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Masters of Tropical Environmental Management

Special Features

The TEM courses focus on developing the skills and knowledge necessary to understand the ecology, use and sustainable management of tropical ecosystems.

They have the following special features:

Fieldwork

A number of the units offered in the courses include fieldwork and residentials, ensuring students gain first hand knowledge about these biologically rich and diverse ecosystems. Students completing these units have the opportunity to undertake fieldwork in the savanna woodlands and forests, a range of wetland systems and the semi-arid rangelands.

Contribution of Senior Professional

A special feature of these courses is the contribution made by senior professionals active in the field of environmental management. Representatives of government and non-government organisations are involved in lecturing and also supervise research dissertations. Lectures and field trips include discussions with the range of major land users in the region; Aboriginal people, pastoralists, mining companies, conservation managers, and the Army.

Flexible Learning Resources

All core units are taught using flexible learning resources. Most of the material is presented in self-paced learning mode, using online, print-based and CD-ROM formats. It is possible to complete a fully external Graduate Certificate by choosing only external units. However, some units have a compulsory field trip, and some lecturers provide voluntary tutorials and workshops for on-campus students. All core units are available externally, but you may use all the resources of the University campus if you wish.

To increase flexibility and the range of offerings, students also choose from advanced undergraduate electives at CDU (almost all of which are in Internal mode), postgraduate units offered by the Key Centre for Tropical Wildlife Management at CDU (Internal and External modes), and units offered by James Cook University in Queensland (External mode). Units are offered at JCU, with the support of the Tropical Savanna CRC, especially for these courses.

Much of the material is offered online or via CD-ROM, so External students must have access to appropriate computer facilities; these are available at CDU for on-campus students.