OCEAN AND ISLANDS PROGRAMME
To improve scientific knowledge of ocean and island ecosystems for the sustainable management of natural resources
The Certificate in Earth Science and Marine Geology (CESMG) Course
ESMG students conducting a beach profile survey
The Certificate in Earth Science and Marine Geology (CESMG) Course is a three-year, part-time, modular programme. Six (6) courses are taught during the three-year period, with 180 contact hours of lecture, laboratory, tutorial and field assignment time, per academic year. Students are examined by means of oral and written in-course and final examinations, field trip reports, assignments and weekly reviews:
- Year One - SCC01 Basic Earth Science and Marine Geology (compulsory).
- Year Two - SCC21 Earth Materials and SCC22 Marine Geology and Earth History (both courses are compulsory).
- Year Three – SCC23 Earth Resources and Mapping, SCC24 Earth Sciences in Development Projects, Hazards and SCC25 Hydrology and Hydrogeology (SCC24 is compulsory; students are able to elect one of remaining two courses offered).
The SOPAC Secretariat, and the Marine Studies Program of the School of Pure and Applied Sciences (SPAS) of the University of the South Pacific (USP) are the venues for the CESMG Course, and are both located in the Fiji Islands. The programme is revised each year, and updated, to incorporate new teaching material and methodologies appropriate for the Pacific Islands regional context.
The last cycle of the CESMG Course, with an enrolment of seventeen (17) participants from eleven (11) Pacific SIDS was supported by the Commonwealth Secretariat commenced in May 2002, and was concluded in May 2005.
This CESMG Course has been very effective throughout its years of operation, with intakes ranging from 12 to 20 students for each three-year period (equivalent to one course cycle) since it was first offered in 1979. The countries’ improved decision-making process on Earth sciences issues, greater and more effective representation at regional and international fora, and the continued and increasing numbers of participants being nominated for the course, is clear testament to this.
The Commonwealth Secretariat/Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (COMSEC/CFTC) has generously supported the CESMG Course over the past eighteen (18) years. In addition, the CFTC has also provided in-kind support to the SOPAC Secretariat, by provision of a fully funded post of Training Co-ordinator for the most recent and current CESMG cycles.
Presently, the CESMG Course is awaiting funding to begin its next three-year cycle.
CESMG COURSE OUTLINE
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