PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES IN FIELD

The "practical activities in-field" laboratory represents the experimental validation of the knowledge acquired with the theoretical and practical in-laboratory courses. The activities of the in-field laboratory will be carried out in direct contact with environmental matrixes (rocks, soils, water and organisms) in a multidisciplinary approach, which includes the scientific areas of Earth Sciences, Chemistry, Microbiology, Animal and Plant Ecology.

The "practical activities in-field" laboratory aims to integrate the course of study in Environmental Sciences, allowing students to acquire fundamental skills to become future professionals.
In particular, students:

i) will learn how to perform a multidisciplinary study;
ii) will compare different experiences and scientific approaches applied to real environmental matrices;
iii) will learn how to use some in-field and in-laboratory sampling and analysis techniques;
iv) will improve their team working skills, also enhancing their communication and collaboration skills;
v) will learn how to organize and analyze environmental data and how to interpret the results with a critical sense, appropriate terminology and scientific accuracy;
vi) will improve their ability to write technical and scientific reports by producing a final report that demonstrates the achieved learning level, including the ability to organize, compare, criticize, synthesize and discuss the environmental data.

The student must have passed all the exams of the first year, except Environmental Economics and Environmental Law. The attendance of the laboratory courses of the second year is also recommended (i.e. Analytical Chemistry and Laboratory, Laboratory of Ecological Methods) as the knowledge and skills acquired in these courses will be applied during the in-field activities.

Some field trips are planned in the Falcade area (Belluno) aiming to perform in-field practical exercises within different scientific disciplines, such as Earth Sciences, Vegetation Science, and Ecology. Chemical and biological analyses of water quality will be also carried out. Some examples of serious hydrogeological instability of the territory are also discussed. In addition to the in-field experiences, seminars are given for preparing the in-field work and debating environmentally important issues. However, the planned in-field activities (and how to carry out them) could undergo variations based on the evolution of the pandemic situation.

Support materials (charts, handouts etc.) are provided for the students.

The students, divided into groups, will collect, analyze and interpret environmental data both from a disciplinary perspective and by highlighting the relationships between the various disciplines studied during the course in Environmental Sciences. The students of each group will write a collective report (one report for each group) which (i) presents the context of the area/areas of study, (ii) describes the in-field activities and their scientific basis, (iii) describes the sampling and analysis procedures and data processing, (iv) summarizes, synthesizes and interprets the obtained results, and (v) supports the interpretation of the results from an environmental point of view, discussing the data with critical sense and scientific accuracy, both in a mono-disciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective. The final report is assessed by the teachers and discussed with the students.

Conventional.
Lessons are held both in the classroom and in the field, compatibly with the legislative framework and the technical and logistical constraints due to the evolution of the pandemic. Classroom lessons aim to recall some basic theoretical concepts and to organize the sampling, as well as the interpretation of the data collected from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Italian

The students are taught a short course on personal protection devices and on the procedures for working in the field in safety conditions.

NOTE: Since the current uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is impossible to define a long-term or definitive planning of the activities that will take place during the "practical activities in-field" laboratory. Under this view, the teachers have drawn up a series of activities to be performed under several possible future pandemic situations. Teachers will continue to carefully monitor the evolution of the pandemic situation to guarantee students useful and, at the same time, safe activities.

written and oral