C10223v4 Bachelor of Environmental Biology
Award(s): Bachelor of Environmental Biology (BEnvBio)UAC code: 607033 (Autumn session, Spring session)
CRICOS code: 079561C
Commonwealth supported place?: Yes
Load credit points: 144
Course EFTSL: 3
Location: City campus
Overview
Course aims
Career options
Innovation and Transdisciplinary program
Course intended learning outcomes
Admission requirements
Pathway course
Assumed knowledge
Course duration and attendance
Course structure
Course completion requirements
Course diagram
Course program
Honours
Professional recognition
Other information
Overview
Climate change is the singular issue of our time – today, the planet is facing its ultimate test. Become part of the solution with a degree that prepares students to protect and manage the critical species and ecosystems that hold the key to the future.
Like most degrees of its kind, the UTS Bachelor of Environmental Biology combines theoretical and lab-based learning, but it’s what happens outside the classroom that really sets it apart. The extensive fieldwork program challenges students to test their skills in a variety of aquatic and terrestrial environments, while professional internship offerings can help kickstart their career with placements in leading university, government, and industry labs.
Why UTS Science?
UTS Science, one of Australia’s leading university science faculties, is committed to scientific advancement that creates a more sustainable world. When students study with UTS, they join a university that delivers global impact in STEM education and research and a faculty that produces scientists with the power to transform the profession.
Course features
- Complete a series of common core subjects that underpin all undergraduate UTS Science degrees. Data, Design and Decisions and Scientific Perspectives for Global Issues are designed to equip students with a toolkit of technical and workplace skills, preparing them to thrive both at and after uni.
- Environmental science subjects: Combine the study of general science subjects with specialist environmental subjects spanning aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, plant physiology, biodiversity conservation, wildlife management and environmental protection, among others. Students also build highly practical skills in areas like urban resilience, geographic information systems and remote sensing, preparing them to take hands-on action towards a more sustainable world.
- Free electives: Students can customise the degree to suit their personal or career aspirations. Enrol in an international exchange, pursue a professional internship, or tailor the degree with a choice of subjects from any UTS faculty.
- Science communication: The embedded English language program challenges students to build science communication skills over the life of their degree. By the end of their studies, students will have specialist theoretical and practical skills, as well as the capacity to communicate what they know to a diversity of audiences.
Course aims
Study where environmental biology happens
With this degree, students don’t just sit in a classroom taking notes. Instead, the course content combines theoretical learning and lab-based pracs with ‘muddy boots’ fieldwork opportunities in locations such as the Blue Mountains, Manly Dam and Royal National Park. Engage with data collection, stream and lake assessments, and environmental survey activities, among others, and study alongside leading academics whose research is shaping the contemporary environmental science field.
Learn from the leaders in environmental science
Connect with hands-on environmental science internships on campus and beyond with a range of professional placement opportunities*. Elsewhere, benefit from extensive research and industry connections through co-designed curriculum, guest lectures and seminar series, and industry-relevant projects that bring students face to face with the critical challenges facing the planet today.
*Please note: internships must be completed as an elective subject. Students need to complete a competitive application process to secure a professional placement.
Career options
An environmental science degree can lead directly into a scientific career or into a diversity of professional opportunities in the world beyond the lab. From scientific and research roles to policy, education and advocacy positions, students could find themselves working for: environmental protection and/or management organisations, environmental/sustainability consulting firms, government agencies, schools, tourism bodies or universities and research institutes,.
Specific job titles include – but aren’t limited to education officer, environmental consultant, environmental officer, parks manager, policy officer, research scientist, scientific officer, science communicator or science educator.
Innovation and Transdisciplinary program
Transdisciplinarity and Innovation at UTSAll UTS students have the opportunity to develop distinctive capabilities around transdisciplinary thinking and innovation through the TD School. Transdisciplinary education at UTS brings together great minds from different disciplines to explore ideas that improve the way we live and work in the world. These offerings are unique to UTS and directly translate to many existing and emerging roles and careers.
