Ecological and Environmental Sciences with Management

Ecological and environmental sciences with management brings together two perspectives on one of the most urgent challenges of our time. Ecology and environmental science provide the scientific grounding to understand how ecosystems work, how biodiversity is distributed and threatened, and how human activity is altering the planet's climate, land, water, and living systems. Management studies add the practical and strategic dimension, asking how organisations, governments, and communities can make better decisions about natural resources, sustainability, and environmental risk.

Graduates who understand both the science and the management are well placed to work at the intersection of evidence and action, which is where the most consequential environmental decisions are made.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year programme includes a year abroad, which takes you out of the Scottish context and into a different ecological and environmental management environment. This is a particularly valuable feature for a discipline where understanding different biomes, regulatory systems, and approaches to conservation and resource management matters a great deal. Throughout the programme, you will study ecology, biodiversity, environmental chemistry, earth systems science, and conservation biology alongside management topics including environmental policy, corporate sustainability, and the economics of natural resources.

Fieldwork is central to the science content, and you will develop practical skills in ecological survey, data collection, and environmental assessment alongside the quantitative and analytical methods used in both ecology and management.

Edinburgh's strong research tradition in ecology and environmental science, combined with the management dimension, produces graduates who are genuinely distinctive in the environmental employment market.

Graduates work in conservation organisations, environmental consultancies, government agencies, corporate sustainability teams, international development bodies, and research institutions. Postgraduate study in ecology, environmental management, conservation, or related fields is a further option for those wishing to specialise.