, in a special tutorial set aside for advanced students.

Throughout the ages people have been born, have died, and in between have lived in various stages of sickness or health. In this unit of study we shall look at how these states of being were perceived in different times and places throughout history, while at the same time noting the increasing medicalisation of everyday life, together with the irony that the "miracles" of modern medicine appear to have created a generation of the "worried well". Using this historical perspective, we shall ask how perceptions of sickness, health and the related provision of health care have been intertwined with social, political and economic factors and, indeed still are today.

Modern Western science has a number of characteristics that distinguish it from other scientific cultures. It ascribes its tremendous success to sophisticated experiments and meticulous observation. It understands the universe in terms of tiny particles in motion and the forces between them. It is characterised by high- powered mathematical theorising and the rejection of any intention, value or purpose in Nature. Many of these characteristics were shaped in the 17th century, during the so-called scientific revolution. We will consider them from an integrated historical- philosophical perspective, paying special attention to the intellectual motivations of the canonical figures of this revolution and the cultural context in which they operated. Topics will include: experimentation and instrumentation, clocks, mechanistic philosophy, and the changing role of mathematics.

Across the unit we examine one of the most interesting aspects of the history and philosophy of science. viz., the scientific practices and assumptions involved in making human beings an object of study. We will examine the ways in which psychologists and psychiatrists have investigated human nature, the kinds of experimental approaches they have developed to that end, the major controversies in this field, and the basic philosophical assumptions that have been made in the sciences of human nature. We investigate the developments of psychological theories and investigative methods as well as the development of psychiatric theory, treatment methods, and institutions.

This unit of study deals with a selection of contemporary debates in the history and philosophy of natural sciences. It covers four main themes: (1) the question of how evidence is gathered in the natural sciences and how it is (and/or other factors) go into confirming theories-we also consider what confirmation consists in (including an examination of Bayesianism). (2) Issues of modelling, representation, and measurement, including an analysis of the ways idealisation, approximation, and simulation are to be understood. (3) Models of scientific explanation, including recent work on laws, prediction, and causality. (4) issues of emergence and reduction, including the problems associated with defining such concepts - we also consider notions of simplicity and the impact of the sciences of complexity. The unit of study involves case studies from the natural sciences that allow students to apply their knowledge and test their understanding. Upon completion of the unit, students will have developed a range of skills that will allow them to explore the physical sciences with more critical attitude.

This unit will cover the same material as MATH2069 with some extensions and additional topics.

This unit of study is an advanced version of MATH2068, sharing the same lectures but with more advanced topics introduced in the tutorials and computer laboratory sessions.

The aim of the unit is to expand visual/geometric ways of thinking. The Geometry section is concerned mainly with transformations of the Euclidean plane (that is, bijections from the plane to itself), with a focus on the study of isometries (proving the classification theorem for transformations which preserve distances between points), symmetries (including the classification of frieze groups) and affine transformations (transformations which map lines to lines). The basic approach is via vectors and matrices, emphasising the interplay between geometry and linear algebra. The study of affine transformations is then extended to the study of collineations in the real projective plane, including collineations which map conics to conics. The Topology section considers graphs, surfaces and knots from a combinatorial point of view. Key ideas such as homeomorphism, subdivision, cutting and pasting and the Euler invariant are introduced first for graphs (1-dimensional objects) and then for triangulated surfaces (2-dimensional objects). Topics include the classification of surfaces, map colouring, decomposition of knots and knot invariants.

Microbes are essential for every aspect of life on the planet. Microbes in the human gut control our digestion and our immune system, microbes in the soil are required for plant growth, microbes in the ocean fix more carbon dioxide than all the earth's trees. This unit of study will investigate the diversity and activity of microorganisms - viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae and protozoa - and look at how they interact with us, each other, plants and animals. You will examine how microbes underpin healthy ecosystems through nutrient cycling and biodegradation, their use industrially in biotechnology and food production, and their ability to cause harm, producing disease, poisoning, pollution and spoilage. Aspects of microbial ecology, nutrition, physiology and genetics will also be introduced. This unit of study will provide you with the breadth of knowledge and skills needed for further studies of microbiology, and will provide the fundamental understanding of microbes that you will require if you specialise in related fields such as biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, agriculture, nutrition and food sciences, bioengineering and biotechnology, ecology or science education.

