Course details
MSc Ecological Assessment will help you develop skills in practical taxonomy, sampling and interpretation of ecological data in the context of environmental legislation. Habitat mapping, Appropriate Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment are examples of areas where these skills are sought by ecological consultancies and other employers. The course has been designed in consultation with industry professionals to provide personnel skilled in the ecological assessment of terrestrial and freshwater habitats. It is run in discrete blocks to allow those already in employment to continue their job in a modified form.
In addition to the fees, there is a two-day (one night) field trip to Killarney. You will arrange your own transport and accommodation for this trip. Purchase of textbooks is not compulsory, but certain books may be recommended for inpidual topics.
Course Details
The MSc Ecological Assessment will teach you key practical skills in the ecological assessment of terrestrial and freshwater habitats in order to meet a demand for personnel skilled in rigorous methods of ecological assessment. This applied course focuses on sampling procedures, skills in taxonomy, and the analysis, interpretation and reporting of ecological data.
Students take taught modules to the value of 60 credits involving lectures, practicals, seminars, workshops, fieldstudy and self-directed learning. Students will also undertake a substantial Research Project (AE6017) to the value of 30 credits in an area of Ecological Assessment for submission by September 1st in the academic year of registration for the programme.
Core Modules
Students take 65 credits as follows:
- AE6001 Ecological Site Assessment (5 credits)
- AE6002 Plant Identification (10 credits)
- AE6003 Habitat Classification and Survey (5 credits)
- AE6005 Quantitative Ecological Surveying (5 credits)
- AE6006 Legislation and the Natural Environment (5 credits)
- AE6017 Research Project (30 credits)
- BL6019 Ecological Applications of Geographical Information Systems (5 credits)
Elective modules
Students take 25 credits from the following:
- AE6007 Aquatic Invertebrates (5 credits)
- AE6008 Grasses: Identification and Sampling (5 credits)
- AE6009 Carabidae: Identification and Sampling (5 credits)
- AE6010 Lichens: Identification, Sampling and Biomonitoring (5 credits)
- AE6011 Bats: Identification and Survey (5 credits)
- AE6012 Professional Ecology Work Placement (5 credits)
- AE6013 Bryophytes: Identification and Sampling (5 credits)
- AE6014 Spiders: Identification and Sampling (5 credits)
- AE6016 Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) (5 credits)
- AE6020 Birds: Survey and Interpretation (5 credits)
- AE6021 Appropriate Assessment (5 credits)
There is a six-week work-based module if you wish to gain experience in the workplace. Further experience will be gained by the completion of a practical ecological assessment project (30 credits) which puts into practice the skills you have acquired on the course.
Course Practicalities
This is a full-time course run in blocks of with continuous assessment work completed in the intervening periods. Taught modules run from October to June with typically four to six days per month. There is a large practical component to many of the modules.
Assessment
Taught modules are assessed by a variety of methods involving: continuous assessment (reports, essay and seminars), written examination and the preparation of named biological collections. The practical ecological assessment project is submitted in the form of a written report and you will also get the opportunity to present a short seminar on the topic.
Updated on 08 November, 2015Course Location
About University College Cork
UCC was established in 1845 as one of three Queen’s Colleges - at Cork, Galway and Belfast. These new colleges theyre established in the reign of Queen Victoria, and named after her.
Queen's College, Cork (QCC) was established to provide access to higher education in the Irish province of Munster. Cork was chosen for the new college due to its place at the centre of transatlantic trade at the time and the presence of existing educational initiatives such as the Royal Cork Institution and a number of private medical schools.
The site chosen for the new college was dramatic and picturesque, on the edge of a limestone bluff overlooking the River Lee. It is associated with the educational activities of a local early Christian saint, Finbarr. It is believed that his monastery and school stood nearby, and his legend inspired UCC’s motto: ‘Where Finbarr Taught, let Munster Learn.’
On 7 November 1849, QCC opened its doors to a small group of students (only 115 students in that first session, 1849-1850) after a glittering inaugural ceremony in the Aula Maxima (Great Hall), which is still the symbolic and ceremonial heart of the University.
The limestone buildings of the Main Quadrangle (as it is now known) are built in a style inspired by the great universities of the Middle Ages, and theyre designed by the gifted architectural partnership of Thomas Deane and Benjamin Woodward. The iconic image of UCC, it is set in landscaped gardens and surrounds the green lawn known to all as the Quad.
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