My primary undergraduate teaching responsibilities are in the Bachelor of Environmental Science (Marine Biology)
SLE265 Marine Botany – Unit Chair for both the Warrnambool and Waurn Ponds Campuses
SLE265 will allow students to explore key concepts in marine botany. Students will have the opportunity to learn how to recognise key characteristics of different groups of marine plants and identify and preserve specimens. Students will investigate the evolution and diversity of marine plants and the roles plants play in marine ecosystems, global carbon budgets, and aquaculture and commercial applications. The unit will provide interactive and hands-on laboratory, and field-based practicals, which will enable students to develop skills in recognising the influence of anthropogenic factors that threaten marine plants.
SLE266 International Marine Study Tour – Unit Chair and Study Tour Leader
This unit will take students on an international marine study tour where they will gain the opportunity for hands-on marine and/or aquaculture experiences beyond what they can participate in at their home campus. International tour destinations will enable students to apply and develop their learning about globalization, international cultural issues and the role of cultural diversity in how marine resources are exploited and managed. Students will engage with staff and students from home and partner institutions and develop skills in communication with a range of audiences. Students will be expected to work both individually and as members of teams to develop their skills in independent learning and effective team work.
In 2018 and 2019 this unit will be offered as a Marine and Aquaculture Science Study Tour to Japan with New Colombo Plan Mobility Grants ($3000 per student) to assist in supporting 10 Deakin and 10 University of Tasmania students to participate. Students will study marine science and aquaculture in Japan alongside academics from the Shimoda Marine Research Centre (SMRC) of the University of Tsukuba. The 19-day study tour to Japan will enable Deakin and UTas students to vastly increase their knowledge and understanding of Japanese marine and aquaculture science and the associated cultural challenges. Students will 1) visit Tokyo Fish Market 2) undertake a 5-day marine science intensive and research project in at the Shimoda Marine Research Centre of the University of Tsukuba, Shizuoka 3) actively participate in an International Symposium of Marine Ecology and Biodiversity of the Western Circum-Pacific Region with the Marine Plant Ecology Group at Tohoku University, 4) visit Minamisanriku and gain first-hand experience of the impacts of the 2011 East-Japan tsunami on fisheries and aquaculture and the associated communities, 5) visit aquaculture farms and processing factories and engage with industry representatives, and 6) participate in cultural activities that highlight the Japanese cultural connections to nature and the sea. This study tour will provide opportunities for 20 students to travel to Japan and visit these off-track locations in a safe and supported way through guidance by Dr Alecia Bellgrove who has significant in-country experience and Japanese language proficiency. Students from the 2016 NCP study tour reported that they found these experiences “life-changing” and “eye-opening” and gave them “the opportunity to visit parts of the world and meet people they would otherwise never be exposed to”.
SLE132 Biology Form & Function – Warrnambool Campus Co-ordinator
SLE132 introduces students to animal and plant biology. Students will explore the relationships between animal structures and their functions, and investigate the physiological processes that enable animals to adjust to environmental changes. They will also learn aspects of animal diversity and behaviour. As students progress learning in this unit, they will study the evolutionary diversity of plants, their structure and functions, morphology and growth, reproductive biology, nutrient acquisition and transport, and their applications in biotechnology, with an emphasis on flowering plants. Examples from other plant groups and the non-plant eukaryotes, fungi and algae, will also be used for comparison and as examples during discussion.
Dr Alecia Bellgrove 