Co-ordinator Dr Scarla Weeks Dates See Calendar Location Heron Island Research Station Enrolment Short course students UQ Students - Course code Quota 40 Places Apply now Contact us

Course Outline

“Physical-Biological Oceanography – from Planet to Polyp” seeks to provide an intuitive understanding of the oceanographic and climatic processes currently affecting marine ecosystems,
and coral reefs, in particular.

During the first part of the course, students will explore the physical-biological linkage mechanisms controlling the dynamics of marine populations. The second part of the course will introduce the application of remotely-sensed satellite data to
understanding these mechanisms.

The scope of the course will be global - the knowledge and understanding acquired by the student will be directly applicable to all ocean regions, but greatest emphasis will be given to:

• the tropical Pacific - ocean basin scale
• the Great Barrier Reef Marine Ecosystem - regional scale
• coral reef complexes in the vicinity of Heron Island - local scale.

Course Experience

The course will be based at Heron Island Research Station and comprise lectures delivered by a multidisciplinary international team, tutorials, laboratory and field-based projects. The lectures will
include the basic “building blocks” of oceanography necessary to understanding the major environmental stressors currently affecting coral reef systems, as well as short-term climatic variability worldwide.

In the laboratory, the students will learn how to acquire, interpret and apply remote sensing and climatic data to answer environmental questions. Case studies will illustrate how environmental satellite data are used in monitoring and predicting bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. In the field, students will survey sections of the Heron Island reefs and gain an understanding of what features can be detected and monitored by satellite data.

Students will undertake individual or group projects, and will learn how to address an environmental question by combining remote sensing with fi eld data, gathered from the reefs.

Collaboration

This Course is a unique collaboration between Dr. Scarla Weeks from the Centre for Marine Studies, Associate Professor Stuart Phinn and Chris Roelfsema from the Centre for Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis, Professor Andrew Bakun from the Pew Institute for Ocean Science at the University of Miami, and Dr William Skirving from NOAA Coral Reef Watch.

Course Assessment

• Class participation: 25% (including tutorials & field work)
• Final presentation: 35%
• Written exam: 40%
  
  Assessment Criteria

Course Pre-requisite

Students entering this course are expected to have completed one semester of physics and one semester of calculus at university level.