Diploma in InnovationThe Diploma in Innovation (C20060) teaches innovation, supports personal transformation and provides the hard skills needed to support the inventors and inventions of the future. Students come out of the Diploma in Innovation, with the hard skills to create and support sectoral and societal transformation. Graduates are able to fluently integrate ideas, across professional disciplines and are inventors of the future.
All UTS undergraduate students (with the exception of students concurrently enrolled in the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation) can apply for the Diploma in Innovation upon admission in their chosen undergraduate degree. It is a complete degree program that runs in parallel to any undergraduate degree. The course is offered on a three-year, part-time basis, with subjects running in 3-week long intensive blocks in July, December and February sessions. More information including a link to apply is available at https://dipinn.uts.edu.au.
Transdisciplinary electives programTransdisciplinary electives broaden students' horizons and supercharge their problem-solving skills, helping them to learn outside, beyond and across their degrees. Students enrolled in an undergraduate course that includes electives can choose to take a transdisciplinary subject (with the exception of students concurrently enrolled in the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation). More information about the TD Electives program is available here.
Course intended learning outcomes
| 1.1 | Demonstrate theoretical and technical knowledge of the principles of biodiversity and ecosystem function and evaluate and integrate principles of sustainability and conservation to protect biodiversity. |
| 2.1 | Critically evaluate scientific evidence and literature and apply effective and appropriate experimental design and analytical techniques to discover and hypothesise solutions to new and emerging environmental issues. |
| 3.1 | Demonstrate professionalism, including personal organisation, autonomy, teamwork, literacy and quantitative skills, while ensuring due consideration to ethical guidelines, work health and safety and environmental impact requirements. |
| 4.1 | Evaluate evolving concepts in environmental science and apply scientific skills to design creative solutions to contemporary or complex environmental issues by incorporating innovative methods, reflective practices, and self-directed learning. |
| 5.1 | Communicate effectively and professionally (oral, written, visual), generating defensible, convincing arguments for relaying research findings or articulating complex issues, concepts or skill around environmental science, within a multi-disciplinary setting. |
| 6.1 | Acquire knowledge of Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander people's unique connection to the environment, developing professional cultural capability to work effectively with and for, Indigenous Australians within environmental professions. |
Admission requirements
Applicants must have completed an Australian Year 12 qualification, Australian Qualifications Framework Diploma, or equivalent Australian or overseas qualification at the required level.
The English proficiency requirement for international students or local applicants with international qualifications is: Academic IELTS: 6.5 overall with a writing score of 6.0; or TOEFL: paper based: 550-583 overall with TWE of 4.5, internet based: 79-93 overall with a writing score of 21; or AE5: Pass; or PTE: 58-64 with a writing score of 50; or C1A/C2P: 176-184 with a writing score of 169.
Eligibility for admission does not guarantee offer of a place.
International students
Visa requirement: To obtain a student visa to study in Australia, international students must enrol full time and on campus. Australian student visa regulations also require international students studying on student visas to complete the course within the standard full-time duration. Students can extend their courses only in exceptional circumstances.
Pathway course
Successful completion of the UTS College Diploma of Science (Life Science) guarantees entry into the course with 48 credit points of recognition of prior learning.
Assumed knowledge
Mathematics; any two units of English; any two units of science.
Course duration and attendance
Students can complete the course over three years of full-time or six years of part-time study. Part-time students are required to attend some classes in daytime hours.
Course structure
Students must complete a total of 144 credit points, made up of 120 credit points of core subjects and 24 credit points of elective subjects. The elective subjects enable students to increase their expertise in other areas of science or in other disciplines in the University.
Students must satisfactorily complete all core subjects and the required number of credit points of elective for award of the degree.
Industrial training/professional practice
There are many subjects with a major fieldwork component, and opportunities for practical experience also exist through electives which include a substantial research component or internship.
