Convenor: A/Prof. Foster

This course applies the principles of biotechnology to answer the problems facing our global environment. The course is designed in consultation with industrial experts and consists of various subject fields, examples include:

	Marine Biotechnology What commercial products are developed from marine flora and fauna? What does the future hold for our threatened oceans and how can we, and why should we, save their precious ecosystems?
	Bioremediation What are the problems facing various ecosystems and how do they impact on our health? Can biotechnology be used to clean up environments polluted with organic and inorganic chemicals? Have you eaten fish from Sydney Harbour? If you have then you need to do this course!
	The Advent of Biodegradable Plastics Plastics are a ubiquitous necessity in our lives, but are they safe to use? Safe for our environments? Safe for our health? The answers may startle you and are certainly cause for concern, but does biotech have the answer?
	Biomining & Phytomining Industrial mining operations using microbial leaching accounts for over 26% of the worlds copper. What is microbial leaching or 'biomining' and why is it effective? How can recent advances improve the process? How can this plant make us millionaires?

There are approximately 10 subject fields with lectures delivered by experts in these fields including speakers from ANSTO, CSIRO etc. Students choose 4 of these to pursue further through independent learning. Assessment takes the form of an examination with this choice of subject fields and the team development of an 'Environmental Impact Statement' (EIS). The EIS focuses on application of bioremediation principles for clean-up a polluted site. Students form companies to prepare a competitive bid to address real-life problems. For example, our students knew about the heavy metal pollution in Sydney harbour and had developed strategies to remediate it 14 months before the news hit the press! Student feedback has consistently praised the course as both educational and fun!

Teaching Innovations:
BIOT3081 was designed in collaboration with environmental industries and government bodies including 3M, CSIRO and Environment Australia. The course is subject to continuous improvement from all stakeholders and features many teaching innovations designed to promote individual learning and skills requested by future employers. These innovations have been published after peer-review in the journal 'UNSW Good Practise in Learning & Teaching'.

In 2008, UNSW nominated the teaching team of John Foster and Russell Cail for a National Carrick Citation in Teaching for the innovations developed in this course.

If you would like to know more about BIOT3081, please see the entries for the course in the UNSW Timetable and Online Handbook.