Course units
1. Measuring and Predicting 1 (15 credits)
In this unit, you’ll build a foundation of general skills relating to measuring and predicting pollutant mobility and transformation.
Learn why measurement is meaningful – through statistical significance, sampling methods and analytical techniques – and appreciate when and why prediction is required.
Understand general techniques of prediction based on comparison of measurements, relationships and models, and develop an understanding of the processes and vocabulary surrounding models.
A one-day virtual field trip and an introduction to the department’s analytical facilities will give you practical training and reinforce theoretical concepts.
2. Measuring and Predicting 2 (15 credits)
Following on from Measuring and Predicting 1, you’ll focus on the use of models to make predictions and aid the interpretation of measurements.
Get an introduction to the use of models in the environmental sciences, drawing on examples from current scientific literature. Discuss the merits and limitations of various approaches.
A series of lectures and practical sessions will showcase different models, and a combination of baseline simulations and sensitivity tests will help explain relevant computational models. You’ll benefit from hands-on experience with different models, interpreting their output, and focusing on how they relate to the real world.
3. Human Impacts on the Biosphere (15 credits)
Understand how human activities cause change and damage to the biosphere through key topics including the environmental impact of resource extraction and use, agriculture and air pollution from road transport, and the effect of urbanisation on water resources.
Assess mitigation and management strategies such as monitoring and remediation (including bioremediation) and start using methods and approaches – from molecular to community level – to assess and predict human impact on ecosystems.
4. Pollution Management in Practice 1 (15 credits)
Using urban environment case studies and industry-standard software, develop advanced skills in environmental modelling and project management to support a simulated real-life science or consultancy project.
Build detailed knowledge and advanced modelling skills relating to topics such as flood prevention and mitigation in cities, flood risk impacts on mountain settlements, and water resource planning for future development.
Workshop sessions will focus on project planning, monitoring and reporting. Benefit from the opportunity to bring all your modelling knowledge together and present your solutions as a briefing note and video presentation.
5. Pollutant Mobility and Transformation (15 credits)
Understand the scope of pollution and its wider context, and the connections between natural processes and pollution. Get to grips with the concept of misplaced materials and misplaced people, and discuss particular types of pollution.
Learn about important concentration gradients that drive pollution, as well as methods to measure and predict their impact, quantified through consideration of organic and metal pollution.
Understand physical mobility as a result of diffusion and dispersion, and how to quantify it through water, sediment, groundwater, stream water and atmosphere.
Apply your knowledge during a virtual field trip, with the opportunity to make measurements, predict outcomes and validate your predictions.
6. Pollution Management in Practice 2 (15 credits)
Develop mathematical models to understand a simple environmental system, learn about data collection and examine environmental monitoring methods for water movement studies.
Use different techniques to analyse the natural processes of surface water runoff and groundwater, as well as the movement of water in rivers and on floodplains. Understand the importance of reservoirs and water transport, release and movement in urban areas.
Apply models using industry-standard software, learn to interpret output, and evaluate performance and parameters through sensitivity analysis to solve real-world problems.
7. Environmental Monitoring and Modelling (15 credits)
Select appropriate techniques for measuring environmental data and apply industry-standard software for hydraulic, river, water resource and glacier runoff modelling in a range of climatic zones.
Examine various measurement and modelling approaches and get hands-on experience with data analysis using GIS, applying models and interpreting model output.
Use different models to explore flood hydrology and the mechanism of flooding, including techniques to collect and analyse hydrometric data. Examine catchment flow dynamics using 1D and 2D numerical modelling.
Become familiar with climate change models, predicted impacts and global future megatrends, including population growth, urbanisation, climate change and the effect of these on society.
8. Environmental MSc Tutorial (15 credits)
Look at issues to consider when preparing for a research project, and how to apply these to your individual project.
A draft research proposal presentation and report prepare you for your official research proposal presentation and research project report at the end of your course.
Project (60 credits)
Independently undertake a research project, supervised by one a member of our internationally-acclaimed research team.
Our research expertise spans a range of pollution and environmental control topics in relation to water, air, soil and ecosystems, as well as more general environmental hazards and global climate change. Our department was placed in the UK top six by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, and our standing creates a thriving research environment for our MSc students.
Show less
