SCHOOL OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Ulster University
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
We offer undergraduate degrees in environmental science, geography and marine science. Our courses are carefully designed to enhance your employability and future career prospects. With excellent links to industry you will have the opportunity to get hands-on experience making your course relevant for the future. Located on the Coleraine Campus, we are just minutes away from the spectacular Causeway Coast with lots of natural laboratories to explore including the open sea, estuaries, rivers, lakes, woodlands and uplands.
Our undergraduate courses are delivered over three years full-time. You can opt to combine your degree with a study year abroad or a year in industrial placement providing you with an additional qualification.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
BSc (Hons) Environmental Science
Optional: Year Industrial Placement
Optional: Year Study Abroad
Taking care of our planet for future generations is our most important responsibility. By studying environmental science at Ulster you will gain the knowledge and skills to address issues such as climate change, conserving animal and plant diversity, environmental impacts of development and the management of water and air quality. If you enjoy science or geography and have an interest in environmental issues, this course is for you.
GEOGRAPHY
BSc (Hons) Geography
Optional: Year Industrial Placement
Optional: Year Study Abroad
Geography has a critical role to play in helping us understand and address some of the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges. Here at Ulster, our expert and inspiring staff are passionate about making a difference. If you are too, then join us. You’ll study everything from climate change to migration, natural hazards to sustainable development. We will train you to find solutions to the issues that matter, from the local to the global.
MARINE SCIENCE
BSc (Hons) Marine Science
Optional: Year Industrial Placement
Optional: Year Study Abroad
Marine science is especially important today as climate change, pollution, and other factors are threatening the health of our oceans and marine life. In our degree, you'll explore the oceans as an essential global climate regulator and as a vast economic resource. You'll study a range of exciting disciplines, including marine biology and ecology, oceanography, marine geology, coastal processes, underwater archaeology and ocean engineering.
FIELD TRIPS
There is a strong emphasis on field training in all our degree programmes. The field provides a natural laboratory where you can learn.
From residential trips at home and overseas (Spain, Scotland), to day trips surveying and sampling in forests, lakes, rivers and coasts, the field is where you put theory into practise.
LAB SKILLS
Develop your problem-solving, team-working and critical-thinking skills, and gain exposure to dissections, reactions, materials and equipment in campus and field-based laboratory settings.
Develop your lab skills for careers in areas such as fisheries stock assessment, pollution monitoring, water-quality assessment, soil testing, agricultural monitoring, applied oceanography and ecotoxicology.
GIS AND REMOTE SENSING
The use of geospatial technology is changing the way we look at planet Earth. It is revolutionizing everything we do; from enhancing humanitarian efforts such as disease control and urban planning, to providing innovative approaches for environmental monitoring.
At Ulster our focus is on applying geospatial information to topics in ecology, human and physical geography, geology, engineering, heritage and hydrology.
DISSERTATIONS
Anything from specific impacts of climate change to the finer points of Brexit, the final year dissertation module is your opportunity to specialise in a research topic of your choice.
With support from an academic supervisor, you will conduct your research project and write up your dissertation for submission at the end of your final year.
STEM
Multidisciplinary scientific approaches mean our degrees have diverse ranges of practical applications.
From assessing drinking water quality, studying processes that cause coastal erosion, investigating sea level change, assessing the impact of offshore renewables, mapping shrinking glaciers and ice sheets from space, to managing fisheries for long-term sustainability in order to feed a growing world.
RESEARCH-INFORMED TEACHING
From water quality in rivers and lakes to melting ice sheets to conflict & peace building, our researchers investigate global problems and confront complex 21st century challenges with a focus on societal good.
Our research-informed teaching provides students with meaningful and deep learning experiences. This approach enhances the student experience of real-world issues and helps develop critical thinking.