Environmental Geoscience

Environmental geoscience sits at the intersection of earth science and environmental science, bringing geological and geochemical understanding to bear on the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. The discipline examines how the Earth's systems, its rocks, soils, water, atmosphere, and living organisms, interact over both geological and human timescales. Understanding these interactions is essential to addressing climate change, managing natural hazards, protecting water quality, remediating contaminated land, and sustaining the natural systems on which human civilisation depends.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year, full-time programme develops a deep understanding of Earth processes alongside the environmental science needed to address contemporary challenges. You will study geology, geochemistry, and geophysics alongside environmental topics including hydrology, soil science, biogeochemistry, and climate systems. Fieldwork is an important part of the programme, giving you direct experience of working with geological and environmental data in real settings.

You will also develop quantitative and computational skills, including the ability to work with large environmental data sets and to model complex earth-system processes. Edinburgh's research strengths in geoscience and its location in Scotland, a country of remarkable geological diversity and active environmental management challenges, make for a particularly well-suited context for this programme.

Graduates in environmental geoscience go on to careers in environmental consultancy, hydrology and water management, contaminated land assessment, natural hazards assessment, climate science, government agencies, the oil and gas industry, mining, academic research, and science policy. The combination of geological rigour and environmental focus produces graduates who are equally at home reading the rocks of the deep past and addressing the environmental problems of the present. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate research degrees in geoscience, environmental science, or closely related fields.