Geography, Environment and Population is on Facebook

1. Geography, Environment and Population is on Facebook Join our group at: www.facebook.com/groups/AdelaideUniGeography

2. Discipline information session Dr John Tibby Senior Lecturer Geography, Environment and Population john.tibby@adelaide.edu.au twitter: @john_tibby Field work on Nth Stradbroke Island

3. Today… • What is Geography, Environment and Population? • What is the course content at level 1? • What do some Upper level courses have to offer? • Will it be useful in getting a job?

4. Core areas of study: • Human Geography • Physical Geography • Major foci in Discipline: • Population and migration • Environmental and climate change • Environmental management • Environment and development • Environmental economics • Underpinned by both theory and practical skill development

5. Teaching/lecturing Applied outcomes (jobs & policy) Research • Staff profile • (relatively) young, new, enthusiastic • debates in Advertiser about congestion charge • advice to SA, Australian government, UN on population • major report on climate change in Mt Lofty Ranges • scientific advice on water management

6. Teaching and Research Focus • Environmental change at local, national and global scales. Environmental change – encompassing social forces and biophysical processes – is rapidly altering our cities and suburbs, regional and rural landscapes, our natural heritage and biodiversity, as well as important political and economic aspects of the world as a whole.

7. 1st Year courses: • Globalisation, Justice and a Crowded Planet • Footprints on a Fragile Planet • Population and Environment in Australia • Economy, Environment and Place Globalaverage temperature Australian Population in 2006

8. Footprints topics include… • Climate change • Health of the Earth’s oceans • Impacts of Aboriginal people on the Australian environment • Species loss in Australia and around the world

9. Answering tough questions • Should Lake Alexandrina be flooded with sea water? • Should Australia have a nuclear power industry? • Does Adelaide need a desalination plant? • Is the current drought natural? Low water levels in Lake Alexandrina

10. Field research Students doing water quality testing Learning first hand from the Upper River Torrens Landcare group

11. Population and Environment in Australia • This course focuses on the important and complex two way relationship between Population and Environment and explores the implications for Australia’s future. • It examines the contemporary dynamics of population growth, composition and spatial distribution and the role environmental factors have had in shaping Australia’s population. Equally too the impact of population on environment is examined . • It explores the changing spatial distribution of the population together with issues like urbanisation, ‘sea change’ and rural depopulation and their inter-relationship with the environment and future issues associated with climate change. • It assesses the impact of internal and international migration in changing the size, structure and distribution of Australia’s population.

12. A Complex Interrelationship: Population, Environment, Resources and Development

13. Population and Environment in Australia Distribution of Australian Population in 2006Source: ABS year book 2008 Distribution of Indigenous Population in 2006Source: ABS year book 2008

14. Globalisation, Justice &a Crowded Planet

15. Globalisation, Justice & a Crowded Planet Focus • Increasing interconnections across the globe Aim • to develop students critical understanding of the key processes of globalisation and evaluate their impacts.

16. Globalisation, Justice &a Crowded Planet • The questions we consider… • What do we mean by Globalisation? Is it a new phenomenon? • How are local places connected into global processes? • What are the impacts of globalisation on people and the places they live in?

17. Economy, Environment and Place • Designed to generate a sound understanding of the interface between human economic activities, the natural environment and place. • The course introduces economic concepts, principles and thoughts, which are regarded as a toolkit to interpret and diagnose contemporary environmental and social problems and prescribe appropriate policy responses to these problems.

