MSc Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Reconstruction

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We also attend a number of education fairs both in the UK and overseas throughout the year.

For more details on how you can meet us, visit out events page: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/meet-us/

Please submit the following documents with your completed application form:

• copies of official degree certificates and transcripts of your previous study, showing the subjects taken and grades obtained. If these documents are in languages other than English, please provide official translations;
• copies of English Language Certification, such as IELTS, TOEFL iBT or Pearson test score report, if available at the time of application;
• your CV.

Ensure that you enclose all the necessary documents to avoid delays.

Gain practical, analytical and modelling skills for understanding environmental change over a range of timescales.

The course explores how environments evolve over time, and how this knowledge can help us respond to contemporary environmental challenges. You will develop advanced practical expertise in collecting, interpreting and analysing environmental data from both present-day and past environments, while also building the conceptual understanding that underpins these approaches.

You will choose from a wide range of modules from across the department and beyond, allowing you to shape the course around your interests and ambitions. In the first semester, you will build a grounding in applied environmental skills, scientific concepts and theoretical approaches. In the second semester, you can tailor your studies to focus more on environmental monitoring and modelling, or environmental reconstruction.

The year-long Applied Study unit gives you the opportunity to apply your learning through an external placement or an internal research project. You will be supported to identify a suitable project, which may also provide the basis for your dissertation or future employment opportunities. Your dissertation allows you to pursue an original research project on a topic that reflects your own interests, with support from an expert academic adviser.

You will learn how environmental systems interconnect and respond to natural processes and human impacts. Through fieldwork, laboratory work and data analysis, you will build skills in monitoring modern environmental processes, reconstructing past climates and ecosystems, and using environmental models to explore processes such as hydrological change, landscape evolution and ecosystem response. You will also explore scientific approaches to managing and mitigating future climate change and environmental degradation.

The course combines practical assignments with training in environmental data handling, digital data sourcing and specialist software. You will have opportunities to develop professional skills in areas such as programming, GIS, remote sensing and quantitative data analysis and communication. You will also learn how to build and evaluate models to understand environmental processes, and how to produce industry-standard reports that communicate scientific information clearly and effectively.

By combining hands-on experience with a deep understanding of environmental systems, this course equips you with skills relevant to environmental consultancy, environmental management, research and further academic study.

You will be supported throughout the course by academic staff, including a personal tutor who can offer regular guidance and an expert dissertation adviser who will help you design and undertake an original, independent research project. Skills training is also embedded throughout the degree, giving you tools for your studies and future career.

The overall aims of the course are for you to gain:

• the appropriate level of advanced theoretical knowledge and practical expertise required to collect, interpret, and analyse contemporary and past environmental data; 
• the modelling skills required to investigate the interrelationships between environmental variables, and to predict their responses to changing internal and external conditions; 
• the intellectual and practical skills required to design and undertake field and/or laboratory experiments in contemporary environmental process-monitoring, or palaeo-environmental reconstruction, and to design and test appropriate environmental models with the data they collect; 
• a practical understanding of the research process, and the skills necessary to see an environmental research project through to completion.

• Geography has been studied at Manchester for more than 125 years, and we're one of Europe's best-equipped universities for the subject.
• We’re home to world-class academics in Geography and other areas of the University contributing to the programme, including the Manchester Urban Insitute , and the Manchester Environmental Research Institute .
• Join the Manchester University Geographical Society (MUGS) a society run by Geography students for Geography students.

Important notice: factors affecting fieldwork and placements

The School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) recognises the value of fieldwork and placements. However, the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff remains our priority.

The School will assess on a regular basis the viability of any travel and fieldwork and communicate any significant changes to our students at the earliest possible opportunity.

