Master of Science in Integrative Marine Ecology and Conservation

Capstone Courses (6 or 12 credits)

Select one of the capstone courses:

Elective Courses  (0 or 6 credits)

(Depending on the capstone course taken)

Student choosing the capstone dissertation course to fulfil the 12 credits beyond the core courses, are not required to take additional electives: 

Internship (6 credits)^,P, E

Science Communication (3 credits)^A,P, E

Environmental Policy (3 credits)^P

Environmental Impact Assessment (3 credits)^P

Note: Students may choose electives based on their interest but we identify recommended courses for specific career tracks.

^A recommended for an Academic/Research track

^P recommended for a Policy/NGO track

^E recommended for an Entrepreneurship/Industry track

IMEC7001 Ocean Biodiversity (9 credits) 

This course will serve as the basis for understanding the role of biodiversity in underpinning healthy and functioning ecosystems. Coastal marine ecosystems are studied with respect to how biodiversity is measured in these systems, the functions it serves, and the major drivers of biodiversity loss. Students will develop a fundamental understanding of the foundational role of biodiversity in providing services to the environment, economy, and society.

Assessment: Course work (50%) and examination (50%)

IMEC7002 Fisheries (9 credits) 

This course will lay the foundation for understanding of global capture fisheries and their management and sustainability. Fish biology will be studied in the context of quantifying maximum sustainable yield, and evidence-based stock assessments of targeted species. The course will also explore socio-economic considerations for both the developed and developing world, emphasising government subsidies in the former and food security in the latter. Students will develop a fundamental understanding of natural fisheries exploitation and management, and will and critically evaluate mechanisms for achieving sustainability and equity across the planet.

Assessment: Course work (50%) and examination (50%)

IMEC7003 Seafood: Mariculture & Trade (9 credits) 

As a natural extension to the Fisheries module, this course will highlight the past, present, and future potential of aquaculture and global trade, along with the challenges they face. Aquaculture will be studied in the context of a cost-benefit analysis with particular attention to 1) the merits of sustainable production to enhance the conservation of natural populations of exploited species and 2) the environmental costs of land and sea-based mariculture. This course will also focus on the global seafood supply chain with respect to the monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Students will develop a fundamental understanding of global seafood production and trade, and how technological innovation can improve the tractability of aquaculture and traceability of seafood products to the consumer.

Assessment: Course work (50%) and examination (50%)

IMEC7004 Conservation Genomics (9 credits) 

This course will provide students with state-of-the-art genomics tools for the conservation and management of coastal ocean resources. Topics include genetic connectivity of focal species; natural selection and local adaptation across dynamic environments; and the emerging role of assisted evolution in conservation and management. The major emphasis will be on understanding the principles of evolutionary genomics that underlie these analyses/concepts with a focus on the protocol designs, their limitations and the data interpretation. In collaboration with BGI, students will be introduced to the emerging technologies in the field and cutting-edge genomic science.

Assessment: Course work (50%) and examination (50%)

IMEC7005 Blue Carbon Ecosystems (9 credits) 

This course will cover the fundamental concepts of coastal biogeochemistry with emphasis on the elemental cycling of carbon and other nutrients. It explores how these cycles can be harnessed as ecosystem services, particularly focusing on Blue Carbon/Blue Finance vehicles for investment in climate adaptation and mitigation. The course primarily centres around examples from Blue Carbon Ecosystems (wetlands, mangroves and seagrasses) will be the focus of this course with a critical examination of major gaps in translating ecosystem functions into ecosystem services and constraining uncertainties relevant to the realisation of fit-for-purpose financial products. Students will develop a fundamental understanding of coastal marine chemistry and cycling, while being introduced to vital socio-economic considerations for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) frameworks.

Assessment: Course work (50%) and examination (50%)

IMEC7006 Sustainable Development and Engineering (9 credits) 

This course will focus on active restoration and engineering techniques that aim to restore healthy and productive coastal ocean environments. Students will be challenged to apply the foundational knowledge gained in previous courses to integrate environmental conservation goals into economic development plans. They will be introduced to the basic concepts of sustainable development and the important role of various stakeholders, i.e., business and financial sectors, local communities, civil society, government and academia.

Assessment: Course work (50%) and examination (50%)

IMEC8007 Dissertation (12 credits) 

All students are required to undertake a capstone course as either IMEC8007 or IMEC8008. The Dissertation course is an individual and independent research project carried out under the supervision of one or more faculty members. Students may propose their own topics and approach possible supervisors, or they may consider those topics suggested by Faculty members. Normally, students develop the research outline in collaboration with Faculty advisor(s), and then collects data, carry out analysis and write the reports prior to the research colloquium where they will present their work. The candidate shall make a formal presentation on the subject of his/her research during the second semester of the teaching programme. Substantial work, particularly data collection and analysis, is required in this course.

