Geography and environmental sciences

Courses

Undergraduate Courses 

BSc (Hons) Geography and BSc (Hons) Environmental Management

The Geography and Environmental Sciences courses have a strong emphasis in areas traditionally associated with human geography, physical geography, geographic information systems, ecology, conservation, environmental assessment and environmental geology. We have outstanding learning, teaching and research facilities through the Learning Resources Centre, the Science and Technology Research Centre and our Field Station at Bayfordbury. Field courses, practical application, work experience and the opportunity to spend a year in America or in Europe are strong features of our interdisciplinary degree programmes. The photo below shows a student undertaking fieldwork in Iceland. 

Postgraduate Courses

MSc Environmental Management

Our MSc in Environmental Management allows you study a broad Environmental Management master's degree or specialise in Environmental Management for Business or Water and Environmental Management. Modules on all routes are certified by the CIWEM and certain modules also allow you to gain accreditation from IEMA. The course is delivered through short courses, supported by distance learning materials, through the University's state-of-the-art virtual learning environment StudyNet. This means it's ideal if you want to study part-time while continuing to work full-time.

Consultancy

We offer a wide range of consultnacy in geography and environmental sciences, including areas such as European Union environmental policy issues, remote sensing and GIS, geography of public health issues, spatial marketing analysis, upland rural land use issues and local government organisation and planning,

Recent consultancy projects have included:

Stanborough Park Environmental Project Helping Stanborough Park in Welwyn Garden City to balance its recreational and environmental aspects and assisting it with community involvement ideas.

Hertfordshire County Council - Rights Of Way Spent a month undertaking surveys which looked at the public use of rights of ways and what HCC could do to encourage more non users to use them.

Environment Agency Undertook a project to look at land cover change in the Barking area as part of Environment Agency flooding risk analysis.

University of Hertfordshire Marketing Department Undertook some marketing and wider participation analysis using GIS.

Uno Bus Company

We recently undertook a GIS project looking at the postcode locations of staff and students and comparing them against Uno routes to look at improving bus provisions. This contributed to the creation of new routes.

For further information please contact Paul Zukowskyj .

Facilities

Our laboratories provide our students with the best possible learning environment.

Geographical and Environmental Resources Laboratory

The GER Lab is available to undergraduate students during working hours for research and group work. There is technical staff on hand to assist students with their studies by maintaining and updating reference materials and dealing with queries. Resources available include; aerial photographs and specialist maps, OS 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 maps of England and Wales, collections of module and topic-related materials compiled by tutors, field course study materials, recent research publications by staff, videos of programmes on environmental and geographical topics and viewing facilities.

Geographical Information Sciences Laboratory

The GISci Lab delivers IT teaching and research provision for staff and students, particularly directed towards Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS).

It provides both hardware and software facilities that are essential to GIS project design and implementation.

The GIS Laboratory is staffed by a Senior Technician, who can be approached for help and assistance regarding any aspect of GIS, RS or IT.

Equipment available in the GISci Laboratory includes:

  • high specification networked PCs
  • digitising board
  • differential GPS systems with download facilities
  • flatbed scanner
  • a total station and access to high precision differential GPS receivers.

The software in use includes:

  • ArcGIS ArcInfo Workstation
  • ERDAS Imagine (including the latest version of OrthoBASE for digital photogrammetry)
  • Idrisi and Cartalinx.

Geosciences Laboratory

This new laboratory contains specialist equipment for the testing of sediments that enable a comprehensive range of tests to be carried out, including particle size analysis by wet sieving and sophisticated laser diffraction methods, basic soil properties, as well as compressibility and shear strength of soils. The laboratory is primarily used for practicals on the Geography and Environmental Sciences degrees, and the MSc Environmental Management. Substantial use is also made of it by undergraduate and MSc project students.

Physical Geography Laboratory

The lab has recently been refurbished and is designed to provide support for a number of practical based learning activities in the subject areas of physical geography, geology and environmental sciences. It contains a full suite of UK Geological Maps at 1:50,000 scale and many specialist maps at different scales plus maps of various other countries where field work has been undertaken by our staff and students. The lab is extremely well stocked with all the major igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock types plus a fossil collection, and also contains twenty-five binocular petrological microscopes for the analysis of rocks samples in thin-section. A dedicated PC in the lab has specialist software including a 'virtual petrological microscope' and soils analysis software. 

Bayfordbury Field Station

The University has its own Field Station which is used by Geography and Environmental Sciences students during their degrees.

Situated in the Lee valley just outside of Hertford, it comprises a Science Block, Plant Growth facilities, an Environmental Agency funded stream research facility and 50 types of habitats, including ancient woodlands, grassland and a lake.

The use of these facilities is an integral part of all Geographical and Environmental Sciences degrees.

In your first year practical work at Bayfordbury introduces geographical and environmental surveying techniques which are then used to study particular aspects in and around the Field Station.

In the second year you will investigate methods and techniques of monitoring pollution, biogeography and advanced mapping techniques.

When you undertake your project in the final year, you will be able to use the facilities and habitats at Bayfordbury during your research.