Environmental Geoscience

Environmental geoscience is the discipline that investigates the Earth's physical systems and the ways in which human activity is disrupting them. It draws on geology, hydrology, atmospheric science, and environmental chemistry to understand processes such as erosion, flooding, contamination, and climate change, and to assess the hazards and vulnerabilities they create for human communities and natural systems. Environmental geoscientists work at the interface between fundamental earth science and the practical challenges of managing land, water, and resources in a rapidly changing world.

At the University of Leeds, this three-year full-time programme equips you to investigate environmental degradation, emerging hazards, climate change, and pollution across a range of terrestrial and aquatic settings. A sandwich year, year abroad, and work placements are available, meaning you can gain significant professional and international experience during your degree. The programme develops your skills in fieldwork, laboratory analysis, remote sensing, GIS, and the modelling of environmental systems, alongside the scientific knowledge needed to interpret what you observe.

You will learn to assess risk, design monitoring programmes, and communicate findings to both technical and non-technical audiences, all of which are core competencies in professional environmental geoscience practice.

Graduates go on to careers in environmental consultancy, hydrogeology, engineering geology, environmental regulation, waste management, natural hazard assessment, and climate science. Government agencies, local authorities, private consultancies, research institutes, and international organisations are all significant employers. Many graduates pursue postgraduate study in environmental geoscience, earth sciences, or environmental management, and the combination of fieldwork, laboratory, and computational skills the degree develops is highly valued across the environmental and earth sciences sectors.