Geography and environment

Broaden your understanding of our world from a social, economic, political and environmental perspective. Studying Geography and Environment will give you an in-depth appreciation of our rapidly-changing world, enabling you to answer the who, what, where and why of today's pressing societal and environmental questions. Not only will this equip you with the knowledge and skills to assess the impact of the past on our present society and environment, but it will better prepare you to understand and address pivotal future societal and environmental challenges.

Why choose this subject area?

  • ranked 14th for Geography and Environmental studies in the UK (Guardian University Guide 2022)
  • top 25% for student voice in the 2022 National Student Survey (NSS) for geography, earth and environmental studies
  • you will have the opportunity to travel on exciting UK and overseas residential field courses in year one and year two with no additional fees!
  • we offer numerous opportunities to engage with extra-curricular activities centred around staff research interests, including helping out at our fantastic Bayfordbury field station or helping staff with fieldwork in locations such as Iceland, Switzerland or the High Arctic, as part of your final year dissertation!
  • we enjoy extremely close links with local and national employers and environmental groups. We offer many opportunities to apply your knowledge to help them address real world environmental and geographical issues, and gain valuable work experience in the process!

Why study Geography and Environment at Herts

A bit about Dr. Phil Porter

Dr. Phil Porter is a Glacier Scientist. For the past twenty-five years, he has led and participated in scientific expeditions to some of the last true wilderness areas on our planet. He has gone to the frozen wastes of the High-Arctic to the high peaks of the Himalaya. Phil researches the response of glaciers to our rapidly changing climate and in particular, the impacts of warming on meltwater production and delivery. With a sizeable proportion of the world’s population directly or indirectly dependent on snow and ice melt for their water resources, never has this subject been of greater significance.
'The placement opportunity helped me figure out how my interests could fit into a job and set me up for my career.'

Laura McNally

BSc (Hons) Geography