UWA Handbook 2025

Minor Overview

About this minor

Environmental Chemistry covers the important link between environmental studies and modern chemistry practices. This minor includes a foundational unit in environmental science broadly introducing students to essential concepts in environmental chemistry. This Minor also will provide essential knowledge and understanding of chemistry in the environment and the influence chemistry has on the environment, whether it be through natural occurrences or man made. Students will undertake laboratory based detection of pollution (learning qualitative methods) such as extraction, precipitation and distillation which are standard for all environmental chemistry laboratory workplaces. They will also develop an understanding the influence that chemistry practices have on the climate and how to detect these chemical changes is a key to this minor. The Environmental Chemistry Minor will provide students with skills and relevant for employment in; government environmental agencies, analytical chemistry service companies, the fertiliser industry, the food and drink industry, mining, petrochemical and paper companies, organic fine chemical industry, the pharmaceuticals industry, polymers, petrochemical companies. Agencies and companies such as the Environmental Protection Authority-EPA, National Measurement Institute-NMI, ChemCentre, Shell, BP, Alcoa, Chevron, BHP, Epichem value the type of unit subject content delivered in first-year chemistry units. For students taking a minor which shares units with their other unit sets (majors or minors): in order for minors to be recognised on academic and graduation documents, students may only have a maximum of one unit overlapping between their unit sets.

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) analyse chemical data, develop and test hypotheses, interpret experimental results and present outcomes in oral and written formats; (2) write coherent laboratory reports using appropriate software as required. Use the literature to perform experiments and understand current practices in chemistry and environment; (3) solve basic chemical problems (calculations of yields, dilutions, stoichiometry in chemical reactions). Understand quantitative and qualitative chemistry practices.; (4) demonstrate general knowledge and understanding of the principles of chemical safety and the environment; (5) describe the global-scale processes that regulate climate, be able to critically assess both qualitative and quantitative environmental data to identify significant changes in environmental conditions; (6) evaluate the evidence for human-induced climate change associated with increased emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; (7) differentiate between climate change over geological time scales (e.g. 20,000 years) and more recent human-induced climate change
; (8) develop a broad understanding of the main drivers of environmental degradation from a scientific, social, cultural and economic perspective across local, regional and global scales; and (9) gain knowledge of the core environmental processes in terrestrial, atmospheric and marine systems that are relevant
in shaping the quality of environmental systems.

Incompatibility

MJD-ENVSC Environmental Science;

MJD-ENVDM Environmental Science and Management;

MJD-ENVEM Environmental Science and Ecology;

MJD-CHEMY Chemistry;

MJD-ECHEM Chemical Engineering;

Units