Certificate in Aquaculture and the Environment

Offered by: Faculty of Science 

Coordinator: Dr. Diego Ibarra Diego.ibarra@dal.ca (Biology)

Eligibility: The certificate is open to any Dalhousie undergraduate student. Non-degree Dalhousie students may qualify for the certificate if they fulfill all course requirements at Dalhousie.

Overview:  The Certificate in Aquaculture and the Environment consists of courses that include lectures, laboratories, and visits to coastal and land-based aquaculture sites. It is designed to provide students with knowledge of, and experience with general aspects of the cultivation of aquatic species. The emphasis is on understanding aquaculture - environment interactions, and acquiring the knowledge, skills and quantitative tools needed to assess and reduce the environmental footprint of aquaculture operations. 

Admission to Certificate

To enrol in the Certificate in Aquaculture and the Environment, students must declare the certificate through Dal Online (https://dalonline.dal.ca >Web for Students>Admissions>Declare Major/Minor/Certificate), and notify the Certificate Coordinator by e-mail. To qualify for the certificate, students must complete the course requirements, and have received approval from the Certificate Coordinator if a course other than MARI 3604 is used to fulfil subject area F.  

To graduate with the Certificate, students must Apply to Graduate with a Certificate at the time they apply to graduate from their degree program. 

Certificate Requirements

To obtain the Certificate in Aquaculture and the Environment, students must take one course from each of six subject areas (A to F), with a minimum of B- in each course. Note that most of these courses may also count toward a Major, Minor or Honours program in Biology or Marine Biology.

A. Introduction to aquaculture

• MARI 3602.03: Introduction to Aquaculture

B. Practical skills in aquaculture

• MARI 3603.03: Practical Aquaculture

C. Biology of aquatic organisms  

One of

• MARI 3074.03 (or BIOL 3078.03): Physiology of Marine Animals Part I
• MARI 3076.03 (or BIOL 3079.03): Physiology of Marine Animals Part II
• MARI 3221.03 (or BIOL 3221.03): Diversity of Algae
• MARI 3301.03 (or BIOL 3301.03): Invertebrate Biology
• MARI 3370.03 (or BIOL 3370.03): Comparative Animal Physiology
• MARI 4080.03 (or BIOL 4080): Laboratory Studies of Fishes
• BIOL 4662.03/MARI 4662.03/OCEA 4230.03: Biology of Phytoplankton

D. Aquaculture and the environment  

• MARI 4600.03: Ecosystem modelling for Aquaculture 

E. Aquaculture management  

One of  

• OCEA 4401.03: Marine Management I
• OCEA 4402.03: Marine Management II
• BIOL 4001.03: Environmental Impact Assessment
• ENVS 3200.03: Introduction to Environmental Law
• ECON 3335.03: Environmental Economics
• SUST 3101.03: Food Systems and Sustainability: Feeding the 10 billion

F. Industry-relevant knowledge and experience   

** One of    

• MARI 3604.03: Field Aquaculture
• * MARI 3800.03 (or BIOL 3800.03): Experiential Learning
• * MARI 4806.03: Special Topics Independent Research
• * MARI 4901.03 and MARI 4902.03 (or MARI 4900.06): Honours Thesis
• * BIOL 4901.03 and BIOL 4902.03 (or BIOL 4900.06): Honours Thesis
• * MARI 8891.00 (or MARI 8892.00 or MARI 8893.00) Co-op work term
• * ENVS 3000.03: Environmental Science Internship
• * ENVS 8891.00 (or ENVS 8892.00 or ENVS 8893.00) Co-op work term
• * SUST 3002.03: ESS Engagement Project
• * SCIE 4701.03 and SCIE 4702.03 Science and Technology Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship I and II

 * These courses must be pre-approved (prior to start of the course) by the certificate coordinator as having a focus on aquaculture

** Some alternatives used to fulfil Requirement F are not available to students in all programs. For example, MARI 4900 is open only to students in the Marine Biology Honours program, MARI 8891 and ENVS 8891 are open only to students in Marine Biology or Environmental Science Co-op programs.