As a Birmingham student you are part of an academic elite and will learn from world-leading experts. From the outset you will be encouraged to become an independent and self-motivated learner, and we want you to be challenged and will encourage you to think for yourself.
As a student on our Environmental Science course, you can expect to learn through a range of different settings including lectures, seminars, laboratory classes and fieldwork, as well as through supplementary IT-based materials in addition to books and journals from the Library.
You will have opportunity to discuss and explore current topics in small tutorial groups and seminars. These discussions will help you to look at problems in different ways, whilst at the same time developing your research skills.
There are numerous facilities at your disposal to help throughout your studies, including fully-equipped lecture theatres and tutorial rooms, laboratories housing state-of-the-art analytical facilities, a map room containing over a quarter of a million maps, and a specialist environmental library containing information on the latest environmental issues.
You will have access to a comprehensive support system throughout your time at Birmingham that will assist and encourage you, including personal tutors and welfare tutors who can help with both academic and welfare issues. In the induction week you will be allocated a Personal Tutor who will oversee your academic and personal progress during the degree. You will have regular meetings with your tutor to help you develop your skills and to plan your personal development.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork is another important component of your study, and you will receive a thorough training in laboratory skills including basic measurement, classification and calibration. The School's excellent microscopy, sedimentology, and analytical chemistry facilities are available to you to support work in individual modules and, if necessary, for your research project.
In the first year, you will attend a short residential field course held at a residential study centre in Shropshire. The field course introduces you to a range of techniques, including ecological surveys, water sampling and urban planning, in an informal environment. At the end of your field course you will have worked and lived with your fellow students, getting to know them well, and will have developed a deeper knowledge of the problems and possibilities of collecting field evidence to solve environmental questions.
In the second year, you will choose a field course, according to your area of interest, from the following:
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The Freshwater Environments field course has a base beside Lake Bala in North Wales, where you will investigate how changes in fish, plankton and macroinvertebrate communities are linked to water quality, changes in land-use, acidification and eutrophication.
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The Physical Processes and Atmosphere field course takes place in Portugal where you will consider the problems of recent environmental changes in Portugal’s Alentejo region. These include the impact of natural and accelerated physical processes on the landscape, urban climatology, remote sensing of landscape change, and water resource development.
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The Biogeography and Geomorphology field course is based in Tenerife where you will examine how geological, climatological, geomorphological and ecological processes combine to shape the island’s environment.
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The Environmental Management field course travels to Malta and explores environmental management problems on the island. Prospects for future sustainability in relation to waste, water and marine resources, biodiversity conservation, and tourism are considered. The field course is supported by the staff of the University of Malta.
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A Birmingham field course looks at urban wildlife conservation and management at Kings Norton Nature Reserve. On this course you will investigate the biodiversity of local habitats, including the lake, stream and surrounding woodland. You can choose from a range of small projects linked to the objectives of the reserve management plan.
Field courses are subsidised by the School, and students are required to make a contribution towards the residential costs. We recognise that this may be difficult for some students and the Birmingham-based field course enables those students suffering financial hardship to meet the fieldwork requirements at no cost. We also make alternative arrangements for students with disabilities.
In the second and third year of the programme, some modules may involve additional fieldwork components (usually non-residential). Such work is especially important in biogeography, palaeoecology and hydrology, where experience in field methodologies is essential.
Details on how fieldwork will be funded can be found on the Fieldwork page of the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences website.
Research Project
Fieldwork experience can also be gained as part of a fieldwork-based research project undertaken in the final year, which may be in your local area or overseas. In recent years students have participated in enjoyable trips to the French Pyrenees, Iceland, Sweden and the Swiss Alps amongst others. Many students have participated in the work of Operation Wallacea in Honduras and Sulawesi, thereby combining academic research with important conservation projects, usually during the summer break.
Past student projects in the final year have included:
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Effects of variable water level on riparian vegetation in the Illinois River
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Perceptions of wind farms in Wales
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The behaviour of red kites reintroduced to the Chilterns
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The carbon footprint of a Premier League football club
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Household waste management – contrasts between the UK and Japan
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The effectiveness of eco-schools in fostering environmental awareness in pupils
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Ecology of a heavily managed and culverted stream in Warwick
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Pollution impacts on fish in Malaysia
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The effect of a bio-ethanol plant on land and sustainability within the UK
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The success of heathland management in improving butterfly populations
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Hydrological and ecological studies of rivers in the French Pyrenees
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Improving the accessibility of Birmingham’s canals to people with disabilities
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Awareness and perception of illegal fisheries in Tanzania
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Hydrology of a proglacial environment in the Karsavagge Valley, Abisko, Northern Sweden
Studying at degree-level is likely to be very different from your previous experience of learning and teaching at school or college. You will be expected to think, discuss and engage critically with your subject and find things out for yourself. We will support you in making this transition to a new style of learning, and the way that you are assessed during your studies will help you develop the essential skills you need to make a success of your time here.
The Environmental Science degree has a modular structure, and in each year learning is spread over two teaching semesters of eleven weeks, with a third summer term of eight weeks for revision and examinations. Assessment methods used are dependent on the modules you choose, but may involve individual or group project work, examinations, oral presentations, and library or web-based research, in addition to fieldwork assessments.
During your first year you will also undergo a formal transition review to see how you are getting on and if there are particular areas where you need support. This is in addition to the personal tutor who is based in your school or department and can help with any academic issues you encounter.
At the beginning of each module, you’ll be given information on how and when you’ll be assessed for that particular programme of study. You’ll receive feedback on each assessment within four weeks, so that you can learn from and build on what you have done for future modules.