Assessment: Written report (75%) and oral presentation (25%)

IMEC8008 Project (6 credits) 

All students are required to undertake a capstone course as either IMEC8007 or IMEC8008. This is a group project (2-3 students per group) to be carried out under the supervision of one or more teachers. The topic and content of the project will be agreed upon individually by students and the supervisor(s), subject to endorsement by the respective course coordinator. Students may propose their own topics and approach potential supervisors, or they may consider those suggested by Faculty members. Apart from research projects, creative projects such as the production of field guides, books, websites, videos, apps about the environment, environmentally sustainable business models, technological innovations, and action projects such as waste upcycling, biodiversity conservation, environmental education and public campaigns are encouraged.

Assessment: Written report (75%) and oral presentation (25%)

IMEC7007 Qualitative Data, Social Science Methods and Decision-making in Environmental Science (3 credits) 

This course will introduce the social science and qualitative approaches in environmental science. It will introduce the historical context and philosophical foundation of different approaches to environmental sciences. The course will then adopt a case study-based approach introduce methodologies and methods. These include the ethical process, collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from focus groups, surveys, interviews and questionnaires. We will also discuss wider methodologies, including ethnographic approaches. Attention will be paid to the suitability of methods to research questions, how studies are conducted and what analyses are used. Students will also investigate how these data are or can be integrated into decision-making processes, including different tools that can be employed for decision-making.

Assessment: Course work (100%)

IMEC7008 Tropical and Temperate Marine Ecology Field Course (3 credits) 

This course utilises a field-based approach to equip students with an advanced understanding of marine and estuarine ecology in both tropical and temperate regions. Students will acquire scientific techniques in Hong Kong and then leverage the techniques to compare the ecosystems in Australia, gaining insights into their similarities and differences. The course culminates with students developing field-based research projects to unravel ecological questions, using creative and innovative thinking to overcome problems for successful outcomes.

Assessment: Course work (100%)

IMEC7009 Principles of Technology Entrepreneurship (3 credits) 

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the entrepreneurial process of the technology industry in general. The introductory course will go through the fundamental aspects of launching a technology entrepreneurial venture to complement the science and technology research and development activities. It will expose students to common practices in the venture development processes, such as opportunity identification and verification, technology transfer and commercialisation. Topics on legal subjects, e.g., intellectual properties and patent laws, and simple financing and strategic approach in the business plan will be covered. The course also features sharing sessions by entrepreneurs, providing valuable real-life insights into the technology industry and fostering an entrepreneurial mindset.

Assessment: Course work (100%)

IMEC7010 Professional and Leadership Development (3 credits) 

This course aims to increase students' awareness of important entrepreneurial skills and provide them with platforms to hone the essential skills required for success as a leader in an entrepreneurial venture One of the course components will facilitate self-reflectional and allow students to develop a practical sense of how diverse personalities and work styles can help build leadership capacity as well as foster stronger team collaboration.

Assessment: Course work (100%)

IMEC7011 Science-based Innovation Development (3 credits) 

Topics will include the identification of business opportunities from science and technology; the stages involved in the translation of science into a commercial product; understanding the challenges of translating scientific ideas into products; understanding the regulatory requirements for technology-based products.

Assessment: Course work (100%)

IMEC8009 Internship (6 credits) 

This course offers students the opportunity to undertake an internship related to integrated marine ecology in universities, NGOs or commercial companies under the supervision of an experienced Environmental Practitioner or Faculty member. Students are required to work for at least 160 hours for the internship during either the first, second or summer semester. During the internship, students need to conduct a desktop study on a topic related to the internship job duties, subject to endorsement by the course coordinator. The written report for the internship should include a fully referenced report for the desktop study, along with some sharing and reflection on the internship experiences.

Assessment: Course work (100%)

BIOL8022 Science Communication (3 credits) 

It is increasingly urgent that scientists effectively communicate their research findings to the general public to enhance scientific literacy and subvert pseudoscientific beliefs and misinformation in a ‘post-fact’ era. This course aims to equip students with a modern toolkit for effective communication of science while exploring other transferable skills related to professional development in the sciences.

Assessment: Course work (100%)

ENVM7016 Environmental Policy (3 credits) 

This course focuses on key aspects of environmental policy-making and the policy-implementation processes, such as the emergence and evolution of policy agendas, the shaping of policy outputs by environmental discourse, and the impact of institutions on the trajectories and outcomes of environmental policy measures. Making references to local, national and international cases of both successful and not-so-successful policies that pertain to the sustainable development agenda, the course also examines the theories and praxis of policy transfer and policy convergence, as well as the perennial problematics of policy integration, policy learning and policy failure.

Assessment: Course work (100%)

ENVM8006 Environmental Impact Assessment (3 credits) 

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the most important contemporary instruments of environmental management. EIA plays an integral role in many regulatory systems for the environment and is used widely around the world to identify the environmental impacts of development projects, strategic plans and policies. This course reviews the development of different approaches to EIA, basic analytical principles, administrative and legal systems for EIA, assessments at the project and strategic levels (SEA) and case study applications in Hong Kong.

Assessment: Course work (100%)