Fieldwork
Environmental Science fieldwork takes a variety of forms, according to your programme of study.
Most afternoon and day trips are free, and costs of residential field courses are heavily subsidised.
Lancaster's proximity to the coast, hills and moors of Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Cumbria make it an ideal location for field trips ranging in duration from short day trips to week-long residential.
Many modules include short field visits, including trips to the Yorkshire Dales National Park to find evidence of previous climates and gauge underground rivers, the Lune Valley to study nutrient release in estuaries and Coniston copper mines to assess the role of mining on metal contamination. We also have our own weather station that feeds data to the UK Meteorological Office.
There are also specific field-only modules that visit Lancaster's proximity as well as the Scottish islands of Mull, Iona, Staffa & Islay, Slapton in Devon and Mount Etna, Italy.
Environmental Field Course
This is a residential 2nd year module for all undergraduate degrees in Environmental Science at LEC.
We spend a week studying the environmental impact of a disused tungsten mine situated at Carrock Fell in the northern Lake District. Each day is spent examining a different aspect of the environment, including geology, water chemistry, stream hydrology and erosion.
Earth Science Field Skills
This is a core second year module for BSc Earth & Environmental Science, and BSc Earth Science with Geography students which builds on the Environmental Fieldcourse module. It is an essential course for students who anticipate careers involving field work. The module is designed for students to learn about geologic and geomorphologic processes, and to acquire the skills to enable them to work competently in the field.
There is one field preparation practical class followed by four days of outdoor teaching in the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District over a five week period. The course also has three half days of laboratory classes aimed at consolidation of the field activities. This course integrates the teaching of field skills, e.g. map reading and stratigraphic logging, with geologic processes, e.g. glaciation and sedimentation, and fossil identification.
Geological Mapping
This is a core residential course to the Island of Mull, Scotland, for BSc Earth & Environmental Science students which builds on material taught during the Earth Science Field Skills module.
It provides training in geological mapping, Earth processes and field work logistics, and prepares students who wish to do a geological field project as part of their dissertation.
The course commences with an orientation day during which we visit key outcrops of the mapping area. There are then four days of mapping, culminating in a final day on which we observe some of the oldest rocks in the UK (the Lewisian gneisses on the island of Iona) and rocks that formed during the opening of the Atlantic Ocean at Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa.
Volcanic Processes Field Course
This optional field course for Earth & Environmental Science and Earth Science with Geography students involves studying volcanic processes on Europe's largest active volcano, Mt Etna, Sicily.
During an intensive week-long residential field course, we examine many of the complex processes that take place both on the surface and beneath volcanoes.
This problem-based learning course uses detailed field observations to understand the range of processes that have taken place during recent eruptions.
The evidence is then used to unravel the interactions between the plumbing system of the volcano, different styles of eruptive activity and the role of instability of the eastern flank.
We also examine methods used to monitor changes in activity on the volcano, their usefulness in the prediction of eruptions, and methods used to mitigate hazards.
Hydrological Processes Field Course
This is an optional, residential field course to Devon for Environmental Science students.
We spend a week in the summer vacation studying those hydrological processes needed to quantify and mitigate the impact of agricultural nutrients on the eutrophication of Slapton Ley, a coastal freshwater lake.
To address this problem, students combine their own field measurements of hydrological properties with simulations of the runoff and nutrient behaviour, and the extensive research literature available for the location.
Students also have the opportunity to see related studies at the IGER North Wyke research station.
Metamorphic Geology Field Course
This field focused, third year module for Earth and Environmental Science students looks at the processes and products of metamorphism. The field work consists of a residential trip to the Isle of Islay, Scotland, taught jointly with geology students from Stockholm University.
The field work will be led by Prof. Alasdair Skelton (Stockholm University, Sweden), an expert in the metamorphic geology of Islay, who will direct the pre-field trip preparatory work through a distance learning programme.
Student research project (dissertation)
All students undertake a dissertation project under the guidance of research-active staff, with a number of student projects contributing to publication in the primary science literature each year.
These projects can analyse data and model processes using laboratory and computer methods, as well as being based on environmental or earth science fieldwork.
You could undertake a field based research project in the nearby Lake District, further afield in Scotland or Europe, or associated with projects in Borneo or the Himalayas.