The taught component of this programme consists of eight modules and is delivered in four-week blocks with some variation:

Week 1: Reading Week

Students will review the prepared material for the following lecture week and have the opportunity to expand their fieldwork skills through workshops and fieldtrips prepared and delivered in collaboration with local conservation and wildlife organisations.

Week 2: Teaching Week

The module leader(s) will deliver 30-hours of lectures over five days. Students are expected to attend all lectures, workshops, seminars, and fieldtrips during this week.

Weeks 3 & 4: Writing Weeks

Students work independently to complete their assessments. Lecturers will maintain contact to assist with task supervision and the Programme Coordinator(s) will be on campus providing support in the form of assignment brief workshops, academic writing guidance, and one-to-one support.

Taught modules compose of various assessed elements, including oral presentations, reports, literature reviews, essays and in-class tests. Some modules also include formal exams. A significant proportion of the overall assessment is based on the research project, associated literature review and viva.

Week 2 of fieldwork modules consist of fieldwork training and research. The Island Conservation in Action module varies from this structure.

The programme culminates in the completion of a dissertation research project where skills and knowledge acquired over the academic year are applied. There is considerable scope for students to direct their own learning and develop a line of research that matches their interests and ambitions.

Dissertation projects can be completed in Jersey or globally. Projects with existing partners or funding support can be viewed here. Previous projects have been completed across the UK, Channel Islands, Greek Islands, Seychelles, Caribbean Islands (Antigua, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, etc.) and more.

This degree is designed to train current and future global leaders, managers, and policy makers in key principles in Island Biodiversity and Conservation. Through integral collaboration with key individuals and organisations in the fields of biodiversity and conservation, this MSc ensures the training you receive will prepare you for immediate employment or research in the UK and abroad. This includes:

• Prerequisite and gateway to PhD

• Academic positions in leading organisations and enterprises

• Environmental and conservation consultancy services

• Management positions in global conservation NGOs

• Management positions in public conservation government ministries, organisations and departments

• Management positions in other third sector conservation organisations and institutions

• Technical positions in conservation and sustainability consultancies, and international bodies such as IUCN

• Corporate Social Responsibility

Fieldwork Statistics and Experimental Design is a core module within any MSc programme. Sitting at the beginning of this course, it sets the foundation for the dissertation project undertaken in semester 2 and emphasises a rigorous approach to both biotic and abiotic data collection and statistical description and analysis.

This module is delivered by Professor Thomas Hesselberg (University of Oxford).

The Island Biogeography module focuses on different island types and their origins, including the role of past events (continental drift, Pleistocene glaciations, volcanism etc.) in shaping island geography and biotas. This module explores, in depth, the geographical, biological, and ecological determinants of arrival and establishment occurring in both animal and plant colonisation processes. Key island biogeography theoretical models, and composition of past and present island biodiversity and the lessons we can learn for reserves delimitation are also explored.

This module is delivered by Professor Robert Whittaker (University of Oxford).

This module is divided into two sections. The first focusing on the ecological processes occurring on islands, including species impoverishment, disharmony and relictualism that created a scenario of attenuated interspecific competition yielding to issues including species relaxation, ecological release or density compensation. The second part examining palaeoecology methods and the results of the reconstruction of ecological scenarios that existed in different oceanic islands in the near and remote past, and the conditions that have been created current biodiversity composition and distribution.

This module is delivered by Dr Anna Traveset (Spanish National Research Council) and Dr Sandra Nogue (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona).

This module introduces the island evolutionary processes that have led to the biodiversity recorded across islands today, particularly oceanic islands. It explores animal and plant radiations, fundamentals of natural selection, genetic drift, and the geographic and genetic ways of understanding speciation. It also analyses island syndromes and the origins of prominent evolutionary transformations including gigantism, dwarfism, woodiness, loss of dispersal ability and more.

This module is delivered by Professor José María Fernández-Palacios (University of La Laguna).

Divided into two sections, this module covers (1) the threat alien species on island ecosystems and the consequences of species introduction, and (2) ongoing extinction patterns on islands in a natural (e.g. volcanic) and anthropogenic (e.g. habitat destruction, transformation, and fragmentation) context.

This module is delivered by Professor Julia Fa (University of Gibraltar and Manchester Metropolitan University) and Professor Kostas Triantis (University of Athens).

Divided into two sections, this module covers (1) strategies and policies in conservation biology, with an emphasis on the role of NGOs and public administrations, and (2) key legislation concerning conservation including major international agreements. This module explores the fundamentals and history behind relevant conservation biology concepts, including red lists, protected area networks, and species catalogues in addition to understanding the obligations and context of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Bern Agreement, and CITES.

This module is delivered by Dr Nathan Gregory (Irvine Ranch Conservancy) and Claudia Martans LLM.

This module links the fundamentals of climatology and climate change with island climates across varying latitudes. The impacts of climate change on terrestrial island biodiversity are reviewed with a focus on understanding the evidence used to predict climate change impacts on biodiversity (statistical modelling, simulation, experimental approaches etc.). Direct (e.g. changing precipitation patterns) and indirect (e.g. community displacement) effects on both island biodiversity and island communities will also be discussed.

This module is delivered by Professor Stefano Moncada (Islands and Small States Institute).

Island Conservation in Action is a 10-day field trip delivered in Tenerife (Canary Islands). Students work alongside staff and students at the University of La Laguna to gain a deeper understanding of the environmental issues related to mass tourism and land-management in Tenerife. This intensive module is packed with visits to protected areas, conservation institutions, UNESCO world heritage sites, and Teide National Park putting the theories and issues discussed throughout the course into context.

This module is delivered by Professor Robert Whittaker (University of Oxford) and supported by Professor José María Fernández-Palacios (University of La Laguna).