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Environmental Science

31 October 2023

Environmental Science is the newest major in UC's Bachelor of Science. It's an interdisciplinary programme taught by staff from Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Forestry Science, Gateway Antarctica, School of Earth and Environment, School of Mathematics and Statistics and Physics and Astronomy. Find out how to study Environmental Science at UC.

HOW TO APPLY

Our academic staff are complemented by guest lecturers from industry,听听and local government.

Environmental Science must be taken as a double major with another Bachelor of Science major. The topic looks at how the earth works, how people are affecting the environment and how to solve environmental issues. This new specialisation meets demand from both students and employers for a more specialised course of study in a field of growing national and international relevance.

Graduates will have a broad interdisciplinary background as听students of both Environmental Science and their other chosen major. 听They will听be able to identify, monitor and solve a variety of problems associated with the environment. 听They find employment in a range of careers including making businesses more sustainable, helping multinationals reduce the impact of major projects and as advisors in government agencies.

Why choose Environmental Science?

Human impact on the environment is a field of increasing concern. We aim to produce graduates with critical insight who will apply their innovative, problem-solving skills to create a better world.

The major offers opportunities to:

  • Develop critical analytical skills
  • Become an environmental decision maker
  • Shape our global future
  • Solve environmental challenges
  • Make a difference
  • Be part of solutions

Study Environmental Science at UC

Fields of research
  • Environmental monitoring
  • Human exposure to contaminants
  • Environmental fate and toxicity of contaminants
  • Water quality
  • Air quality
  • Contaminated land
  • Climate change
  • Antarctic Science
  • Biosecurity
  • Stable isotope geochemistry
  • Freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecology
  • Coastal science

  • Monitoring the Impact of Scott Base in Antarctica: A Recent Evaluation of Wastewater, Water and Soil Quality at Pram Point, Ross Island.
  • Mechanisms of trace metal and diclofenac toxicity in inanga (Galaxias maculatus).
  • Intertidal foraminifera of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary; response to coseismic deformation and potential to record local historic events.
  • Mauka makai鈥 鈥楰i uta ki tai鈥: The ecological and sociocultural values of estuarine shellfish fisheries in Hawai`i and Aotearoa New Zealand.
  • Impacts of antimicrobial compounds in urban waterways receiving sewer overflows.
  • Characteristics of the Ross and Southern McMurdo ice shelves as revealed from ground-based radar surveys.
  • Metal contamination in streams in three New Zealand cities, the effects on benthic communities and the accumulation in a New Zealand mayfly.
  • Distribution, trapping efficiencies and feeding trials for Paranephrops听zealandicus听in central mini传媒.
  • Enhancing the performance of wastewater microalgae through chemical and physical modifications in high rate algal ponds.
  • Accumulation of trace elements in aquatic food chains due to sea-fill activities.
  • A comparison of the stable isotopic ecology of eastern, western, and pre-human forest ecosystems in the South Island of New Zealand.
  • An investigation into local air quality throughout two residential communities bisected by major highways in South Auckland, New Zealand.
  • Pocket beach wave processes and current systems investigated via field and numerical modelling studies: a case study of Okains Bay.
  • Evaluation of the customary fisheries management of shellfish in the mini传媒 Region.
  • Population biology and restoration of intertidal cockle beds.
Postgraduate pathways in Environmental Science

  • 听Research Preparation
  • 听Research Proposal
  • 听Terrestrial Ecology
  • 听Evolutionary Ecology
  • 听Community Ecology
  • 听Freshwater Ecology
  • 听Conservation Biology
  • 听Global Change Biology
  • 听Marine Biology and Ecology
  • 听Conservation Genetics
  • 听Behaviour
  • 听Applied and Molecular Microbiology
  • 听Environmental Animal Physiology

  • 听Current Issues in Environmental Chemistry
  • 听Advanced Topics in Chemistry I
  • 听Advanced Topics in Chemistry II
  • 听Advanced Topics in Chemistry III
  • 听Advanced topics in chemistry IV

  • 听Introduction to Disaster Risk and Resilience
  • 听Natural Hazard Risk Assessment
  • 听Disaster Risk and Resilience Investigations
  • 听GIS for Disaster Risk and Resilience

  • 听Soil Mechanics and Soil Engineering
  • 听Applied Hydrogeology
  • 听Engineering Geomorphology and Geohazards
  • 听Water Resources and Irrigation Engineering
  • 听Sustainable Energy Systems
  • 听Ecological and Bioresources Engineering
  • 听Environmental Engineering Design
  • 听Water Chemistry

  • 听Research Methods
  • 听Restoration Ecology

  • 听Foundations of Geographic Information Science
  • 听Remote Sensing for Earth Observation

  • 听Well-Being, Community and Place
  • 听Resilient Cities
  • 听Resource and Environmental Management (REM) in New Zealand
  • 听Coasts and Rivers: from Natural Processes to Urban Environments
  • 听Atmospheric and Cryospheric Environments
  • 听Geography Internship

  • 听Structural Geology
  • 听Igneous Petrology and Geochemistry
  • 听Physical Volcanology
  • 听Sedimentary Facies and Basin Analysis
  • 听Active Tectonics and Geomorphology
  • 听Applied Palaeobiology
  • 听Coal and Environmental Geology

  • 听Environmental Health

  • 听Research Tools
  • 听Atmospheric, Oceanic and Climate Dynamics

  • WATR401听Advanced Water Resources
  • WATR402听Water Quality and Quantity Assessment
  • WATR403听Water Management, Policy and Planning
  • WATR405听Research and Communication Methods
  • ENGE414听Applied Hydrogeology

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