Aquatic Resources Courses

This course introduces freshwater ecosystems and the links between human water use and freshwater resources. Students are asked to consider water-related challenges such as climate change, population growth/demand, eutrophication, and pollution. Examples highlight the interplay between humans and freshwater within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Blue Economy, and current events. Topics include water as a unique substance, ecological principles, management practices, governance, groundwater, lakes, and rivers. Lab and Field Trips. Three credits.

This course introduces ocean ecosystems and the links between human use and marine resources. Students are asked to consider challenges such as climate change, pollution, aquaculture and fisheries, and sustainability of species and ecosystems. Examples highlight the interplay between humans and oceans within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Blue Economy, and current events. Topics include estuarine and ocean ecosystems, scientific principles, and resource management approaches. Lab and Field Trips. Three credits.

The "tragedy of the commons" has been a reoccurring concept when discussing ocean resources. In this course students will encounter how social scientists study and understand the use of the resources in the oceans' commons. The course will explore theoretical paradigms, governance, social class, gender, race, fishing, aquaculture, and coastal communities. Students will gain a foundational understanding in social science approaches to issues relating to the oceans resources. Cross-listed as SOCI 205. Credit will be granted for only one of AQUA 202, AQUA 200 or 297. Prerequisite or co-requisite: AQUA 101 and 102. Three credits.

This course introduces the basic science necessary to understand current resource issues such as wildlife, forestry and aquatic systems management with the goal of understanding resource decision making, and how human activities can alter terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Cross-listed as BIOL 221. Prerequisite: AQUA 101 and 102 or BIOL 112 or upper-year status in non-science programs. Cannot be used as science A for biology students. Three credits.

Students will be introduced to the United Nations Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity. The investigation of water and its intersection with SDGs to achieve goals related to poverty, food security, gender and racial equity, inequalities, sustainable production and consumption, and climate action, among others, is the focus of this course. Water management, including issues of governance, environmental protection, and water-related ecosystems, will be discussed. Three credits. 

This course discusses fisheries and aquaculture in global, Canadian, and Atlantic Canadian contexts. We will examine what makes a ‘good’ commercial species, an overview of world fisheries (marine, freshwater, and aquaculture), population dynamics, stock assessment, socioeconomic considerations, how management makes decisions and the relevant laws in Canada, and what the environmental and ecological impacts of fisheries are (e.g. bycatch, overfishing, habitat damage). Cross-listed as BIOL 340. Prerequisite: AQUA 101 and 102, or BIOL 203, or permission of the instructor. Three credits and lab. Offered 2025-2026 and in alternative years.

This course introduces students to social research on coastal communities. Emphasis is given to the social transformation of common property fisheries, the rise of industrial aquaculture, demographic transitions in coastal communities and recent moves towards integrated coastal resource management. Comparative case materials from North Atlantic coastal communities in Atlantic Canada, Britain, Ireland, and the Nordic Countries will be used in this course. Cross-listed as SOCI 366. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102 or AQUA 101, 102, 202. Three credits. Not offered 2025-2026.

An interdisciplinary look at the dynamic relationship between aquatic resources and human activities. This course will demonstrate how humans rely on water throughout their daily lives and will explore the ways that marine and freshwater environments have been impacted. A main goal will be to investigate steps to mediate issues affecting the sustainable use of aquatic resources and assess the implications from social, economic, management, and ecosystem perspectives. Topics will include global concerns with emphasis on issues within Atlantic Canada. Three credits

Students will spend the equivalent of one term, during the summer between the junior and senior year, gaining hands-on experience in an aquatics-related work and/or volunteer setting(s). Students’ complete placements within all levels of government, private or public industry/businesses, not-for-profit/community-based organizations, universities and research institutes; locally to internationally. Opportunities may include scientific fieldwork and/or laboratory research, policy analysis and governance, ecosystem restoration, environmental assessment, water quality monitoring, species-at-risk education, conservation, etc. To focus the applied learning experience, students participate in preparatory meetings and complete assignments, submit monthly reports during the work term/internship and complete a final, reflective report detailing their experiences. Students are also encouraged to identify a StFX faculty advisor and begin defining a senior research topic for AQUA 450 prior to and during their work term experience. Restricted to AQUA major students. Prerequisites: AQUA 202, 298 or 221, and third year/junior status. Three credits.

This seminar represents the capstone for students completing their aquatic resources major. Each year, in the first term, the seminar considers an important interdisciplinary theme in the aquatics field, such as the issue of marine debris/garbage, tidal power, aquaculture, off shore oil and gas exploration, North Atlantic right whales as an endangered species, aquatic protected areas, and more. Also in the first term, students will work with their faculty advisors to develop their senior research projects. In the second term, students will present their senior research to the AQUA 450 class in a talk, they will prepare a poster for display at StFX Student Research Day in March, and they will submit their major research paper to their academic advisors. Visits by AQUA guest speakers are coordinated with seminar work. Restricted to AQUA major students. Co-requisite or prerequisite: AQUA 400. Three credits.