Effects of environmental stressors on man and the environment. The course will use ionising radiation as a case study, but will cover protection and assessment approaches for any environmental pollutant, and students can choose their own stressor for their case study. Thus the course will be relevant for students within radioecology and other areas of ecotoxicology as it will enable them to put the models and approaches for assessing radiation in to contect with other environmental stressors as well as the protection of man from ionising radiation. Themes: Biological effects, hazard characterisation, dose-effect relationship, dose-models, RBE, biological endpoints, cancer, dose to biota, ecotoxicology, micro-dosimetry. Ecological Impact and Risk Assessment: Environmental risk, risk characterization, species sensitivity distribution, population dynamics. Countermeasures and remediation. Environmental ethics: philosophy and principles. ALARA and BAT principles, international politics and conventions

Students will understand the basis for evaluations of the ecological impact of pollutants on humans and the environment. They will understand the links between science and policy in the management of pollutants, and be able to identify the key uncertainties underlying ennvironmental risk assessment and management. The course will use ionising radiation as a case study to illustrate the various methods and approaches for assessing the effects and impacts of environmental stressors. But the approaches and methods are generic, and can apply to any environmental pollutant, and students can choose their own stressor for their case study. This case study will allow the students to apply the methods and tools learnt during the course to their a pollutant or stressor of their choice. Thus the course will be relevant for students within both radioecology and environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology. For radioecology students, it will enable them to put the models and approaches for assessing radiation into context with other environmental stressors as well as the protection of humans from ionising radiation. 

Under the two week course the students will have access to all guest lecturers - joint lunches etc. Each student will be assigned two "mentors" for their chosen assignment, who will follow them and offer advice during the writing period. The ERICA assessment tool part of the course will be supported by two teacher trainers to ensure all students get supervision during the hands-on part of the training.

Suter, A.J. Ecological Risk Assessment, CRC Press, 2006 Plus Handouts, research articles and reports.

MILJØ200 and either FM310 or KJM350

Attending 80% of lectures and practical demonstrations

Total 250 hours. 80 hours lectures/practical/demonstrations, 120 hours semester assignment, 25 hours self-study

Special requirements in Science

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External examiner according to NMBU regulations.