Schedule

The teaching schedule for ENVT3362 Environmental Dynamics is shown below. Seminars run on Thursdays and practicals on Fridays. Assessment due dates are highlighted in the final column.

ENVT3362 : Environmental Dynamics

Teaching schedule · Semester 2, 2026 · Seminar: Thursday · Practical: Friday

Week	#	Weekly Seminar TopicThursday	PracticalFriday	Skill Development	Due Items
Wk 30 20–24 Jul	1	Environmental dynamics Introduction, concepts, model approaches, model conceptualisation, "systems thinking"	Assessing impact of a flow diversion	Scenario modelling in Excel Reporting style
Wk 31 27–31 Jul	2	Environmental analysis and modelling Nature and purpose of environmental modelling. Top-down vs Bottom-up. Using Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) to simulate changing variables (e.g. Quokkas)	ODE model of sediment bioreactions	Dynamic modelling in R Using the R tidyverse
Wk 32 3–7 Aug	3	Climate model fundamentals Planetary energy balance	Sensitivity of planetary energy budget	Steady-state model Using R baseplot
Wk 33 10–14 Aug	4	Forecasting climate futures Coupled climate and ocean models (GCMs). Forecasting climate change impacts	Ocean acidification forecast	Equilibrium model Using Python matplotlib and AI-chat	Working group registration
Wk 34 17–21 Aug	5	Catchments and water Water balance, land-use change and pollutant export. Project Introduction	Catchment land-use	Lumped modelling and management scenario testing	Assess 1 Weeks 1–4 due
Wk 35 24–28 Aug	6	Habitat and ecosystems Lotka-Volterra, habitat suitability and species distribution modelling	Ecological forecasting	Calibration and ensemble predictions
Wk 36 31 Aug – 4 Sep	Break	— Mid-semester study break —			Project topic registered
Wk 37 7–11 Sep	7	Rivers and coasts Transport and mixing in the environment	1D coastal pollution model	Spatio-temporal model and numerical methods
Wk 38 14–18 Sep	8	Project tutorial I Problem conceptualisation and hypothesis creation Working groups: marine climate ecology land water sustain	WQ time-series modelling	Machine learning	Assess 1 Weeks 5–7 due
Wk 39 21–25 Sep	9	Project tutorial II Conceptual model creation and data sourcing Working groups: marine climate ecology land water sustain	Lake ecosystem dynamics	Coupled-dynamic modelling and assessment
Wk 40 28 Sep – 2 Oct	10	Project tutorial III PYP: Pitch your project Working groups: marine climate ecology land water sustain	Limits of acceptable change	Scenario testing	Assess 2a Project pitch
Wk 41 5–9 Oct	11	Project tutorial IV Model hackathon Working groups: marine climate ecology land water sustain	Drop-in session	Discipline	Assess 1 Weeks 8–10 due
Wk 42 12–16 Oct	12	Project tutorial V Report writing Working groups: marine climate ecology land water sustain	No session	Stamina
Wk 43 19–23 Oct	SWOT VAC	— Study break (no classes) —
Wk 44–45 26 Oct – 6 Nov	Exams	— Examination period —			Assess 2b Model report