Muiner Lecture Room

The course introduces students to key concepts of wetlands ecology and management. It makes students appreciate services and attributes provided by wetlands and hence the need to manage them sustainably. Some of the concepts and issues are introduced and discussed in the field to enable students appreciate the wetland environment and associated management challenges. 

The course is designed to acquaint students with the development and key principles of Uganda’s environmental policy and legislation. Students will also be introduced to environmental torts. The course will acquaint students with the role of the environmental agencies in this field. Within this course, basic information will be provided about the nature of Uganda’s environmental law and policies in general. The course will then focus on crucial features Uganda’s framework and sectoral environmental law and policy (water, wildlife, wetlands, and forestry resources).

This course is designed to introduce students to assessment of hazards, vulnerability and risks. These are often difficult to apply in practical situations for a variety of reasons, including lack of understanding and data, different opinions as to the importance of specific vulnerabilities and risks, and conflicting social agendas. The course emphasizes understanding the theory behind these issues, the uncertainties in applying them and the barriers that are inevitably encountered which are crucial to becoming an effective emergency manager.

The course is designed to give students an overview of the most important principles of the chemical processes involved in environmental pollution. Pollution of the aquatic, soil and atmospheric environments will be considered. Specific pollutants such as pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, dioxins, surfactants and heavy metals will considered with particular emphasis on their sources, chemical properties, mode of action and fate in the environment. Assessment involves write up of lab and field work, production of a field log book and an end of semester exam

The course introduces students to the relationship between the urbanization process and the environment in developing countries. It helps students to understand the concept of sustainable development in the context of rapid urbanization. It explores the urban planning regimes and their applicability to urban environmental management. It further analyses the context of provision of various infrastructure and services in limited and competing space.

The course consists of two components: a Remote Sensing component and a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) component. The GIS component offers basic principles, knowledge, and skills needed to understand, manage, and handle spatial data. The Remote Sensing component is designed to introduce students to basics of data and information acquisition about the Earth’s surface from sensors with comparisons to ground based methods of data collection. Both course components are focused on the applications in Environment and Natural Resources management.