18. Economy, Environment and Place Lecture topics • Economic systems and utilitarianism • Resource scarcity and opportunity cost • Economic decision-making and environmental degradation • Environmental externalities • Environmental problems and prisoner’s dilemmas • Comparative environmental policies in the Asia-Pacific Region • Economic growth, unemployment and income inequality • Ecologically sustainable economic growth

19. Assessment? • Varies, but 1st year courses all have: • Exam • Essay or field report • Smaller tasks (e.g. quizzes, workshop exercises, marks for participating)

20. Advanced level courses At least 8 courses over 2 years (3 units each) • Environmental Management • Urban Futures • Resource Scarcity and Allocation • Social Science Techniques • Environment and Development • Introductory Geographic Information Systems • Biogeography & Biodiversity Conservation • Climate Change • Population & Health • Global International Migration • Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment • Environmental Change • Managing Coastal Environments • Governance & Sustainable development • Geographies of Food and Agriculture • Principles of Environmental Economics • Environmental Policy and Management Internship 

21. Human Geography Environmental Management Physical Geography • Globalisation, Justice and a Crowded Planet (1st Year) • Population and Environment in Australia (1st Year) • Environment and Development • Global International Migration • Mobile Spaces, Mobile Societies • Population & Health • Governance and Sustainable Development • Urban Futures • Foucault, Space and Social Sciences • Housing Policy and Practice in Australia • Economy, Environment and Place (1st Year) • Environmental Management • Governance & Sustainable Development • Geographies of Food and Agriculture • Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment • Managing Coastal Environments • Resource Scarcity and Allocation • Footprints on a Fragile Planet (1st Year) • Biogeography & Biodiversity Conservation • Climate Change • Environmental Change • Skills and Techniques Courses • Introductory Geographic Information Systems • Advanced Geographic Information Systems • Applied Population Analysis • Social Science Techniques • Environmental Policy and Management Internship (6 units, 3rd year)

22. Governance and Sustainable DevelopmentDr Thomas Wanner • Governance can be understood as the rules, mechanisms, processes and institutions through which important decisions are made and implemented. Effective governance is seen necessary for achieving sustainable development which promotes ecological, economic and social sustainability. • This course explores the crucial link between governance and sustainable development by looking at such issues as urban governance and sustainability; reflexive governance and learning; gender and governance; e-governance and sustainability; and global ecological governance in particular in regard to climate change

23. Climate Change Dr John Tibby • How much has, and will, climate changed? • What are the best responses at local to global scale?

24. Biogeography & Biodiversity ConservationDr Douglas Bardsley • What are the major patterns of biological diversity? • How and why do we conserve it?

25. Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the systematic process of assessing the potential environmental impacts of major development proposals. • This course explores, using many case studies from Australia and the world, the various legislative requirements and methods of using EIA as a tool for effective environmental management and sustainable development • It critically assesses the usefulness, strengths and limitations of the EIA process

26. Resource Scarcity and Allocation • This course examines how society makes decisions about the allocation of scarce resources when human desires for the use of the resources are limitless. • The primary concern of the course is over the economically efficient and ecologically sustainable allocation of non-renewable and renewable natural resources. • Natural resources are allocated among people, contemporarily or inter-temporally, or intra-nationally or internationally.

27. Opportunities while you’re here • Study abroad in New York, Canada, Spain, Glasgow, Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, Chile, Italy, France, etc. – over 100 overseas partnerships to choose from • Internships –to gain hands-on experience, credit and links to potential employers working on a research project together

28. What sort of job could I get?… this is a huge and crucial growth area • Government • Private Sector • Environmental Agencies • Research • Project Management • Consultation / Planning • Policy Writer / Analyst • Media • Teaching • Skills you’ll take with you • Critical thinking and analysis • Problem Solving • Planning skills • Team / fieldwork • Developing strategies

29. Government environment jobs 2007-2011 www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/green-public-sector-on-the-rise/story-fn59niix-1226095589075

30. Is this you?

32. Other useful info... • Our Facebook group: • www.facebook.com/groups/AdelaideUniGeography • Undergraduate co-ordinator • Jungho.suh@adelaide.edu.au • Discipline administrator • Ryan.higgins@adelaide.edu.au

33. Geography, Environment and Population In conclusion…To keep your options open, do a general degree and pick and choose coursesThanks and questions?