This course provides Canadian & Chinese students with first-hand experience with tools for environmental and biodiversity assessment, and insights into the interaction between human development and the environment, with focus on selected aquatic ecosystems in both China and Canada. This 2-week field course takes place exclusively in China where we will visit the Shanghai/Jiangsu/Zhejiang area (Chongming Isl., the Grand Cannel system, various wetlands, Tai Lake and the Thousand Islands area), with potential visits to other conservation areas and wetlands along the Yangtze River. Students will learn about differing attitudes and perceptions of development and biodiversity in the two cultures. We will visit a series of aquatic sites along the Yangtze River, and undertake some comparative research on habitat degradation, quantifying biodiversity, and assessing water quality. Guest researchers will illuminate major issues in aquatic habitat degradation, bioremediation, and biodiversity conservation. Students will write a major paper on their research upon return to their home institutions. The course is organized around five themes: 1) Biodiversity assessment, 2) Habitat assessment including reconstructed wetlands, 3). Aquatic environmental degradation, 4). Water control & usage, 5) Relationship between social economic development and aquatic environment.