Global Environmental Change

This MSc programme is designed to meet the need for multidisciplinary training in the study of Earth's environmental changes, both past, present and future. Focusing across the terrestrial, hydrologic and atmospheric components of the Earth system, the course covers both anthropogenic influences and natural variability and includes study of key techniques used by scientists and policymakers to investigate these issues and their potential effects. Suitable for those first degrees across a range of subjects, the programme is divided into "science" and "policy" streams, depending on student background and primary interest. The programme is designed to prepare graduating students for careers in environmental change research, consultancy and/or policy development.

The wide ranging, large-scale “global” environmental changes we are increasingly being made aware in the Earth system are most often a mix of natural processes enhanced or altered by human activities. To understand and investigate the magnitude and scope of these issues and their effects requires proper interdisciplinary study, including an appreciation of the degree and type of human disturbance, and of the underlying background variability upon which these disturbances are overlain.

This MSc programme is designed to meet the need for multidisciplinary training in these areas, focusing on the terrestrial, hydrologic and atmospheric environments, examining anthropogenic influence in the context of natural variability, and elucidating the biological, physical and societal consequences. The programme includes coverage of both the scientific background, some of the research methods and tools commonly applied, and the societal and policy implications of current research understanding. It is designed to prepare students for careers in environmental change research, consultancy and/or policy development, and is delivered by a multidisciplinary team with assessments based on a series of written reports and a research dissertation.