mar490 Current Topics and Methods in Marine Environmental Sciences (Vollständige Modulbeschreibung)

Students deepen their specialist knowledge in current areas of marine environmental sciences. They become familiar with modern investigation and research methods in marine environmental sciences. They acquire knowledge about the conception and implementation of environmental science research. You will be able to identify environmental science issues and problems and will be able to critically analyze and discuss results and topics from various areas of environmental science. They deepen their acquired knowledge through research and critically examine specialist literature.

The content is based on current developments in various areas of marine environmental science.
 

KO ICBM Marine Science Seminars

SE Geochemisches Seminar

SE ICBM Ocean of Ideas

SE Wetlands Conservation in the Anthropocene

Coastal wetlands are valuable but vulnerable ecosystems and landscapes, located at the boundary between the land and the sea. They typically encompass a mosaic of freshwater, saltwater and brackish habitats, are often characterised by high ecological productivity and provide critically important stopover, breeding and wintering sites for migratory birds. In the context of the Anthropocene, coastal wetlands face multiple challenges due to the cumulative impacts of anthropogenic pressures from climate change and sea-level rise to eutrophication, chemical and noise pollution. As a consequence, innovative conservation and restoration approaches are required. 

This seminar addresses the conservation challenges facing coastal wetlands in the contemporary context, focusing on two wetland sites in Europe, Donana at the southern Atlantic coast of Spain, and the Wadden Sea, at the North Sea coast of Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. The following topics will be addressed (among others): nature and naturalness in the Anthropocene; protected area management and societal values; conservation governance from the local to the global scale; the role of coastal wetlands in climate change mitigation and adaptation; and specific conservation and restoration challenges. A one-day fieldtrip to the Wadden Sea is planned for the final day of the seminar (weather permitting). The seminar builds on the lecturer’s longstanding research work on nature-society relations at the Wadden Sea, and a recent research visit to Donana National Park.  

Examination format: 

Participating students will work in small groups on assigned sub-topics. They will be required to present and defend their arguments for or against a particular conservation position (e.g. conservation measures can only proceed with the full support of local coastal communities) in a debate format. Please note that this specific examination format is chosen to reduce the potential for generative AI use.

Learning Outcomes:

· Students will gain an understanding of current conservation challenges facing coastal wetlands from an interdisciplinary perspective

· Students will gain new insights into the relationship between conservation, science and society.

· Students will sharpen and apply their critical thinking skills through engagement with key contemporary debates on nature, naturalness, conservation and restoration.

VL/SE Discussions on aquatic microbiology

Early Earth and diversification of life, Exploring the Microbial World, Metabolic diversity of microorganisms, Carbon cycle, Ecological diversity of phototrophic bacteria, Diversity of microbial Eukarya, Photosynthesis through evolution, Diversity of Archaea, Nitrogen cycle, Microbial Symbiosis, and Fate of Microorganisms in the aquatic environments.

Will be announced in the courses.

SE Wetlands Conservation in the Anthropocene (key literature to be completed):

Green, A.J. (2017) Creating a safe operating space for wetlands in a changing climate, Front Ecol Environ2017; 15(2): 99–107, doi:10.1002/fee.1459.

Kaden, U-S. et al (2026) European riverine and coastal wetlands under pressure: biodiversity and climate change, Nature Conservation, 62, 13-45, DOI: 10.3897/natureconservation.62.163636.

Mose, I. Liburd, J., Walsh, C., Trell, E-M., Sijtsma, F. (2025) Crossing Borders, Blending Perspectives: Trilateral Wadden Sea Explorations, University of Groningen Press, https://books.ugp.rug.nl/ugp/catalog/book/225

Reise, K. (2014) A Natural History of the Wadden Sea: Riddled by Contingencies. Wilhelmshaven Common Wadden Sea Secretariat.

Walsh, C. (2018) Metageographies of Coastal Management: Negotiating Spaces of Nature and Culture at the Wadden Sea, Area, 50, (2), 177-185, https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12404.

Walsh, C. (2021) Protected area management in a post-natural world: negotiated governance at the Danish Wadden Sea, Maritime Studies 20(3), 255-266.

je nach Veranstaltung unterschiedlich

This is determined by the lecturers at the beginning of the course.

1 graded examination

Presentation or seminar paper or oral examination or practical exercise or written examination as specified by the lecturer in one of the courses.

The examination can not be taken in the course "ICBM Ocean of Ideas" and “ICBM Marine Science Seminars”.

Active participation
Active participation includes, for example, the regular submission of exercises, the preparation of solutions to exercises, the recording of the experiments or practical work carried out, the discussion of seminar contributions or presentations of tasks or content in the course in the form of short reports or short presentations. This is determined by the lecturer at the beginning of the semester/at the beginning of the course.