Environmental Science BSc (Hons)

The BSc in Environmental Science is grounded in a conviction that the environmental challenges of the 21st century – climate change, biodiversity loss, water and air quality, soil degradation, the energy transition, and the just management of land – are inherently interdisciplinary in nature, and that the graduates best placed to address them combine rigorous scientific training with strong analytical and applied skills, an understanding of policy and governance contexts, and a capacity for ethical, evidence-led judgement.

The course philosophy rests on four interlocking commitments:

• First, that environmental science is a problem-driven discipline: you will learn the underpinning physical, chemical and biological processes through your application to real environmental questions, rather than as decontextualised theory.
  
  
• Second, that field- and laboratory-based learning are the foundations of scientific competence: you will develop confidence and proficiency by handling instruments, sampling environments, working with messy data, and making independent judgements about evidence.
  
  
• Third, that data fluency (particularly in geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing, environmental modelling and emerging AI-supported analytical techniques) is now a defining capability of an environmental scientist, not an optional add-on.
  
  
• Fourth, that environmental science cannot be taught in isolation from the social, political and economic systems within which environmental decisions are made; you will therefore be expected to develop the ability to communicate with non-specialists, work with stakeholders, and understand the regulatory and policy frameworks that govern environmental practice.