Environmental Monitoring, Research and Management

Program Overview

The Environmental Monitoring, Research and Management MSc at Loughborough University equips students with practical skills for effective environmental management through field, laboratory, and analytical work. The program emphasizes the practical challenges of measuring, analyzing, and evaluating dynamic environmental data for problem-solving and management purposes. Graduates have an excellent track record of securing jobs in environmental consultancy, research, and government agencies. The program is offered on a full-time (1 year) or part-time (2 years) basis.

Program Outline

Environmental Monitoring, Research and Management MSc at Loughborough University

Degree Overview:

The Environmental Monitoring, Research and Management MSc equips students with practical skills for effective environmental management through field, laboratory, and analytical work. The program delves into the dynamic nature of biological and physical environmental systems, teaching students advanced analytical and practical skills increasingly in demand by the government, industry, and scientific community when assessing and managing these systems. The program emphasizes the practical challenges of measuring, analyzing, and evaluating dynamic environmental data for problem-solving and management purposes. It is grounded in the belief that environmental problem-solving and management must be based on asking the right questions, collecting the right data, analyzing it appropriately, and evaluating it within an applied context.

Outline:

The program consists of three modules in the first semester and two modules in the second semester, followed by a research-based dissertation in the summer.

Semester 1

• Lake Research and Management: This module focuses on acquiring the skills and knowledge required to undertake environmentally relevant monitoring and surveying of lake ecosystems, critically evaluate physio-chemical limnological data, and develop an understanding of the temporal variability of lake ecosystems.
• GIS for Environmental Management: This module aims to equip students with the hands-on fundamentals of GIS, applying GIS techniques to analyze environmental data, generate and present useful information, and support decision-making processes.
• Tools for River Research and Management: This module aims to equip students with the theoretical understanding and practical training to design and execute research programs in fluvial hydromorphology and river ecology, gain the appropriate skills to analyze and critically evaluate geomorphological and ecological data, and obtain the necessary knowledge and skills to make measurements and/or estimates of key geomorphological and ecological characteristics of rivers.

Semester 2

• Research-Informed Environmental Management: This module emphasizes the use of research approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of management interventions, considering the shortcomings of anecdotal evidence and prior experience.
Students will study the research approaches used to evaluate the effectiveness of management interventions and the use of this research-base by environmental management practitioners in the context of 'evidence-based conservation'. The module will also include a field visit to a long-term ecological experiment to study the practicalities of designing and running conservation management experiments.
• Geospatial Risk Modelling for Management: This module introduces students to mathematical and numerical modelling in the simulation of natural hazards and their application in geospatial models of risk.
• Dissertation in Environmental Monitoring, Research and Management: The dissertation module focuses on producing an original piece of research specific to the program on which the student is registered, using appropriate theoretical material, research methodologies, and skills in data collection, analysis, interpretation, and writing.

Assessment:

Students are assessed through a combination of coursework, essays, reports, group work, and a dissertation on an agreed topic.

Teaching:

Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, field trips, independent study, group work, laboratory work, and practical sessions. Students also have access to online material and dedicated computer labs. The program benefits from the expertise of a renowned faculty with extensive experience in environmental research and management.

Careers:

Graduates of this program have an excellent track record of securing jobs in environmental consultancy, research, and government agencies in fields such as flood risk modelling and engineering, catastrophe risk analysis, water quality monitoring, and transport planning. Many graduates have also secured jobs through networking with contacts made during the program.

Other:

The program is offered on a full-time basis (1 year) or part-time basis (2 years). The course duration stated is for a full-time student undertaking a master's program of 180 credits. Part-time students should divide the published fee by 180 credits and then multiply by the number of credits they are taking to calculate their tuition fees. The program is based at Loughborough University, a leading university for student satisfaction and subject rankings in the UK, particularly in the areas of Geography and Environmental Studies. The university provides a state-of-the-art research and teaching facility, complete with a river science laboratory, geospatial laboratory, and several meteorological and hydrological field stations. The campus also has a 16-hectare research forest, comprised of ancient and semi-natural woodland.

UK fee: £12,250 Full-time degree per annum International fee: £24,500 Full-time degree per annum