Experimental approaches to the study of biological systems are shifting from hypothesis driven to hypothesis generating research. Large scale experiments at the molecular scale are producing enormous quantities of data ("Big Data") that need to be analysed to derive significant biological meaning. For example, monitoring the abundance of tens of thousands of proteins simultaneously promises ground-breaking discoveries. In this unit, you will develop specific analytical skills required to work with data obtained in the biological and medical sciences. The unit covers quantitative analysis of biological systems at the molecular scale including modelling and visualizing patterns using differential equations, experimental design and data types to understand disease aetiology. You will also use methods to model cellular systems including metabolism, gene regulation and signalling. The practical program will enable you to generate data analysis workflows, and gain a deep understanding of the statistical, informatics and modelling tools currently being used in the field. To leverage multiple types of expertise, the computer lab-based practical component of this unit will be predominantly a team-based collaborative learning environment. Upon completion of this unit, you will have gained skills to find meaningful solutions to difficult biological and disease-related problems with the potential to change our lives.

Soil and water are the two most essential natural resources on the Earth's surface which influence all forms of terrestrial life. This unit of study is designed to introduce students to the fundamental properties and processes of soil and water that affect food security and sustain ecosystems. These properties and processes are part of the grounding principles that underpin crop and animal production, nutrient and water cycling, and environmental sustainability. You will participate in a field excursion to examine soils in a landscape to develop knowledge and understanding of soil properties, water storage, water movement and cycling of organic carbon and nutrients in relation to food production and ecosystem functioning. At the end of this unit you will be able to articulate and quantify the factors and processes that determine the composition and behaviour of soil, composition of water, soil water storage and the movement of water on the land surface. You will also be able to describe the most important properties of soil and water for food production and sustaining ecosystem functions and link this to human and climatic factors. The field excursion, report and laboratory/computer exercises have been designed to develop communication, team work and collaborative efforts.

This unit is designed for honours and 3rd year students to explore the use of data and data science techniques, in developing and structuring a complex research problem. Students will be part of a multi-disciplinary team that is a partnership between students who are domain specialists and those who are data scientists. Research problems will be chosen to span the space of data-driven discovery. These problems will have the following features (1) The complexity of the problem is always greater than the amount of available data (2) Data is varied in type and comes from heterogeneous sources (3) The problem has the potential for impact. Examples could include what factors predict youth disengagement, How effective was a policy in bringing about change, What lies underneath Australia and what implication does this have for resource discovery?, The obesity epidemic, Are humans more ethical than algorithms. The Centre of Translational Data Science has many such projects, students will be able to choose one of these problem, or to propose a problem of relevance and interest to them. Within these broad areas students will learn to develop a specific research problem, by building data-centric, predictive and testable models of the phenomenon. They will learn how to discover by being specific. Students will be required to outline how they might generalize the ideas in their specific problem to a larger class of problem, and so recognise that research problems in diverse domains, which differ widely in surface characteristics, can have similar structure. Participation in this unit will require students to submit an application. Where appropriate, and with the approval of the relevant faculty, this unit may be counted as a selective for a major.

This unit provides an introduction to probability, the concept of random variables, special distributions including the Binomial, Hypergeometric, Poisson, Normal, Geometric and Gamma and to statistical estimation. This unit will investigate univariate techniques in data analysis and for the most common statistical distributions that are used to model patterns of variability. You will learn the method of moments and maximum likelihood techniques for fitting statistical distributions to data. The unit will have weekly computer classes where you will learn to use a statistical computing package to perform simulations and carry out computer intensive estimation techniques like the bootstrap method. By doing this unit you will develop your statistical modeling skills and it will prepare you to learn more complicated statistical models.