Welcome to the School of Environmental Science

The School of Environmental Science focuses specifically on environmental science, one of the few schools in an Australian university to do so and the oldest, continually operating School of Environmental Science in Western Australia. In a recent independent review, the School was rated as ‘already in the top rank in Australia, and it has the potential to be acknowledged as the premier Environmental School in Australia’.

The school meets the needs of students with their different career and environmental goals by offering seven related undergraduate courses ranging from Environmental Science and Marine Science, through to Environmental Restoration, Environmental Management and Ecotourism and other more technology favoured courses.

Prospective students from year 12 school leavers and TAFE students to mature-age students seeking a career change are all catered for. We also offer two fourth year choices: the Bachelor of Environmental Science; a coursework plus project year with an applied focus; and a research (Honours) year.

A number of postgraduate qualifications including the Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma each in the specialist areas of Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management are offered. Our Master of Science (Environmental Science) is a one year coursework degree available to those wishing to upgrade their qualifications. Our postgraduate research degrees include Research Masters with Training, MPhil and PhD qualifications.

The School’s research areas encompass our seven major themes: air, land, water, biota, people, policy and technology. Specific research groups include:
• aquatic ecosystems,
• climate and atmospheric science,
• environmental technology,
• environmental education for sustainability,
• land management,
• marine management,
• nature based tourism,
• plant ecology,
• resilient regions, and
• sustainable agriculture.

The School’s expertise is being harnessed to provide solutions to environmental problems, as well as offering staff of industry and government agencies specialist training in environmental science and policy. School staff are also involved in an array of broader community activities including membership of government, community and NGO-based committees, media involvement and extension work.

Training courses run by the School have been tailor-made, and are not limited to Australian conditions as staff have interests and contacts in Asia, throughout the Indian Ocean region, and beyond.

The School’s well-equipped laboratories include facilities to study environmental problems through model simulations. Solutions can be tested on a small scale before application to the field situation, saving considerable time and money.

Research projects and consultancies are carried out with a wide range of national and state agencies, local government authorities and industries as well as international agencies. A comprehensive list of research projects and highlights from the various research groups are contained in this report.

Co-operative projects aim to improve industrial efficiency while protecting the natural environment, in addition to developing cost-effective approaches to preventing problems later on.

Through our student organisation MUEnSA [Murdoch University Environmental Science Students’ Association], the School supports a strong mentoring, work experience and social programme for students.

We encourage you to find out why studying environmental science at Murdoch is a truly rewarding experience.

Professor Tom lyons
Acting School Dean