The residential field course gives students the opportunity to improve their plant and animal identification and survey skills by contributing to a long-term research project in a rural location. The field course is held after all other formal classes are completed and is used in an integrative sense: to pull together many of the differing strands of the taught work. In addition to identification and survey, the theme of human influence on the landscape will be discussed as will attempts to soften the impact of agriculture through agri-environment programmes.

100% 3000-word report in the style and format of a popular journal (such as British Wildlife )
To assess both outcomes

Additional Assessment Details (including formative feedback / assessment):
Students may submit a draft copy of assessments for formative feedback

48 hours of contact time in the field (6 x 8h days) in discussion and survey work

102h of literature research, data analysis and assignment preparation and production

Field, A. (2009) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS 3rd Edition, Sage Publications
Krebs, C.J. (1998) Ecological Methodology 2nd edition, Addison, Wesley, Longman (Pearson Education)
Southwood, T.R.E. & Henderson, P.A. (2000) Ecological Methods 3rd Edition, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford
Sutherland, W.J. (2006) Ecological Census Techniques, Blackwell, Oxford

Field course base
Survey and sampling equipment
Library
IT equipment including statistical software (SPSS, Minitab)