The BSc (Hons) in Environmental Earth Sciences is a four-year course run by the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. During your degree, you will be able to take advantage of hands-on field and laboratory-based research projects that investigate topics as varied as what isotopic signals preserved in recent sediments tell us about conditions at the time of their formation, how ocean acidification affects the formation of coral reefs and the impact of volcanoes on climate.

In first year, you will be introduced to the main concepts of Earth system science, including Earth structure and Earth history, the evolution of life and the Earth’s biosphere, as well as contemporary processes that shape the planet’s surface and impact the living envelope.

Alongside environmental Earth sciences, in the first year of your studies you will be required to study an additional two subjects. In the second year, you will usually carry on at least one of these subjects, sometimes two. Find out more about how academic years are organised.

In second year, modules provide additional and deeper study into climatology, mineralogy, sedimentary systems, earth surface processes, palaeontology, geophysics and geochemistry.

At Honours level, there is a shift from broad-themed modules to more specialised ones that introduce students to a wide variety of exciting new research trends and findings. Modules involve the opportunity to get first-hand experience of new research discoveries and advances in Earth Science by staff in an integrated lecture-lab-field forum.

The School is home to state-of-the-art analytical facilities supported by full-time technicians. These allow for the detailed characterisation of natural and synthetic materials, culturing of micro and macro organisms in extreme environments, and geological and geophysical field deployment. These facilities will enable the students to address questions from fundamental field geology and to assess anthropological versus natural processes in driving environmental change.

The University of St Andrews operates on a flexible modular degree system by which degrees are obtained through the accumulation of credits.