This is an eight day field unit which provides an integrated view of environmental issues of a particular region and the methods that might be used to assess and manage them. The region studied will normally be outside the Sydney metropolitan area.

The objectives of this Unit are to allow students to

1.Gain experience, and develop skills, in field data collection and analysis.

2.Link data sets and disciplinary perspectives on a broadly defined problem.

3.Identify and define the implications of the data sets for management policies.

4.Form professional networks with other students.

The unit is team taught by experts in several fields whose aim is to assist students in learning to integrate diverse material.

Field trip Thursday April 10 - Thursday April 17, 2014

We have selected Jervis Bay and its catchment on the south coast as the focus for the fieldwork. It is an area that is facing many of the environmental problems and issues common to coastal regions outside the major metropolitan areas. The impact of future population growth in the region is of particular concern. The work that we do will contribute directly to the understanding of these problems and the development of management protocols to deal with them. Students will gain experience in field data collection in a range of discipline areas and will learn how to integrate those data sets to provide meaningful contributions to management decisions by State and Local Government authorities and community groups.

The specific task: In previous years the task has been to examine the effectiveness of foreshore management, prepare a State of the environment report focusing on specific issues, to prepare a report as input to management options, or to examine the effectiveness of Marine Park Zoning.

Organisation

The field trip will commence at 2:00pm on Thursday April 10, 2014 at the University of Canberra Field Station at Jervis Bay within the Commonwealth Jervis Bay Territory and will finish at 10:30am on Thursday April 16, 2014.

Students must make their own arrangements for transport to and from the field station. To assist, a car pool will be initiated at the pre-fieldtrip meeting. Therefore it is very important that every student attend the meeting.

Each student will be assigned to two different groups. One, the Field Groups (day groups), will be for field activities and the other, the Data Groups (evening groups), will be to analyse the data collected during the week by all Field Groups. In other words, activities in the field will be carried out in Field Groups while the drawing together of, and reporting on, the data collected by the various Field Groups will be carried out in Data Groups. Each Data Group will be made up of one or two people drawn from each Field Group. This will allow a mix of experiences and perspectives to be brought to the Data Groups, as well as representation from each day to assist in keeping data analysis up to date.

Each member of the class will be assigned to a Field Group and to a Data Group at the pre-field meeting. A staff member will be responsible for one of the five different aspects of fieldwork conducted on any one day, and will guide the appropriate Data Group. Field Groups will be assigned to a series of activities on successive days where they will collect and analyse information on a variety of topics. These may include

1.    management issues 

2.    water quality 

3.    aquatic ecology 

4.    social aspects

5.   terrestrial ecology

Data Groups will meet on the first evening of the field trip to develop strategies to be followed by the Field Groups. They will continue to meet each evening to bring together the material collected on each of the five days of field work (hence the need for some people from each activity on each day). The Data Group will integrate the data to present a coherent set of files for all students to access for use in the preparation of their reports.

On the last full day of the field trip (i.e. Wednesday April 16), each Data Group will make a short (20 minute maximum) presentation of the outcomes of the weeks work, including an assessment of the usefulness of the data to address the question of the likely impacts of future development in the study area. All files must be gathered onto one CD and given to the Field-trip Leader on Wednesday afternoon immediately after the presentations. Each data group is advised to select one of their number to be responsible for keeping track of their data and for organising it for delivery to the Field-trip Leader.

Timetable

Thursday 10 April, 2014

2:00pm   Arrive University of Canberra Field Station, Jervis Bay


3:30pm   Orientation tour of area


6:00pm   Dinner


7:30pm   Briefing in Data Groups

Thursday 17 April, 2014: Clean up, pack up and depart by 10:30am.

Accommodation

The Jervis Bay Field Station of the University of Canberra is located in Jervis Bay Village. It provides rooms each with double bunk beds, and there are male and female showers and toilets, and a large mess hall. Blankets and pillows are supplied but most find a sleeping bag essential. Bring your own pillowcase. Cutlery and utensils are also supplied, and the meals are fully catered.

However, the field station accommodates only 40 students plus staff and, for additional students, camping accommodation will be available outside the field station, in the nearby Jervis Bay (Booderee) National Park. Regardless of where you stay, you must be at the field station ready for an 8:00am sharp departure each morning, and there will be roughly a one hour meal break between 6:00pm and 7:00pm each night, with data analysis work commencing at 7:30pm sharp. Everyone is expected to attend the BBQ on the last night and to eat at the field station.  Details of charges you will need to pay for meals and accommodation will be announced at the Preliminary Field-trip Meeting.

Classes

1.    The contact hours of this unit consist of one pre-fieldtrip meeting and the field trip.

2.    The pre-field trip meeting will be held at the end of week 2 Friday March 14  in E8A 341. This meeting will be used to explain the arrangements in more detail, organise a carpool, etc and to introduce you to the unit and to the staff members who will be attending the field trip. Staff will outline the proposed field and data analysis methods to be undertaken for their particular area of responsibility at the meeting.

3.    The field trip will be held from Thursday April 10th to Thursday April 17th, 2014 at the University of Canberra field station at Jervis Bay.