Environmental Geoscience BSc

This module will be delivered by the school’s Careers Advisor and academics from the School of Geography.

You’ll cover:

• self-marketing and CVs
• preparing for interviews and assessment
• careers for geographers
• career planning
• postgraduate study (masters and PhD)
• guest lectures (for example, Royal Geographical Society - Institute of British Geographers)

You will be introduced to and encouraged to make regular use of the Careers and Employability Service to assist with your progress during the module, and to identify opportunities to further your career development.

This module explores some of the key parts of the Earth’s dynamic physical environment. This typically includes issues connected with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, oceans and land surface. You’ll develop an understanding of global physical systems and how they affect people and the environment. You’ll consider topics such as:

• key processes such as hydrological cycles
• principles of Earth and geomorphological systems
• fluvial geomorphology and biogeomorphology
• biogeography and biodiversity

This four-day residential field trip to the Lake District focuses on the rationale and techniques of field study in both human and physical geography. An emphasis is placed on the design, practice and analysis of research projects based on geographical issues.

Small-group teaching is central to this module. Students work in small groups and much of the teaching involves direct interaction between staff and students. 

This module prepares you for the other field trips and techniques modules that take place in years two and three. 

Learn how to conduct basic spatial analysis by using a contemporary Geographic Information System (GIS).

You’ll cover:

• What is GIS?
• Applications of GIS
• Spatial data models
• Fundamental spatial analysis
• Cartographic principles behind GIS
• Presenting and sharing the results of GIS analysis

The module will be delivered through theory lectures and practical sessions, and you’ll be provided with associated textbook resources.

This module provides a basic course in calculus and algebra, introducing key elements of definition, manipulation, differentiation and graphical representation of functions, as well as quadratic equations, simultaneous linear equations, infinite series, vectors and matrices.

On Earth and Life explores the deep historical co-evolution of Earth and Life, and emphasises uniqueness of place and historical contingency. The module leads on from and complements Physical Landscapes of Britain in exploring geological, plate tectonic and palaeoenvironmental ideas and research, but at the global scale.

It emphasises the role of life in creating past and present planetary environments, and conversely the role of environment and environmental change in the evolution and geography of life. The module also serves to prepare the ground for and contextualise several second and third year geography modules, especially Environmental Change and Patterns of Life.

This module provides an understanding of the history and origins of the Earth and its life and landforms through consideration of the following topics:

• Development of life over geological time
• Environmental changes over geological time
• Field trip to the Peak District (full costs will be supplied nearer the time of the trip)

Small group tutorials during the autumn and spring semesters will include discussion, essay writing and seminar presentations based on topics from your first-year modules. The classes will develop your skills in problem-solving, communication and reasoning. 

This module is taught by formal lectures, scheduled preliminary fieldwork, and supervision meetings with your dissertation tutor. It covers the following:

• Introduction to the dissertation process and procedures 
• What is a dissertation? 
• Ethics, risk and safety implications when conducting geographical research 
• Preparing a dissertation proposal 
• Writing and presenting a dissertation
• Evaluation of past dissertations

The aim of this module is to introduce students to the major different rock types and the principal rock-forming minerals from which they are made. The module will consider:

• economic mineral deposits
• hydrocarbon resources
• environmental mineralogy, for example, radioactive waste management, shale gas
• volcanology and volcanic hazards

Specifically the module will include discussion of:

• major rock types and rock-forming; bulk materials
• types of ore deposit, how they form, and the important ore minerals and critical metals
• types of oil and gas reservoirs, traps, seals, burial diagenesis and hydrocarbon migration
• environmental mineralogy and geochemistry, covering carbon capture and storage technology and radioactive waste management

The module will cover these issues theoretically and practically.

This module will cover the breadth of world-leading research being carried out in the School of Geography and is reflected in the school's research themes:

• Cultural and Historical Geography
• Economic Worlds
• Environment and Society
• Geosciences

For students taking Geography with Business or Environmental Sciences, content of tutorials will be restricted to meet the aims of these courses.

The aim of this module is to introduce you to sedimentology/sedimentary geology (the study of sediments such as sand, silt and clay and the processes that result in their deposition) and palaeontology (the study of fossils, both animal and plant, and both macroscopic and microscopic).

You will be given a comprehensive course on these subjects and how they are used scientifically and industrially together with their impact on human society and the natural environment.

This module presents the opportunity for hands-on experience of laboratory, field and surveying techniques in physical geography appropriate to the domain of interest of the participants. To achieve these aims all students participate in field projects on a residential field course, some of which are completed in the laboratory back in Nottingham, leading to an individual project.

In addition, you choose further laboratory techniques to investigate in the second semester. The ethical, safety and fieldwork limitations of geographical work are also considered.

This module provides a consideration of the following:

• Introduction to GI science/systems/studies/services 
• Spatial data types and sources 
• Vector processing algorithms 
• Raster processing algorithms
• Spatial analysis and decision making 
• Professional training in ArcGIS 

This module considers the mechanisms for, and evidence of, global environmental change during the timescale of the Quaternary period. You will evaluate the nature, causes and impacts of change in the context of the available evidence within a range of natural and human environments. Teaching includes lectures, seminars, practicals and computing. 