Students studying this course have an opportunity to undertake an internship subject and receive academic credit for their placement off campus (an external business or research institute) or on campus (UTS research institutes or departments), in a capacity relevant to their academic studies.
Course completion requirements
| STM91002 Scientist's Tool Kit (Environmental Sciences) | 48cp | |
| STM91514 Core disciplinary subjects (Environmental Biology) | 72cp | |
| CBK90232 Electives (Science UG) | 24cp | |
| Total | 144cp |
Course diagram
Course program
The following example shows a typical full-time program.
| Autumn commencing | ||
| Year 1 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 65111 Chemistry 1 | 6cp | |
| 91107 The Biosphere | 6cp | |
| 33116 Design, Data, and Decisions | 6cp | |
| 91161 Cell Biology and Genetics | 6cp | |
| Spring session | ||
| 91123 Nature and Evolution | 6cp | |
| 91132 Molecular Biology | 6cp | |
| 60006 Scientific Perspectives for Global Issues | 6cp | |
| 65621 Environmental Chemistry | 6cp | |
| Year 2 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 91100 Urban Sustainability and Resilience | 6cp | |
| 91154 Ecology | 6cp | |
| 91168 Ecological Genetics | 6cp | |
| 91121 Aquatic Ecosystems | 6cp | |
| Spring session | ||
| CBK92069 Transdisciplinary Electives | 6cp | |
| 91270 Plant Physiology and Climate Change | 6cp | |
| 91155 Stream and Lake Assessment | 6cp | |
| 91159 Environmental Remediation | 6cp | |
| Year 3 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 91120 GIS and Remote Sensing | 6cp | |
| 91116 Australian Wildlife and Management | 6cp | |
| 91145 Environmental Protection and Management | 6cp | |
| 91309 Biodiversity Conservation | 6cp | |
| Spring session | ||
| CBK90232 Electives (Science UG) | 24cp | |
| Spring commencing | ||
| Year 1 | ||
| Spring session | ||
| 91161 Cell Biology and Genetics | 6cp | |
| 91123 Nature and Evolution | 6cp | |
| 65111 Chemistry 1 | 6cp | |
| 60006 Scientific Perspectives for Global Issues | 6cp | |
| Year 2 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 91107 The Biosphere | 6cp | |
| 91154 Ecology | 6cp | |
| 33116 Design, Data, and Decisions | 6cp | |
| 91168 Ecological Genetics | 6cp | |
| Spring session | ||
| 91132 Molecular Biology | 6cp | |
| 91270 Plant Physiology and Climate Change | 6cp | |
| CBK92069 Transdisciplinary Electives | 6cp | |
| 65621 Environmental Chemistry | 6cp | |
| Year 3 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 91145 Environmental Protection and Management | 6cp | |
| 91309 Biodiversity Conservation | 6cp | |
| 91100 Urban Sustainability and Resilience | 6cp | |
| 91121 Aquatic Ecosystems | 6cp | |
| Spring session | ||
| 91155 Stream and Lake Assessment | 6cp | |
| 91159 Environmental Remediation | 6cp | |
| Select 12 credit points from the following: | 12cp | |
| CBK90232 Electives (Science UG) | 24cp | |
| Year 4 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 91120 GIS and Remote Sensing | 6cp | |
| 91116 Australian Wildlife and Management | 6cp | |
| Select 12 credit points from the following: | 12cp | |
| CBK90232 Electives (Science UG) | 24cp | |
Honours
The Bachelor of Science (Honours) (C09168) is available to eligible students with an additional one year of full-time study.
Professional recognition
Australian Institute for Biology, Australian Ecological Society, Australian Society for Plant Physiology, Australasian Society for Ecotoxicology, Australasian Marine Science Association.
Other information
Further information is available from:
UTS Student Centre
telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
or +61 2 9514 1222
Ask UTS