BSc Applied Ecology and Conservation

People are having a seriously detrimental effect on global biodiversity by changing climate, over-fishing the seas, destroying rainforests, introducing pollutants, increasing urbanisation and many other activities. To ensure that these effects are minimised, we need to understand how organisms interact with each other and their environment. Lessons learned from ecological studies can be applied to environmental problems such as how we can use insect predators to control crop pests and how we can design reserves to conserve endangered species.

The first year provides an insight into the full range of pure and applied ecology and how ecological perspectives can inform real-world problems in conservation and pest management, especially in relation to the agricultural landscape. The second year builds on this, providing deeper insights into the ecological systems and organisms that make up our world, with an emphasis on UK issues. The final year, which includes your project choice, allows for greater specialism.

What will you study?

Year 1

Compulsory modules

Ecology: species and their interactions

Mammals: diversity, behaviour and conservation

Exploiters and exploited

Genes and chromosomes

Ecology and environmental management

Practical field ecology

Optional modules

Including:

Countryside and the environment

The living cell

Plant diversity, structure and utilisation

Introduction to soil science

Soils: land and the environment

Institution-Wide Language Programme

Year 2

Compulsory modules

Evolutionary biology

Introduction to entomology

Statistics for life sciences

Professional career development

Methods in ecology and environmental management

Biodiversity field course or tropical biology field course (subject to place availability)

Optional modules

Including:

Vertebrate zoology

Invertebrate zoology

Practical nature conservation

Birds: diversity, behaviour and conservation

Ecology and management of plant diseases

Grassland management and ecology

Forestry and woodlands

Introduction to history and philosophy of science

Year 3

Compulsory modules

Research project

Conservation biology

Wildlife in the farming environment

Optional modules

Including:

Rural environmental sustainability

Rural policy and countryside planning

Principles and practice in biological control

Behavioural ecology and life history theory

Conservation and biodiversity: the global and local scale

Physiological ecology

Management of soil fertility

Biodiversity informatics

Research topics in ecology

Animal diversity

Forensic zoology

Community and landscape

Urban ecology