PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE
A study program designed to boost or renew your career; and open new opportunities for your professional development.
COURSE CONTENTS
You must complete three modules and a 200 hour Workplace Project. The modules must be related with each other and must be approved by our academic department. Choose from the wide selection of environmental, sciences, IT, business, horticulture or other subjects available with us.
The Modules
You want to select subjects that complement your career and that you have not studied before. When (or before) you enrol, our academic department will discuss your options and help you choose the best combination for you to succesfully attain your goals.
Workplace Project
This is sometimes satisfied by a letter of reference from an employer or professional colleague. Alternatively, you may satisfy it through a research project or providing proof of attendance at industry meetings such as conferences and trade shows.
Career/Jobs:
Do you have an interest in learning about other aspects of Environmental Science? The ACS offers many courses for you to study including Plant Ecology, Zoology, Nature Park Management, Marine Science, Waste Management and much more. See more at:
https://www.acs.edu.au/courses/environment-and-wildlife-courses.aspx
Modules
Note that each module in the Specialist Award In Environmental Management is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.
A specialist award is designed for people who already hold qualifications and/or experience in environmental science or a related discipline.
While assuming that you already have a broad understanding of the environment, it acknowledges that you may have areas you need to strengthen; whether in environmental assessment, taxonomy, earth science, botany or something else.
This course is designed to allow you to concentrate your studies on the areas you need to strengthen, without needing to revisit the other areas of environmental studies which you have already mastered.
What Is Environmental Management?
Environments are made up of both living and non living components; and managing the environment involves managing those components for stable and sustainable ecological interactions between those components.
Ecology is something quite specific – it is a branch of science which looks at the ways in which living organisms interact with each other and their environment. The word ecology comes from the Greek words 'oikos', which means house or place to live, and 'logos', which means study of.
The combination of living organisms (community) and abiotic (or non-living) components comprises an 'ecosystem'. An ecosystem consists of a part or segment of nature of any size with all its member organisms in their environment. An ecosystem can be as large as a planet or as small as a fallen log.
On a global scale we have what is known as the ecosphere, or biosphere. This consists of three main components: the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water) and the lithosphere (rocks and soil).
The ecosphere is a thin spherical shell (or outer layer) around the earth that consists of:
- a layer of useable atmosphere about 12km thick;
- water found in oceans, glaciers, rivers, ice sheets, streams, aquifers, and as groundwater;
- a thin crust of soil and rocks extending to a few 1000 metres into the earth's interior. In some cases the soil may be only a few centimeters deep.
The ecosphere contains all of the water, gases, and minerals necessary for life on this planet; but in itself it is not living. Living things inhabit and depend upon the ecosphere though.
All of the components of the ecosphere are inter-connected and interdependent. Within the ecosphere all smaller ecosystems are connected with one another by:
- air movement e.g. winds
- water movement
- movement of organisms (migrations).
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