Congratulations on your offer. We hope to see you at one of our offer holder events. Take a look at some course info below and hear from our students.
Our in-person and online events are a great way to find out more about your course, the community you'll be studying in, and they are an opportunity to meet staff and students, and experience subject taster sessions. Environmental Sciences student Katherine hopes you can make it!
The day will run from 12pm-3pm. Full schedule to follow shortly.
We take full advantage of our natural surroundings to create amazing fieldwork experiences, in addition to the opportunities to travel the world with optional overseas field trips. Fieldwork is a fascinating way to develop your practical skills. You’ll gain hands-on experience of a wide range of environmental, ecological and geological situations that will place your studies in the context of real-world issues.
Visit Mount Etna and study the complex processes that take place both on the surface and beneath volcanoes. You will explore many physical volcanic processes, including lava flow emplacement, explosive events and the evolution of a basaltic volcano. You will also evaluate methods of managing volcanic hazards on densely populated active volcanoes.
Explore the Istrian Peninsula, an idyllic landscape dependent on its geology, biodiversity and position between differing climates, while Istria is also the setting of dramatic socio-economic, political and environmental changes. During this trip, you will focus on the challenges of environmental management, particularly of water resources, in this unique landscape.
Gain an in-depth understanding of Alpine environments during our intensive week-long residential field course in south-west Switzerland. The experience provides an inspiring foundation into the science and understanding of how these globally sensitive ecosystems are responding to change.
Study geologic and geomorphological processes and develop your field skills. You will collect field data to make a geologic map, visit some of the oldest rock formations in the UK and study a wide range of geologic terrains. You will gain excellent practical skills, including mapping techniques and learn about aspects of British geological history.
Environmental and Earth Sciences students describe their experiences and their enjoyment of studying at Lancaster University.
I got a good feel for Lancaster when I visited an Open Day. It was clear to me that students were really behind their university and passionate about showing visitors their home. I could tell that the University had a supportive community of students and tutors, and this definitely rings true as a student who decided to study at Lancaster.
My favourite topic I've studied is geology, and I have had many opportunities to take my learning beyond the University and out into the field. We went to White Scar Caves to check out the different rock types and see for ourselves various rock formations. I found the experience really insightful, especially being able to see how the rock formed in sequence over time, it helped me to contextualise what we learn in lectures and relate it back to real environments.
My tutors are also academic researchers, which means that our learning is tailored around discoveries made at the forefront of science and innovation. I am able to study real, relevant subjects and learn about new developments in topics such as climate change and the effects on our ecosystems almost as they happen. My course has enabled me to take a field trip to Mount Etna - with so many opportunities to get hands-on with my learning, I know this degree can take me wherever I want it to.
Ben Ireland, BSc Earth and Environmental Science
Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach
My research focuses on the biogeochemistry of water and soil ecosystems, including how human activity has altered the movement of pollutants through these ecosystems. This research feeds into the modules I teach to undergraduate students, which includes third-year modules on water resources management and on issues in conservation biology. In addition to my teaching and research, I am the director of undergraduate admissions and outreach for the whole of the Lancaster Environment Centre.
Admissions Tutor for Earth and Environmental Sciences
I am interested in using the detrital record as an archive of paleotectonics, climate and erosion. I utilise emerging and established provenance techniques, in particular isotopic fingerprinting and detrital thermochronology, to advance the detrital approach and apply it to novel geological problems. In orogenic settings, my work is focused on the Himalaya, Tibet and Pamir. My recent work extends the detrital approach to extensional settings, where I am determining the provenance of the Nile delta in order to reconstruct its palaeodrainage, and the relationship between its hydrology, rift tectonics, and ocean-atmosphere interactions.
If you would like more information, please feel free to email us at the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) at lec.ug@lancaster.ac.uk or telephone us on +44(0)1524 510249 or +44(0)1524 595014.
