Using internship placements to road test threshold learning outcomes for environment and sustainability

In 2015 the threshold learning outcomes (TLOs) for Australian bachelor degree graduates in the discipline of Environment and Sustainability were released.  This study road tested the Environment and Sustainability TLOs in the workplace via environmental science students’ internship placement. The study, which incorporated surveys of host-supervisors, students and teaching staff, was conducted over four years. The surveys enabled comparisons between the performance expected of a new graduate by employers with the level of performance students achieved while on placement. Overall, hosts expect new graduates to be ‘Capable’ performers (2.8 on a 5 point scale). Host-supervisors also rated the overall performance of interns as ‘Capable’ (3.4/5). Expected performance of a new graduate for individual TLOs was compared with the performance of interns. Students exceeded the expectations of host-supervisors for all TLOs. In contrast, teaching staff rated the performance of students lower than students themselves and host-supervisors. Fundamental differences in the way students are assessed in the workplace and the classroom may account for the difference in perceived student performance. The results of the surveys can be used as evidence that the degree is meeting the needs of industry and for graduates to undertake professional work in the Environment and Sustainability discipline. The methodology has the potential to be used in any discipline that has published TLOs. The authors recommend that the Australian Qualifications Framework is reviewed and a rubric that describes student behaviour is used rather than vague terms such as ‘well developed’

Risk assessment and ecotoxicology: limitations and recommendations for ocean disposal of mine waste in the Coral Triangle

Mining is an important contribution to the economy of many developing tropical regions. Many sites of mining interest in the tropics have island geographies and potentially limited land area. While the limited land area may drive consideration of tailings disposal to the ocean, it is important to recognize that local communities depend on the ocean as a major supplier of dietary protein. Impact assessment of tailings disposal to the ocean is usually limited by budgets and time frames that result in a limited capacity to understand longer-term risks to food chains and marine ecosystems, including the interactions between deeper- and shallower-water ecosystems. This article reviews three factors—tailing characterization, ecotoxicology, and bioaccumulation/biomagnification—in relation to the current application of these methods to risk assessment of submarine tailings disposal (STD), and it identifies ways to improve current practices. A decision-tree approach has been developed specific to STD risk assessment for implementation at the pre-proposal stage of a project. This decision tree highlights the urgent need for development and application of suitable and relevant risk assessment tools for tropical marine environments and identifies opportunities for intergovernmental standards for risk assessment of marine disposal of mine tailings within the framework of the Coral Triangle Initiativ

Trace metals in the living and nonliving components of scleractinian corals

Trace metals in coral tissue and skeleton have been investigated in various ways since the early seventies. More recently it has been suggested that the symbiotic zooxanthellae may play an important role in the accumulation and regulation of trace metals. Furthermore gamete development and mucus production may influence the metal accumulation and loss in corals. Many studies have attempted to use the annual growth bands in coral skeletons to investigate historical pollution events. However the relationship between the metal concentrations in the surrounding environment and the incorporation of this into coral skeleton is not well understood. This paper explains a method for investigating metal loads in coral tissue, zooxanthellae and skeleton. Furthermore, it presents new information suggesting that zooxanthellae accumulate most metals (Al, Fe, As, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) in greater concentrations than the coral tissue. Coral skeletons had consistently lower metal concentration than the zooxanthellae, tissue and gametes. The loss of zooxanthellae during stress events may have a significant contribution to the total metal loads in corals. The use of corals as biomonitors should carefully factor in zooxanthellae densities and gamete development before conclusions are drawn

The effects of metals of emerging concern on the fertilization success of gametes of the tropical scleractinian coral Platygyra daedalea

The demand for nickel and cobalt as important commodities has increased significantly over the past decade and a decline in the global nickel sulphide reserves has resulted in a shift toward the exploitation of the less favourable nickel laterite ores. These deposits, which are found associated with cobalt, are located predominantly in the tropical regions of the world where there is limited understanding of the toxicities of their extracted products and wastes. This study investigated the effects of nickel, cobalt and combinations of nickel and cobalt on the fertilization success of the common and widespread scleractinian coral Platygyra daedalea. We also present the first assessment of the effect of copper on fertilization success of this species. The EC50 value for copper was 33 μg L−1 (95% confidence limits: 30–37 μg L−1) and is consistent with published values for other coral species. Our results provide the first EC50 value for the effect of nickel on fertilization success in a scleractinian coral, with an estimated value of 1420 μg L−1 (95% confidence limits: 1160–1780 μg L−1). Concentrations of cobalt as high as 2500 μg L−1 did not significantly reduce fertilization success nor did combinations of nickel (500 μg L−1) and cobalt (up to 1000 μg L−1). These are important findings given the emerging nickel-cobalt mining industry in the tropics and provide much needed toxicity data regarding the early-life histories of ecologically relevant tropical marine species

