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CLI8003 Climate, Food, Water and Energy Security

Semester 2, 2020 Online
Short Description: Climate Food Water & Enrgy Sec
Units : 2
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences
School or Department : School of Sciences
Student contribution band : Band 2
ASCED code : 050900 - Environmental Studies
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Rationale

Climate variability and change impact on natural systems, human and socio-economic activities. Security of food, water and energy are fundamental to human survival and impacted by changes in climate pattern and weather events on many temporal and spatial scales. Water availability and quality is important to economic activity, natural environmental and human health, and food production and agricultural productivity is intrinsically linked to water availability. This course is of interest to students planning to work in climate and weather depending industries such as agriculture, energy, health, finance, and resources, disaster risk management, or contribute to other industry policy and government decision making processes.

Synopsis

This course reviews the climate services provided by the applied climate sciences to manage the risks and benefits in the food, water and energy sector impacted by climate change, climate variability, and extreme weather events. The content of this course is delivered by world leading scientists working in the applied climate sciences and contributing to the rapidly expanding field of the climate services industry. The course will introduce the tools, models, and data in use and will highlight applications of these to manage the risks and benefits in regional and global food and water depending industries. This is a research-enabling course. Students complete directed activities enabling them to apply their knowledge in conducting climate system analyses and future research projects with focus on the food, water and energy sector.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students will have:

  1. advanced understanding of climate services in the food, water and energy sector
  2. expert knowledge of climate processes impacting food, water, and energy security
  3. proficiency in interpreting climate data
  4. ability to apply climate services tools such as data, models, and risk management strategies
  5. communicate technical information regarding food and water security in a variable climate through e.g. the delivery of climate outlooks reports

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Introduction to Climate Services in Food, Water and Engery Industries 10.00
2. Climate and Weather Extremes relevant to Food, Water and Energy Industries 10.00
3. Climate and Weather Data relevant to Food, Water and Energy Industries 10.00
4. Climate Risk Management in Food, Water and Energy Industries 10.00
5. Climate Services Data & Tools in Food, Water and Energy Industries 20.00
6. Climate Services Applications in Food, Water and Energy Industries 30.00
7. Presenting Climate Information in Food, Water and Energy Industries 10.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=02&subject1=CLI8003)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

There are no texts or materials required for this course.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Assessments 130.00
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 70.00
Online Lectures 10.00
Private ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 120.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
ONLINE QUIZ 1 10 10 20 Jul 2020
ONLINE QUIZ 2 10 10 17 Aug 2020
TECHNICAL REPORT 1 30 30 24 Aug 2020
ONLINE QUIZ 3 10 10 14 Sep 2020
ONLINE QUIZ 4 10 10 12 Oct 2020
TECHNICAL REPORT 2 30 30 19 Oct 2020

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students’ responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative items for the course.

  6. Examination information:
    NO EXAM: There is no examination in this course.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    NO EXAM: There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Referencing in assignments must comply with the Harvard (AGPS) referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (APGS) style to be used is defined by the USQ library’s referencing guide. This guide can be found at .

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:
1. conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.
2. forms part of Graduate Diploma of Science and Master of Science - Coursework and is benchmarked against the [choose one or all of the following]
o internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.

Other requirements

  1. 1. Computer, e-mail and Internet access:
    Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .

  2. 2. Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in this course. This includes knowledge contained in pre-requisite courses and appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect the same grades as those students who do possess them.

Date printed 6 November 2020