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Welcome to the home page of Oceanography 4335/5335 (2011)

Environmental impacts in marine ecosystems

If you are looking for my home page in the Department of Oceanography click here

(Time: MWF 1:35 - 2:25), LSC 3652

Professor: Jon Grant (4670 LSC, phone 2021)

Overview: Marine environments are subject to a variety of environmental impacts caused by resource extraction and utilization, as well as waste disposal. These impacts arise from oil and gas production, ocean dumping, coastal habitat alteration and eutrophication, effluent inputs, urbanization, shipping, fisheries, and aquaculture. This course will review the effects of these types of activities on marine environments, with a focus on ecosystem level influences including dispersion, elemental fluxes, benthic impacts, food webs, and biodiversity. Approaches to quantifying these processes and predicting impacts will be explored. Specifically, simulation modelling of impacts and ecosystems will be undertaken using Simile graphical modelling software as well as other tools. The course will examine practical solutions to environmental assessment, monitoring, and prediction using modelling, data collection, and analysis. Classes will include lectures, hands-on modelling, and discussion of research papers. Course requirements will consist of problem sets and a student modelling project. Prerequisites: BIOL 2001 Marine Diversity, BIOL 2060 Introductory Ecology, MATH 1000 Differential and Integral Calculus, STAT 1060 Introductory Statistics or permission of instructor.