Environmental Sciences

Environmental sciences addresses the most pressing set of challenges facing humanity, examining the physical, chemical, and biological systems that make the Earth habitable and the human pressures that are altering them. Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, resource depletion, and sustainable land and water use are all questions that environmental scientists study, drawing on ecology, geology, hydrology, atmospheric science, chemistry, and social science to understand how natural systems work and how they are responding to human activity. This is a discipline where the science has direct and urgent policy implications, and where the work of researchers and practitioners can make a tangible difference to the state of the planet.

At the University of East Anglia, this four-year full-time programme benefits from one of the most distinguished research environments in environmental science in the world. UEA is home to the Climatic Research Unit and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, making it a global centre for the study of climate and environment. Studying environmental sciences here means engaging with a genuinely research-active faculty working on questions that are at the heart of contemporary environmental debate.

You will study atmospheric and oceanic science, ecology and conservation biology, environmental chemistry, environmental management, and quantitative research methods, developing both the scientific understanding and the analytical skills needed to work on complex environmental problems.

Graduates in environmental sciences from UEA go on to careers in environmental consultancy, government environmental agencies such as the Environment Agency and Natural England, research and policy organisations, conservation charities, international development, renewable energy, and environmental education. Some pursue postgraduate study or research in environmental science, climate science, ecology, or sustainability, contributing to the scientific knowledge base that informs how we address environmental challenges. This is a degree for people who are genuinely motivated by the state of the natural world and who want to apply scientific rigour to helping protect it.