This BSc in Environmental Earth Science is your opportunity to study the fascinating intersections between Geology, Physical Geography and Environmental Science. You will gain an in-depth understanding of the natural processes that have shaped the planet through time, and will examine the impact of human activity upon the environment with a view to understanding how best to address modern environmental problems.

Why study Environmental Earth Science at Aberystwyth?

The Environmental Earth Science degree at Aberystwyth offers you a detailed insight into the huge variety of subjects we need to understand our contemporary environment. With their scientific training, our Environmental Earth Science graduates are ideally qualified to solve contemporary environmental issues, including problems such as pollution, climate change, waste disposal, ground water and water supplies, contaminated land, natural hazards, resource exploitation and conservation. By predicting how natural processes and human activity might affect the environment in the future, Environmental Earth Science graduates can suggest strategies to prevent, manage and remedy adverse environmental changes.

The Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth is one of the oldest and most well-respected departments of its kind in Britain. As one of the largest and most dynamic Geography and Earth Science communities in the UK, we are able to offer you an extremely broad range of geographical and geological specialisms, ranging from concerns over climate change, the environmental impact of volcanic eruptions, mass extinctions in the geological record and current trends in geohazards to oceanography, engineering geology and hydrology.

Aberystwyth University offers you the opportunity to study Environmental Earth Science in one of the most picturesque locations in Europe. Set on the coast of Cardigan Bay and surrounded by a great diversity of beautiful environments, including marine, moorland, mountain and grassland, the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences makes full use of the opportunities afforded by the local area to conduct regular fieldwork exercises. In addition you will participate in a week-long residential field course in each of the three years of your degree. Current destinations include other parts of Wales, England and Ireland.

Through our connections with the University Centre in Svalbard in the Norwegian high Arctic we can also offer you the unforgettable experience of studying in one of the world's more extreme climates and seeing climate change in the Arctic at first hand.

The teaching and research laboratories are equipped with an impressive array of analytical equipment such as mass spectrometers and core scanners, and an extensive range of equipment is available for fieldwork. Other facilities include a digital map library, an Earth Observation Laboratory, Palaeoecology Laboratory, and a Luminescence Research Laboratory. The Aberystwyth Luminescence Research Laboratory is a NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) recognised facility.

The North American Exchange Programme gives you the chance to swap Aberystwyth for a similar degree programme in the US during your second year. Exchange students appreciate the experience of learning about the world from the different perspective offered by a North American University, and you can choose from degrees offered by Washington State, Kansas, Montana, Penn State and Pittsburgh.

The Department offers a number of awards each year to enable its students to travel the world. In the last few years recipients of these awards have travelled to Iceland, Uganda, South Africa, Madagascar, Peru, Ecuador, Mount Etna and the United States to undertake a range of fieldwork, such as discovering how communities function in remote areas of the globe, or witnessing stunning landscapes first-hand. 

The Department offers a number of modules and degree schemes taught through the medium of Welsh. Further details may be obtained from the department.

Career Prospects

Your BSc in Environmental Earth Science will prepare you for a broad range of employment and further training options. You will be a strong candidate for opportunities in geology, engineering, surveying, cartography, environmental consulting, lobbying, planning and development, conservation, waste management and landfill operations, mining and exploration, and water quality science.

Transferable Skills

Studying for a degree in Environmental Earth Science will equip you with a range of transferable skills which are highly valued by employers. These include:

• enhanced numerical and computational skills

• research and data analysis skills

• the ability to express ideas and communicate information in a clear and structured manner, in both written and oral form

• effective problem-solving

• analytical and creative thinking skills

• decision-making

• the ability to work independently

• time-management and organisational skills, including the ability to meet deadlines

• self-motivation and self-reliance

• team-working, with the ability to discuss concepts in groups, accommodating different ideas and reaching agreement

The study of Environmental Earth Science encourages rigorous handling of data, clarity in planning and connected thinking in what is an academically demanding subject. This puts you at an advantage over your competitors in any employment context. In addition to these skills, you will benefit from the prestige of holding a degree from one of the UK's foremost universities.

Year in Employment scheme (YES)
The University operates a Year in Employment Scheme (YES), which offers you a fantastic opportunity to take a year out between your second and third year to work in an organisation in the UK or overseas. YES provides a very rewarding and worthwhile experience, both personally and professionally, and can help you to stand out from the crowd in a very competitive job market. The University’s Career Service will help you to explore your options and secure a suitable work placement.

GO Wales
GO Wales is administered by the University’s Career Service, working with local businesses to create paid work placements of a few weeks’ duration for students. It gives you the opportunity to gain valuable work experience which will enhance your CV and make you more attractive to potential employers.

What will I learn?

In the first year you will take a number of core modules designed to introduce you to the primary (solid earth) and secondary (surface processes) environments and the links between them. You will look at past and present environmental changes and their effects on planetary life, and assess the potential for predicting future changes in our climate and environment. You will also acquire important field and laboratory skills spanning geology and physical geography.

In the second year you will build on the core themes and skills developed in your first year to prepare you for advanced study and independent research in Environmental Earth Science. You will be introduced to the principles of geochemistry and receive training in the methods of chemical analysis of natural materials. You will learn how to apply the geophysical and geographical techniques used in site investigations and subsequently analyze and interpret the quantitative and qualitative datasets you have gathered.

In the third year you will undertake an independent research project or dissertation, involving the collection, analysis and interpretation of primary data. You will be allocated an advisor to provide guidance during your project. Optional modules covering topics such as oceanography and marine geology, palaeoglaciology, pollution and dynamic biogeography will enable you to direct your study according to your preferences.

How will I be taught?

This course will be delivered through a programme of lectures, seminars, small-group tutorials, workshops, computer-based exercises, practicals and fieldtrips. This combination will balance the theoretical with the practical and group work with individual assignments. You will be able to debate topics with your peers and stretch your fieldwork abilities in the open air.

The ethos of the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences is student-centred, meaning that you will be supported through your studies, but given the freedom to forge your own study path through module selection and exciting opportunities for fieldwork.

You will be assessed through a variety of methods including essays, exams, oral presentations, literature reviews, research project reports, case studies, workbooks, posters, and learning logs. This broad portfolio gives you the chance to excel in the media which are best suited to your abilities.

You will be assigned a personal tutor throughout your degree course, who will help you with any problems or queries, whether these are academic-related or personal issues. You should feel free to contact them at any time for help and advice.

You will also have the opportunity to complete a Personal Development Plan (PDP) at Aberystwyth. This is a structured process of self-appraisal, reflection, and planning, which will enable you to chart your personal, academic and professional development throughout your time at university. By recording your academic performance, and highlighting the skills you already have and those you will need for future employability, the PDP portfolio will equip you with the necessary tools to plan effectively, develop successful approaches to study, and consider your future career options and aspirations.

Environmental Earth Science offers a unique look at the environmental geology of the universe, with topics ranging from planetary formation to hydrochemistry to lab techniques. You can be sure of never being bored! Pendle Hill

Environmental Earth Science is a course that gives you all that you need to have a great time at university. The lectures are amazing, the lecturers are awesome and the work is engaging. From the first day you are made to feel that you are valued as a student and as an Earth Scientist. The work, while hard, is always interesting and you get the chance to meet some amazing people along the way. The course fully stands up to the expectations I had when I applied. Sebastian Charles Taylor

Great facilities, great lecturers, great course all round! Ben Auton