Environmental Science BSc (Hons)

Environmental scientists study and monitor a whole range of environments to understand local and global processes, protect ecosystems, and to safeguard human health. They are at the forefront of finding solutions to reduce damage to the natural and developed world.

Our BSc (Hons) Environmental Science degree brings together different disciplines to consider environmental issues in a holistic way. It provides an in-depth understanding of the earth’s natural and global processes, together with detailed knowledge of the organisms that inhabit it, their environments, communities, as well as their impact by way of pollution, overproduction and overpopulation, for instance.

You will explore how technology, research, behavioural change, regulations and a robust scientific approach can find solutions to problems, such as the damage caused by the chemicals used by industries or to find alternatives to plastics. We also discuss and debate moral dilemmas like economic development versus environmental protection.

Highly practical in nature, you will conduct experiments in the field and in the lab. We run field courses in and around Eryri National Park (also known as Snowdonia) and organise various lab practicals, for instance, learning how to apply a range of techniques to detect the source of pollutants in water and soils.

Compulsory field trips are designed to enhance you subject-specific knowledge and understanding, while equipping you with valuable skills in data collection and analysis. You also get to use state-of-the art equipment, such as our mobile laboratories, which monitor greenhouse gas emissions in difficult to reach environments, such as hill farming systems.

In Year 3, you have the option to take part in a residential field trip to Tenerife. With lush, green forests and dry, volcanic landscapes, it offers an ideal place to study extreme environments. The island also makes an excellent case study, given the pressures it faces in terms of water resources, food security, energy supply and waste, much of which is exacerbated by the tourist industry.

At Bangor, you’ll learn from individuals at the cutting-edge of research to solve major issues like how to feed nine billion people in a climate-changed future. Our greenhouse trials at Henfaes Research Centre, for example, are testing different scenarios to see how impacts on soil functioning affects whether plants adapt, thrive and survive or die. As well as experiments at the molecular level, we also run large-scale trials, such as those focusing on microplastic pollution in China and Egypt, greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems, and sampling wastewater as an early-warning detection method for Covid-19.

During your final year, you will conduct your own research under staff guidance, delving into a topic of your choice. By way of example, previous dissertation topics have explored how emissions from cars influence heavy metal concentrations of roadside blackberries, the potential for hydropower systems in Eryri, natural flood management, the impacts of sewage sludge application on soil health, how plants adapt to high ozone concentrations, and strategies to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.

We offer three undergraduate Environmental Science degrees leading to either a Bachelor of Science (BSc) or Master of Environmental Science (MEnvSci): a three-year BSc (Hons) Environmental Science; a four-year BSc (Hons) Environmental Science with Foundation Year; and a four-year integrated MEnvSci Environmental Science. Students joining a bachelor’s programme can transfer onto the MEnvSci at the end of Year 2 (subject to a year average mark above 60%).