Global Environmental Change and Sustainability MSc

University of Birmingham

Understanding global environmental change, how we address its causes, how we live with and respond to its impacts, and how we find sustainable solutions to our use of Earth’s resources, are some of the most pressing issues facing humanity today.

This programme aims to prepare a new generation of environmentally aware students for graduate employment in a range of industries positioned to tackle these global grand challenges. In a world that is increasingly affected by environmental change, it is of paramount importance that we are able to develop sustainable management of energy and natural resources, food security, biodiversity, ecology, and natural hazards. Tackling these themes requires a broad and interdisciplinary approach, based on a sound understanding of Earth and environmental processes, and of the intersection of human pressures and ecological systems.

Our four-year (MSci) programme allows you to specialise further and develop key career skills through leading your own research project. This independent project accounts for half of your final year, and may involve links with industry. You will develop your research plans with an academic member of staff. Several MSci students on related programmes publish their research or present it at conferences each year, and the MSci year provides excellent training for further research (PhD) or a professional career.

By combining sociological, ethical, and economic dimensions with a sound scientific understanding of environmental change, students will graduate with a broad skills set – drawing on analytical approaches and able to communicate ideas and develop solutions. This will prepare graduates for work with a broad range of stakeholders, from NGOs to global businesses, in seeking more sustainable approaches to current problems.

Why study this course?

• This programme is uniquely designed to give students experience and understanding of the intersecting challenges that characterise global environmental change and the development of more sustainable approaches. Building on a strong scientific foundation, you will also work with social scientists, study ethical and economic dimensions of global change, and work with external partners to seek sustainable solutions to real-world problems.
• You will work with academics from a range of disciplines, and be part of a student cohort with diverse interests and skills. The course places a strong emphasise on working as teams to resolve problems, and this includes input from across the University and beyond.
• The Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR). BIFoR aims to provide fundamental science, social science and cultural research of direct relevance to global forested landscapes. Opportunities for undergraduates to get involved with BIFoR come for example from the Year 3 dissertation (research module).
• Lapworth Museum of Geology. The Lapworth Museum of Geology holds the finest and most extensive collections of fossils, minerals and rocks in the Midlands. Dating back to 1880, it is one of the oldest specialist geological museums in the UK. The collections provide a unique resource to support undergraduate learning.
• A programme to suit you. Focus on developing expertise in Sustainable Earth, Sustainable Climate, Sustainable Ecosystems or Sustainable Society, or mix and match optional modules of your choosing from across the University.

The large number of optional modules available to you allows you to tailor your degree to your interests, but also means that you will be working with other students in the cohort who take a varied set of subjects, and can bring these diverse insights to group exercises within the core modules.