BIO3100 Advanced methods in field ecology
Faculty of Science
BIO3100 Advanced methods in field ecology is a level 3, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Science, offered in 2027 in Semester 2 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2027
- Semester 2
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 3 tasks
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Requisites
Before BIO3100
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After BIO3100
No unit lists BIO3100 as a prerequisite in the 2027 handbook.
Enrolment rules
PREREQUISITE: 12 credit points from level two BIO units or by permission of the unit coordinator.
Overview
Many ecologists work in consultancies, government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that deal with either generating or interpreting ecological data. Both data generation and interpretation require that graduates understand best practice approaches for sampling, monitoring and simple experimentation. In this unit you will encounter the hands-on practicalities of designing and carrying out robust sampling or experimental approaches in field ecology. You will learn about scales of replication, the issues around randomisation, effective controls, stratified sampling and maximising the inferential power of sampling regimes or experiments despite logistic constraints. This unit focuses on these issues directly, integrating fieldwork, data collection and analysis. You will develop your employability skills as you undertake a range of data collection approaches for working in various habitats and systems (e.g. plankton sampling in freshwater systems, insect sampling, vegetation surveys). The practical component comprises a field course during O-week, where you will work in groups on specific aspects of experimental design.
Offerings in 2027
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Second semester | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Report from field campDemonstration30%
- Proposed monitoring program projectProject40%
- Open book take home problemDemonstration30%
Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Evaluate how uncertainty and variation in ecological systems require rigorous designs in order to make robust biological inferences;
- 2
Apply different experimental and sampling designs to explore signal to noise ratios in biological data;
- 3
Optimise experimental and sampling approaches in real world settings;
- 4
Create fit-for-purpose experimental design approaches for collecting biological data based on varying resources;
- 5
Communicate the findings from ecological sampling studies in a robust but accessible way.
Workload and teaching
- Practical activities35 hours
- Workshops24 hours
- Teaching approachEnquiry-based learning
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachProblem-based learning
- 35 hours of field study;
- 24 hours of workshops, and
- 85 hours of independent study per semester
You will be tasked with designing a robust and rigorous environmental monitoring program, based on fixed budgets and various constraints, to maximize your capacity to detect an environmental impact should one exist. Through a series of workshops, as groups, you will work through the various steps necessary to create a robust program and then modify their program according to bespoke constraints to tailor their individual programs as necessary. This component will require ~24 of the 36 hours of workshops and will involve some asynchronous video lecture content as well as live lecture content.
You will work for one week on an intensive field trip based at the Jock Marshall reserve, which is situated on Monash’s Clayton campus. You will rotate through a series of projects or vignettes covering various habitats, sampling techniques and organisms.
You will be tasked with evaluating and critiquing environmental impact assessments that mimic real world programs. Through a series of workshops you will presented with various monitoring programs or experimental design and work through the process for evaluating their rigor and power before then providing an independent critique of the hypothetical impact assessment. 12 of the 36 hours of workshops will be focused on this problem specifically and will involve some asynchronous video lecture content as well as live lecture content.
Learning resources
Required resources
Laptop or electronic device.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Prof Dustin Marshall
- Unit Coordinators
- Prof Dustin Marshall
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for BIO3100?
BIO3100 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is BIO3100 offered?
In 2027, BIO3100 runs in Semester 2 at Clayton.
Does BIO3100 have an exam?
No. BIO3100 has 3 assessment tasks and no exam.