Induction

Induction to the course and the College includes a series of activities and events that take place mainly at the first week of term. These include:

  • Introduction to the MSc Environmental Technology by Course Director
  • Senior Tutor Welcome
  • Meeting with Option Convenor(s) and Introduction to the Option Group and its members
  • Lunch
  • Welcome talk to PGT Natural Sciences, Engineering, and Energy Futures students
  • First Meeting with Personal Tutor
  • Faculty and Department Welcome          
  • Energy Policy Theme
  • Sustainable Transitions Theme
  • Environmental Quality Theme
  • Env. Security and Governance Theme
  • Graduate School Welcome
  • Health & Safety Induction
  • Introduction to the Core Course & Alumni
  • Union Fair - An introduction to union clubs and societies
  • Computing Facilities        (ICT Induction) 
  • Individual Meeting with Personal Tutor
  • Sports Activities: An intro to sports at Ethos sports club and at venues around the campus
  • Quantitative Skills and Uncertainty         
  • Library Facilities
  • Individual meeting with Personal Tutor
  • Student Hustings                                                    

Reading List - Core Course 2017

This list is intended to indicate suitable background reading in subject areas in which you feel deficient or unfamiliar.  You DO NOT have to read everything and they are provided purely as a starting point for inspiration!  For each module you will find a text book or two plus some readily accessible online resources that might be of interest.  More suggestions will be made during the course.

Required reading – classic core texts

Three key books that were critical agenda setters of their day set out the historical context to the environmental and sustainability challenges we are faced with now.  The Core Course will enable you to update and critique these seminal works to provide you with a thorough understanding of the causes of environmental problems and the scope for potential solutions.  You are expected to have read these three classic texts (copies in the library or available online or to purchase) by the end of the Core Course because they will provide you with a solid foundation of understanding of the key issues (they are also potentially examinable as part of the integrating questions in the Core Course exams):-

  • 1.  Rachel Carson (1962), ‘Silent Spring’, Houghton, Mifflin, USA
  • 2.  Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers and William W. Behrens III, (1972), ‘Limits to Growth’, New York: New American Library (report to the Club of Rome) (the original not the 2002 update) available online http://www.donellameadows.org/the-limits-to-growth-now-available-to-read-online/
  • 3.  World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) (1987), ‘Our Common Future’, (aka Brundtland Report), United Nations/Oxford University Press.

Please note that, other than the three ‘required’ classic texts above, there are NO 'must have' books for the Core Course, since so much depends on an individual student's background.  Decisions on which books, if any, to purchase are best left until you have had a chance to look at them.  Recommended reference texts will be available in the library and/or as e-books or online.

Recommended reference texts

Per Module
 Ecology in Context
  • Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems, 4th Edition Michael Begon (University of Liverpool), Colin R. Townsend (University of Otago), John L. Harper (University of Exeter) ISBN: 978-1-4051-1117-1,  Paperback,  752 pages,  July 2005, ©2005, Wiley-Blackwell
  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change http://www.ipcc.ch/
  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) (2005)http://www.unep.org/maweb/en/index.aspx 
  •  Ecological Applications: Toward a Sustainable World. 2 007.  Colin R. Townsend ISBN-10: 1405136987 ISBN-13: 978-1405136983
Environmental Economics 
  • Field, B.C., Field, M.K. (2005, 2007), Environmental Economics: An Introduction: International Edition. McGraw-Hill.(6th edition now av ailable)
  • Hanley, N., Shogren, J. and White, B . (2001) Introduction to Environmental Economics, Oxford University Press, Oxford. (2nd ed now available)
  • Bized economics - a useful online resource that provides an introduction to core economics principles, particularly helpful if you have no economics background: http://www.bized.co.uk/learn/economics/index.htm

Environmental Law
  •  McGillivray, Donald and Bell, Stuart. Environmental Law (2013) (8th Edition) (Oxford University Press) (earlier editions available in the library as well)http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199583805.do
  • Environmental and Energy Law, Karen Makuch and Ricardo Pereira (Editors) (2012), Wiley-Blackwell, 676 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4051-7787-0 
  • The British and Irish Legal Information Institute is an online resource featuring access to UK, Irish and EU case law and legislation plus access to other selected worldwide sources: http://www.bailii.org/
  • Dr. Zen Makuch, the Environmental Law Module Convenor. will make an additional dedicated set of materials available to you as well. 
Environmental Policy and Management 
  • Dryzek, J (2005) The Politics of the Earth, Oxford University Press
  • Sheate, W.R. (2009), Tools, Techniques and Approaches for Sustainability: Collected Writings in Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, World Scientific, Singapore, 410pp.
  • European Environment Agency (2010) State and Outlook of the Environment (SOER) 2010 – available at http://www.eea.europa.eu/soer
Environmental Pollution and Control 
Quantitative skills and uncertainty