Environmental Studies

This course examines the impact of food policy and of regulatory framework on price, production, and trade flows, incomes, rural communities, the environment, agriculture, food processing, and retailing. Students in the course analyze the development and impact of food policy in Europe, the US, and in other selected countries. On completion of the course, students are able to: discuss the different approaches to policy analysis; employ different theoretical approaches to the study of food policy; describe contemporary food and agricultural policies in selected developed market economies; assess the impact of contemporary food and agricultural policies in selected developed market economies; and assess the implications of current policy developments for the Irish agricultural and food sectors.

This course examines the mechanics and productivity of a broad range of forest harvesting systems, as well as topics on forest access.

This course examines climatic conditions on Earth and their interaction with the environment and human society. It focuses on climate change and deals sensibly with questions raised concerning future climatic conditions and evaluation of their impact on environment and society as essential to understand the nature of the climate system and what causes it to change. In particular, the impact of human activities on the climate system are set in perspective alongside the background of natural changes in the climate of our planet. Issues associated with societal decisions taken today and their potential impact on climate over the next century are also discussed. 

This course provide students with the skills required to examine, describe and interpret sediments and sedimentary rocks for a variety of different purposes. This course examines the recent or ancient environment in which sedimentary materials were deposited, and the processes that control the production, movement and storage of sediment bodies. The various controls on the sedimentary record such as climate and sea-level change, as well as diagenesis and geochemical cycles, will be discussed. 

This course analyzes the relationship between urban planning and transportation systems in urban spaces. It studies tools, techniques, and methods for urban transport planning and management, as well as the impacts of transportation on the city. The course also examines sustainable mobility management.

This course examines fundamental concepts in conservation science. It covers different philosophies, perspectives, and disciplines used in setting priorities for managing biodiversity at all scales.

This course discusses the historical, ecological, geographical, evolutionary, and anthropogenic context for plant biodiversity in the Mediterranean Basin. It examines the richness of plant species in the different regions and environments of the Iberian Peninsula. This course also explores plant taxa, useful tools for differentiating botanical groups, as well as preparation of flora inventories, vegetation inventories, biogeographical analyses, technical reports, etc.