Benjamin Bar-Gera, Master student in Environment and Natural Resources: While there have been many interesting courses during my time at the ZHAW, there is one course that stands out in particular: Biodiversity and Ecosystems. Biodiversity and Ecosystems is mainly a discussion-based course. It started off with an exciting overnight excursion to the Morteratsch glacier in the Canton of Grisons. The benefit of having this excursion right at the beginning of the course was that it allowed everyone to get to know each other, break the ice and thus be prepared to have fruitful discussions throughout the term. During the two days we spent most of the time outside, learning about and discussing topics such as ecological succession, soil science, conflicts between wildlife and humans as well as climate change. In the evening, we enjoyed dinner together, got to know each other on a more personal level and listened to the roaring of the red deer outside. This weekend allowed me to learn a lot and at the same time become friends with the people with whom I would take this course with.

Biodiversity and Ecosystems always took place on Thursday, which quickly became my favorite day of the week. Each week, one or two of our fellow students as well as one of our professors or external experts presented a topic. This was always followed by a lengthy and engaged discussion. The range of topics was very diverse and included conflicts between predators and humans, genetic impoverishment among the Swiss ibex, real-life management examples of neophytes in post-catastrophe areas, and collecting genetic data using eDNA. During lunchtime, we would often continue our discussions from the morning, although in a more humorous and light-hearted way. The fact that we continued to talk about the learned topics outside the classroom, showed just how engaged everyone was and how much we all enjoyed our field of study. In addition to the wonderful discussions and interesting content the course also made me realize the various interconnections between different topics. During our discussions, we would frequently find ourselves referring to topics that we had discussed in previous weeks, which was helpful in understanding the current topic. I am not exaggerating when saying that I have never enjoyed a course as much as this one. Furthermore, I have made many new friends whom I am excited to see in the coming semesters.

Are you interested as well in a Master of Science in Environment and Natural Ressources? Then visit our next info event on the 1st of March!

More Information:

• About the Master Studies
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• About the specialization Biodiversity& Ecosystems