Connecting silos: inviting art and science interactions

In tertiary education in Australia there are often clear divisions between disciplines defined by hierarchy that is established for administrative purposes. These purposes often conflict with notions of trans-disciplinary study by creating an environment of competition rather than one of collaboration. Through this project we brought together science and art by developing a ‘hands on’ workshop where scientists and artists explored tools and techniques from unfamiliar disciplines. Collaborative projects and self emersion post workshop resulted in an exhibition of outcomes. The development of these outcomes challenged both artists and scientists to explore their discipline boundaries and connectivity by using tools and knowledge in unique ways

The effect of copper, zinc and cadmium on fertilization success of gametes from scleractinian reef corals

Fertilization success of gametes from the scleractinian coral Goniastrea aspera was used to determine toxic effects of the trace metals copper, zinc and cadmium. Spawned eggs and sperm were collected from adult colonies of G. aspera and dosed separately with different concentrations of copper, zinc or cadmium, with normal seawater used as controls. The eggs and sperm were then combined to allow fertilization to occur. After 5 h development time, the number of fertilized and developing embryos and unfertilized eggs were counted and recorded to determine percentage fertilization. Copper was the most toxic metal, whereas cadmium and zinc did not affect fertilization success at the concentrations tested. High fertilization rates of 91% ± 3.2% and 93% ± 4.0% were recorded in the copper controls and in 2 μg/l of copper, respectively. However, fertilization success was significantly reduced to 41% ± 7.1% at 20 μg/l of copper, and \u3c1% fertilization occurred at 200 μg/l of copper. In contrast, high fertilization rates were recorded in controls and in all concentrations of cadmium up to 200 μg/l, and in all concentrations of zinc up to 500 μg/l. Additional work on gametes from the reef coral Oxypora lacera showed no decrease in fertilization success up to 1000 μg/l of cadmium. These data are the first to show that relatively low concentrations of copper significantly affect fertilization rates of spawned gametes of reef corals from the Great Barrier Reef

Development of a sublethal test to determine the effects of copper and lead on scleractinian coral larvae

A new sublethal toxicity test was developed in this study to measure the effect of copper and lead on the motility of coral larvae. Larval motility was significantly affected by copper and lead doses immediately after dosing. The copper EC50 values for motility of Goniastrea aspera brain coral larvae (12 h, 21 μg/L; 24 h, 16 μg/L; 48 h, 22 μg/L) were much lower than the copper LC50 values for G. aspera larval survival (6 h, 260 μg/L, and 24 h, 121 μg/L, for 5-day-old larvae and 6 h, 248 μg/L, and 24 h, 136.64 μg/L, for 6-day-old larvae) during the early part of the experiments. However, at later times, the LC50 values (48 h, 40 μg/L, for 5-day-old larvae and 48- h, 87 μg/L, for 6-day-old larvae) were similar to the EC50 values for larval motility. The lead 72-h EC50 value for G. aspera larval motility (2900 μg/L) was much lower than the lead 72-h LC50 value for larval survival (9890 μg/L). The results show that larval motility can be a useful parameter to measure in order to determine the sublethal effects of trace metals on coral larvae

Effects of copper on the fertilization success of the soft coral Lobophytum compactum

This study provides the first information on the effects of various concentrations of copper on the fertilization success of gametes from the soft coral Lobophytum compactum. Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of copper on fertilization success during the mass coral spawning in 2004 on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The results from the first experiment showed a surprising resistance to copper with control treatments showing 90% fertilization compared to 65% fertilization in measured copper concentrations up to 132 μg/L. Copper concentrations of 69 μg/L and higher resulted in significantly reduced fertilization success when compared to the controls. Copper doses were increased in experiment 2 and the EC50 value for copper effects on fertilization success was 261 μg/L (208–328 μg/L, 95% confidence limits). In this follow-up experiment, fertilization success was significantly lower than the controls after exposure to copper concentrations of 117 μg/L and above. The EC50 value reported here is much higher than those found in the literature on fertilization experiments conducted on hard coral gametes and also for the fertilization success of other marine organisms, including sea urchins, oysters and fish