This module focuses on patterns in the distribution of organisms in space and time, and the theories proposed to explain these patterns. Themes you will explore include biodiversity patterns; island biogeography and nature conservation theory; ecological succession; biological invasions; extinction and mass extinctions, plus more. 

This module:

• introduces the water and sediment processes that operate in rivers
• describes the characteristic forms of alluvial channels and the links between river processes and channel dynamics
• uses laboratory practicals and a field trip to deliver kinaesthetic, student-centred learning and add value to teaching and learning during lectures

Topics covered include:

• catchments and longitudinal patterns
• river planforms: braided, meandering and straight
• timescales of river change and morphological adjustments
• complex response in the fluvial system
• flow resistance, sediment transport and bank erosion
• an introduction to biogeomorphology and aquatic ecology

This is a 10,000 word individual project based on a geographical topic involving fieldwork and/or secondary data, and agreed by the candidate with their tutor and a specialist supervisor.

The aim of this module is to provide you with training in the methods of geological field mapping, including an introduction to applied and environmental geophysics and their application to the investigation of the subsurface and human interaction with the geosphere. 

A geo hazard is a natural process or phenomenon that has the potential to adversely affect humanity by endangering life or property. A geo resource is a substance or commodity that can be extracted from the subsurface for use by humanity. This module will spend one semester focussing on these two important issues for environment and society.

This module will expose you to current practices, technologies and ideas existing at the forefront of environmental modelling. The module offers an opportunity for you to experience the theory and practice associated with key developments that are occurring in major modelling domains and the most recent advances from the research community. 

The module will comprise four parts:

1. Introduction 
2. Modelling the impacts of climate change 
3. Modelling biogeography 
4. Hydrology and hydroinformatics

This module focuses on the uptake of digital geographic information across a wide range of applications in society and the research agenda that is underpinning these developments. We will explore the use of location-aware mobile devices and techniques for geo-visualisation that are visually immersive and interactive. Content is organised as follows:

Part I: Digital Geographic Information in the public domain
Here we consider how a convergence of technologies (positioning, communication and processing) has allowed digital geographic information to make an impact 'beyond the desktop' at both a global scale through the web, and at a personal scale via the mobile device. This includes virtual globes, 'open' and 'linked' geographic information, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), location-based services, and mobile geospatial apps.

Part II: Virtual Geographic Environments
Here we look at the role and impact of multi-dimensional geographic visualisation to support decision making, environmental impact assessment, and the communication of spatial context. This includes animation and 3D graphics, advances in data capture, urban and rural landscape visualisation, interaction design and immersion, augmented and virtual realities.

The module covers the following:

• A review of modern climate systems and forcings
• Climate modelling, projections of future climate change and their uncertainty
• Controversies around climate change, the argument between believers and sceptics and the ways in which climate change is communicated to and perceived by the public 
• The impact of climate change on the world's physical and built environments, water and food resources, and human health
• Mitigation and adaptation to future climate change including the role played by policy markers and NGOs

This field-based module examines river processes and dynamics within the context of human efforts to manage and restore dynamic river systems. The module is taught during a 12-day field course to the Mt St. Helens National Monument in Washington State, USA and a four-week river change detection and visualisation project that will run through the remainder of the autumn semester.

The post-1980 eruption landscape of Mt St. Helens and its wider region is one of the world's most important natural laboratories for the study of severely disrupted rivers. You will enjoy a unique opportunity to gain hands-on, practical skills in river management by working in this exciting and demanding environment. The module is structured around two core questions:

• What are the likely impacts of the Mt St. Helens eruption on the region's river systems, riparian settlements and environments over the next 50 years?
• What are the practical, management options that should be considered for mitigating these impacts?

This module considers the quaternary evolution, environmental and settlement history of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, building explicitly on material covered in Environmental Change. The focus of the course will be evolution of the present climate and environment of the lowland tropics and the interaction between the natural environment and human societies.

The module is based on a 10 day residential field trip to the Yucatan and project work associated with this. Full costs of the field trip will be advised nearer the time of the visit. The main elements are:

• an overview of climate dynamics in the tropics, with particular emphasis on changes in the monsoon, the impact of sea level change and drivers of change from mid-latitudes
• critical review of methods of environmental reconstruction, dating techniques and sampling methods (waters, soils, sediments)
• archives of change relevant to the study area, primarily lakes and cave systems
• quaternary history of the Yucatan
• mesoamerican archaeology and cultural change in the Yucatan
• exploration of the possible role of climate in driving societal change

The module involves the study of broad-scale patterns of diversity, endemism and evolution in the Canary Islands using secondary data made available and where necessary collected by students. Independent research by student research groups supported by lectures, training sessions, research development seminars, presentation and feedback sessions, and unlimited consultations with lecturers.