The role of SEED

• changes to the rules and guidance on travel and activities implemented and published by the UK and overseas governments;
• a risk assessment conducted by or on behalf of the University identifying unmanageable risk;
• changes that enhance the educational value and student experience of the activity;
• changes to the situation of a placement provider (for example, which cause them to be unable to accept students);
• the unavailability of appropriate insurance cover;
• the unavailability of appropriate travel and accommodation and any significant changes to their financial costs;
• where fieldwork and placements are a compulsory element of the Programme, they will be replaced with something academically similar;
• where a trip or placement is not a compulsory element of the Programme, it may not be replaced.

We will consult with affected students at the earliest possible opportunity and explore the options available to them.

The duty of students

Preparation, attendance and conduct

Attendance at preparatory classes is a compulsory pre-requisite of the fieldwork and placements to ensure safety and learning outcomes are met.

Students who do not attend the compulsory preparatory classes may be prevented from participating in the fieldwork or placement. It is the duty of students to discuss any attendance issues with the field course or placement convenor.

Students are representatives of the university during their fieldwork or placement. Behaviour deemed by the convenor to be unacceptable may result in students being sent home.

Where a student is unable to attend or complete the fieldwork or placement (e.g. due to mitigating circumstances), is prevented from attending due to absence from compulsory preparatory classes, or returned home due to poor conduct:

• a suitable alternative assessment will be offered (as appropriate) to ensure that the programme ILOs are met, and that the student is not academically disadvantaged;
• the University accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred by the student in relation to the fieldwork or placement.

Immigration, passport and visa requirements

It is the responsibility of the individual student to ensure they have:

• a valid passport to enter the destination country (including sufficient months prior to expiry);
• a valid visa (where required) and comply with its requirements.

The School cannot guarantee that visas required for fieldwork or a placement will be granted by the relevant authority. Please note that countries may change their immigration and visa regulations at short notice.

Where a student is unable to attend fieldwork or a placement because they do not have the required visa or passport:

• a suitable alternative assessment will be offered to ensure that the programme ILOs are met and that the student is not academically disadvantaged;
• the University accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred by the student in relation to the fieldwork or placement.

Taught units comprise two-thirds of the course and are assessed by a wide range of project work, coursework, essays and reports.

In the summer semester, you work independently to undertake dissertation work based on primary and/or secondary data.

We are one of Europe's best-equipped un iversities for Geography, with outstanding computing, laboratory, cartography and library facilities that are used for teaching and research and are available for our students, including:

• World-leading Physical Geography Laboratories with a wide range of advanced capabilities for studying water, soils, sediments and microplastics, including major and trace elemental analysis, spectroscopy, microscopy and X-ray fluorescence.
• A Geocomputational Suite supporting world-class work in GIS and remote sensing, with access to UAVs and digital mapping tools.
• A Geography Virtual Reality lab for undertaking research.
• Advanced computing facilities for coding and data analysis.

The University's Main Library is the largest university library system in the UK and is a great place to study. It is also home to the University Map Collection, comprising around 100,000 maps of every part of the world.

For more information visit our Facilities webpage .

You will gain practical, analytical and research skills relevant across environmental, scientific, public, private and third-sector roles. Graduates go on to shape environmental policy through positions in the public and private sectors, and the dissertation also provides a strong foundation for PhD research. Potential career paths include:

• Environmental sciences and consultancy
• Scientific research
• Hydrology, flood risk and water resources
• Soil sciences
• Conservation
• Agriculture and forestry
• Energy sector
• Sustainability
• Environmental policy

Recent employers include the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Defra, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Soil Association, UNEP, AECOM, Arup, Jacobs, JBA, Mott MacDonald, Haskoning, AtkinsRéalis, Arcadis, ERM and United Utilities.

Careers support

You will also have access to careers guidance, employer events, application support and resources to help you explore options during and after your degree. The Careers Service provides specialist resources, advice and events for international students to help with career planning and making the most of your time while studying in Manchester.

• Working in the UK after study

• Working during study

• Professional and alumni networks for international students

Global networks

The University of Manchester is proud to have the largest global alumni community of any campus-based university in the UK.

International alumni groups are a great way to keep in touch with fellow Manchester graduates in your country and provide an opportunity to build professional and social networks.