University of Edinburgh

The course is an introduction to the factors determining the distribution and patterns of abundance of organisms, and which relate plant and animal populations to their environment. It includes the physiological ecology of plants and animals, the life history strategies by which organisms adapt to their environments, trophic ecology and the ecological significance of the niche, biodiversity, and co-existence. The course provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject from the first principles of ecology to a reflection of our understanding of ecology in the 21st century.

This course sets out from the seminar room to explore the city of Edinburgh, on foot, and online. It offers students a unique opportunity to engage with the contemporary city as a site for new ideas, designs and methods. The course responds creatively to Edinburgh's various sites and routes, bringing together students from across the university to work in interdisciplinary teams.

Access to modern energy is seen as fundamental to reducing poverty, and improving education, livelihoods and health across the global south. Yet in the context of climate change and the UN's sustainable development goals the question of what kind of energy is appropriate for whom has become more important than ever. Meanwhile, the quest for new reserves of fossil fuels and attempts to increase the use of alternative energy is transforming relationships between the global south and the global north.
This course approaches the study of energy, fuel and electricity in Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the Pacific as the study of social, cultural and political change. We will explore both the role of energy in post-colonial projects of nationalist modernization and the place of energy in contemporary projects of socio-economic development. Students explore the social and cultural politics of oil, coal, hydroelectricity, wind, and solar. And they shift focus between big infrastructure projects, like dams and coal plants, designed to generate electricity for people living on the grid to small, decentralized infrastructures projects designed for those living off the grid.