Field Methods in Ecology

The course will consist of a scenario that students will be required to address. The course faculty will represent the management teams of engineering firms responsible for conducting impact studies following a development project.

Students will take on the roles of experts from engineering firms and will be required to conduct analyses of the project area. They must submit a report on their environmental impact study, in which they will identify environmental issues and rank them by importance. They must also give an oral presentation of their study.

The course will consist of six 2-hour tutorial sessions at the beginning of the semester, during which the following topics will be covered:

Session 1: Overview of the EU; explanation of what an environmental impact assessment is and what is expected of such an assessment (this portion will be led by a professional whose job is specifically to review environmental impact assessments); overview of the designations of the areas under study: ZNIEFF, Natura 2000.

TD2–6: Overview of analytical methods for various groups of organisms (plants, arthropods, reptiles and amphibians, birds and bats, soil fauna, etc.).

For the rest of the EU, students will be required to propose research protocols that allow for an estimation of the potential impacts of the proposed project. The protocols put in place must enable the most accurate possible assessment of these impacts, and the research teams must include a budget for their activities. They will then have field sessions to implement their protocols, collect data, and analyze it. The faculty team will mentor the groups to guide them in their work. Students will write a thesis based on a set of guidelines provided by the faculty team. This final project must be supported by field data and data from the literature. Students will present and defend their work before the faculty team during an oral presentation.

Several study areas in Montpellier were identified for the project: Triolet Campus, Mosson River, Vallet Park, Downtown Montpellier, Méric Park, Lez Riverbanks, Lauze Garrigues…

- Fundamentals of ecology covered throughout the bachelor's program

- Fundamentals of statistics covered throughout the bachelor's program

- English

- Fundamentals of Field Ecology

- Fundamentals of Sampling Strategy

- Field Techniques

- Analytical method

- Writing and summarizing

- Time management, taking initiative, teamwork