MSc Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Reconstruction / Course details

Year of entry: 2025

Course description

MSc Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Reconstruction focuses on analysing past, present, and future dynamic environments, providing you with the skills for a career in environmental management or consultancy, and a firm grounding for research in the environmental sciences.

Concerns over the human impact on the environment have stimulated demand from governments and industry for the monitoring, analysis and modelling of natural processes in environmental systems.

This is essential if we are to improve understanding of the interrelation of environmental variables to predict and manage their responses to anthropogenic perturbations.

By studying this course, you will gain:

  • advanced theoretical knowledge and practical expertise to collect, interpret and analyse contemporary and past environmental data;
  • modelling skills to investigate the interrelationships between environmental variables, and to predict their responses to changing internal and external conditions;
  • intellectual and practical skills 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 you collect.

Aims

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.

Special features

  • 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 and the new Manchester Urban Institute (MUI).
  • Join the Manchester University Geographical Society (MUGS) a society run by Geography students for Geography students.

Teaching and learning

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.

Coursework and assessment

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

There are no formal examinations.

The remainder of your course consists of the dissertation.

Course unit list

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
Environmental Change & Reconstruction 1: Concepts in Stratigraphy and Geochronology GEOG60111 15 Mandatory
Environmental Change and Reconstruction 2: Palaeoecology in Practice GEOG60122 15 Mandatory
Dissertation Support GEOG60662 15 Mandatory
Dissertation MSc in Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Reconstruction GEOG70000 60 Mandatory
Environmental Monitoring and Modelling Practice GEOG70552 15 Mandatory
Environmental Monitoring and Modelling Concepts GEOG70581 15 Mandatory
Environmental Monitoring Modelling and Reconstruction Field Course GEOG70641 15 Mandatory
Environmental Change and Reconstruction 2: Palaeoecology in Practice GEOG60122 15 Optional
Digital Terrain Analysis GEOG60412 15 Optional
Environmental Remote Sensing GEOG60941 15 Optional
GIS and Environmental Applications GEOG60951 15 Optional
Green Infrastructure: Performance, Evaluation and Monitoring GEOG64011 15 Optional
Environmental Restoration GEOG64142 15 Optional
Environmental Monitoring and Modelling Practice GEOG70552 15 Optional
Applied Study Unit GEOG70560 15 Optional
Fundamentals of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) applied to Environmental Monitoring GEOG70632 15 Optional
Spatial Risks and Responses in the Urban Environment GEOG70812 15 Optional
Issues in Environmental Policy GEOG70912 15 Optional
Climate Emergency, Technology and Society GEOG70931 15 Optional
Understanding GIS GEOG71551 15 Optional
Spatial Ecology GEOG71922 15 Optional
Climate Change: Past, Present and Future GEOG72901 15 Optional
Climate Change and Development MGDI60552 15 Optional
Environmental Impact Assessment PLAN60411 15 Optional
Planning for Environmental Change PLAN60771 15 Optional
Displaying 10 of 25 course units

Scholarships and bursaries

We offer a number of postgraduate taught scholarships and merit awards to outstanding applicants and international students.

In addition, the Manchester Alumni Scholarship Scheme offers a £3,000 reduction in tuition fees to University of Manchester alumni who achieved a first-class Bachelors degree and are progressing to a postgraduate taught masters course.

For more information, see  Fees and funding  or  search the University's postgraduate funding database

Facilities

We are one of Europe's best-equipped universities for geography, with numerous laboratories. These include the main teaching laboratory, microscopy laboratory, and sediments and project laboratories.

You can also learn professional skills such as coding and programming specialist, industry-standard software such as image processing, GIS, GPS and cartographic representation.

The University's Main Library is home to the University Map Collection, which comprises about 100,000 map sheets of every part of the world.

For more information visit our  Facilities webpage .

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk