Applied Geosciences - Faculty of Science, HKU - The University of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

GEOS8201 Applied geochemistry (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor MF Zhou (taughtby Professor MF Zhou and Dr XD Li)Principles and hands-on experience of analyticaltechniques including nebulization ICP-MS, XRF andXRD; Basics of Environmental Geochemistry, ChemicalWeathering, Clay Mineralogy, and Aqueous Geochemistry;Applications of Geochemistry to environmentalproblems; Case Studies, with an emphasis in Hong Kong.GEOS8202 Development andmanagement of mineralresources (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor MF ZhouTo provide students with knowledge about theclassification of mineral deposits and their basicfeatures; to understand the processes that lead totheir formation; to gain hands-on experience withmining procedures. Contents: concepts in mineraldeposits and mining industry; exploration and miningmethods, classification of mineral deposit, mineraldeposit models, magmatic oxide and sulfide deposits,skarn deposits, porphyry deposits, coal, oil and gas,resource evaluation.GEOS8204 Basic structural mechanics andbehaviour (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(taught by Professor HK Ng)The subject will cover most of the following: Behaviour ofstructural members subjected to tension, compression,bending, shear and torsion. Buckling of compressionmembers. Statically determinate and indeterminatestructures; including the concept of redundancy ofstructural members. Load transfer mechanisms ofstructural systems including foundations and shoringsystems. General behaviour and basic concepts in designof reinforced concrete members. Structural design offoundations and retaining walls.GEOS8205 Mathematics I (6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(taught by Mathematics Dept)This course will cover the following topics: elementaryand advanced calculus, matrix and vector algebra.GEOS8206 Mathematics II (6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(taught by Mathematics Dept)This course will cover the following topics: ordinary andpartial differential equations, introduction to probabilityand statistics.GEOS8207 Global climate (6 credits)Course coordinator: Dr ZH LiuProcesses in the oceans and atmosphere. Heating thesystem, development of ocean currents, winds, clouds,and resources. Effects of coupling, climate change,pollution. Atmospheric structure and composition,global ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns, ElNiño-La Niña and case studies of ocean-atmospherefeedbacks, formation of winds, storms and oceancurrents.GEOS8208 Climate change and theenvironment (6 credits)Course coordinator: Dr SH LiThe Quaternary Period comprises the last 2.6 millionyears of Earth history, an interval dominated by climatefluctuations and the waxing and waning of largenorthern hemisphere ice sheets. This course will coverthe many types of evidence used to reconstructocean and atmospheric conditions through theQuaternary.GEOS8209 Climate change and society(6 credits)Course coordinator: Dr J KingThis course will explore the role of humans in globalchange and the environmental responses to suchchanges. It will also take a look at human evolutionand migration from a paleoenvironmental perspective.Elective Courses selected from the MScin Environmental ManagementENVM7012 Environmental economics andanalysis (3 credits)The aim of this course is to equip students with the abilityto undertake an economic analysis of the environment. Itexamines the environment in the context of the marketmechanism and policies for improving environmentalperformance. There is an emphasis on market failureand strategies for internalizing the external costs ofenvironmental damage. A good deal of attention ispaid to cost-benefit analysis and methodologies forthe valuation of the environment. There will also be aconsideration of alternative policy instruments from aneconomic perspective. This course further examinesmeans of managing resources in a way that is botheconomically and environmentally efficient.
ENVM7013 Sustainability, society andenvironmental management(3 credits)This course begins with the intellectual debates onthe definitions, conceptions and different schools ofthought of the notion of sustainable development.The course then moves on to exploring ways ofanalyzing sustainable development at the macro- andthe micro- levels, ranging from governance issues,frameworks, policies to projects. A number of tools forsustainable development are also explained includingcommunity engagement, sustainability assessment, lifecycle assessment, etc. Each year there will be a specialfocus on a thematic area such as sustainable energy,low carbon living, or planning for sustainable cities, toillustrate the challenges of implementing both local andglobal sustainability.ENVM7016 Environmental policy (3 credits)This course focuses on processes of environmentalpolicy-making: how policy agendas emerge and evolve,the drivers and barriers influencing policy development,institutional structures for environmental policy-making,stakeholder engagement, and the implementation ofenvironmental policy. Theories of policy-making areexplored in relation to the environment and sustainabledevelopment. Environmental policy-making systems andoutcomes are reviewed through local and internationalcase studies.ENVM7017 Environmental law in Hong Kong(3 credits)This course focuses on the statutory interpretation of thefour principal Ordinances and subsidiary legislation dealingwith pollution in Hong Kong; namely the Water PollutionControl Ordinance, the Air Pollution Control Ordinance,the Noise Control Ordinance and the Waste DisposalOrdinance. Some consideration will also be given to theDumping at Sea Ordinance, the Radiation Ordinance, theMerchant Shipping (Prevention and Control of Pollution)Ordinance, the Environmental Impact AssessmentOrdinance, the Ozone Layer Protection Ordinance andinternational conventions effecting the law. Students willstudy the nature of environmental offences, includingthe requirement for proving “mens rea” (intent) inorder for certain offences to be successfully prosecuted.Students will also be introduced to the principles ofjudge made law (the Common Law) and will learn toread and interpret relevant case laws in order to betterunderstand the current sentencing policies towardsenvironmental offenders, both locally and in otherCommon Law jurisdictions.ENVM8006 Environmental impactassessment (3 credits)Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one ofthe most important contemporary instruments ofenvironmental management. Used widely aroundthe world to identify the impacts of developmentprojects as well as strategic plans and policies, EIAplays a key role in many regulatory systems for theenvironment. This course reviews the development ofdifferent approaches to EIA, basic analytical principles,administrative and legal systems for EIA, assessmentsat the project and strategic levels (SIA), and case studyapplications in Hong Kong.ENVM8011 Environmental auditing andreporting (3 credits)This course is dedicated to the construction of anintegrated environmental management system(EMS). The course considers the design of theEMS, its implementation and issues of continuousimprovement. Environmental auditing is dealt with inthe context of the systems-based approach. This courseexamines audit methodology, measurement and qualityassurance. The approach is extended to the auditing ofsupply chains (particularly in China). Emphasis is placedon practical approaches to improving environmentalperformance over time. Methods and techniquesof reporting on systems and auditing include bothenvironmental reports as well as social and sustainabledevelopment reports.ENVM8012 Environmental health and riskassessment (3 credits)Environmental risk assessments (ERAs) are a tool todetermine the likelihood that contaminant releases,either past, current, or future, pose an unacceptablerisk to human health or the environment. Currently,ERAs are required under various regulations in manydeveloped countries so as to support decision-makersin risk characterization or the selection of cost-effectiveremedial cleanup. This course introduces the theoryand practice of human and ecological risk assessments.Students completing the course will gain a soundknowledge of the concepts and principles of ERAs,management and communication as applied inpractice; understand the basic risk assessment tools(e.g. prospective, retrospective and tiered approaches)to environmental risk management; be able to selectand apply the simpler tools to tackle risk issues; andappreciate the interpretations of risk and its role inenvironmental policy formulation and decision making.
Page 1: Master of Sciencein the field ofApp
Page 5: GEOS7021 Geological fieldwork I (3

Applied Geosciences - Faculty of Science, HKU - The University of ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?