Our MSc in Environmental Hazards and Risks explores the causes and devastating impacts of natural events including earthquakes, floods, drought, heatwaves, landslides and climate change and the threat they pose to environments and populations around the world.
Taking a natural sciences approach, you will develop an in-depth knowledge of these global environmental hazards, and consider the extent of their physical and social impact on society, the consequences for social vulnerability and for resilience. The course is likely to appeal to those with a background in natural sciences or engineering.
You will also complete either a research-based dissertation by carrying out original independent study on a subject of particular interest or a vocational dissertation that combines external work placements with independent research.
Our partnership with the renowned Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at the University, will enable you to learn about the current thinking around risk from academics and professionals in the sector as well as participate in the Institute’s annual climate risk seminar series.
Offered over a year full-time and two years part-time, you will study modules that cover the understanding, managing and preventing of risk, understanding the spatial and temporal dimensions of hazards, as well as learning about the theories and concepts related to risk communication. There is also a module dedicated to current research in the fast-growing field of risk.
Course structure
Year 1 modules
Core modules:
Anticipating Future Environments (15 credits)
This module will consider how we can predict the future behaviour of a range of different environmental systems under conditions of uncertainty, synthesising the state of the art and critically analysing current knowledge to enhance sustainability.
Understanding Risk (30 credits)
This module provides an overview of the key theories and concepts that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of risk involving human action and environmental events. You will learn the basic concepts and terms used to describe and communicate risk, as well as studying interventions involved in managing, preventing or mitigating against risk to populations, and building an understanding of the determinants of risk and its social inequalities.
Risk Frontiers (15 credits)
This module looks at current risk research and provides training in the generic skills of interpreting, criticising and collating the emerging research. What you learn will help meet the demands of the risk industry and associated areas such as disaster reduction, security, development and humanitarian relief.
Dissertation (Research or Vocational) (60 credits)
builds on your learning in core and optional modules. It offers the option to develop your independent research skills through a research dissertation in which you carry out original independent research supported by our staff. Alternatively, you can choose the vocational dissertation route which combines research with collaborations or placements with external organisations. We offer vocational dissertation partnerships and project options through our large and growing partner and alumni network, or we can support you in developing your own vocational research collaborations.
Environmental Data Science (30 credits)
This module will develop advanced data analysis skills such as programming, modelling and GIS, using datasets that allow advanced insight to a range of environmental processes as well as experience in a range of data sources.
Climate and Environmental Change Past and Present (15 credits)
Understanding how environmental processes responded under previous climates is key for predicting how they might respond in future. This module will assess how different paleo-environmental records are produced and analysed, and how they can be interpreted to make future predictions that enhance sustainability. It involves fieldwork, as well as lectures and seminars.
Knowledge for Action and Leadership (15 credits)
The module develops practical skills of leadership, engagement and dissemination relevant to creating sustainable futures.
We take an active approach to learning from the start. Teaching and learning on this course take place in a supportive environment in which you will be encouraged to actively engage with tutors and peers from day one, sharing your ideas and experiences.
The course is delivered using a mixture of lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and practical sessions, with lectures providing key information and the seminars developing further discussion. You will have around eight hours of contact time per week during the first two terms, although this can vary from week to week. You can expect to undertake around eight hours per day of study during term time, including all assessments.
Throughout your period of study, you will be supported by an academic advisor and you will also be assigned a dissertation supervisor.
Assessment
Assessment will be conducted on an ongoing basis including a research-based or vocational dissertation in the final term.
All modules require the completion of coursework, including the traditional tools of assessment such as essays, presentations and reports but also other forms such as podcasts and portfolios featuring a compilation of work.
Entry requirements
We typically require a 2:1 Bachelor (Honours) degree (or overseas equivalent), in any degree subject (preferably within the same discipline i.e. BSc to MSc).
A personal statement should include an outline of your interest and understanding of your chosen programme.
International students who do not meet direct entry requirements for this degree might have the option to complete an International Foundation Year.
Home students who do not meet our direct entry requirements, may be eligible for our Foundation Programme which offers multidisciplinary programmes to prepare you for a range of specified degree programmes.
The fees for this academic year have not been confirmed yet.
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase and are expected to rise throughout the programme of study. The fee listed above is for the first year of the course only.
Studying in a department with a global reputation for the quality of research, our postgraduates are well placed to continue research at a higher level or progress into a rewarding professional career.
Taught courses are designed to develop the transferable skills that are highly sought after by employers such as the ability to analyse and communicate complex data and make decisions, and our postgraduates are much valued in areas such as government, non-governmental organisations and the charity sector.
Other roles in which postgraduates make a real difference to people and communities include environmental consultancy, conservation, town planning, geopolitical risk analysis, market research, insurance, development work, health, public policy, social research, logistics, education, energy, utilities, tourism, banking, law, PR, IT.
Department information
Geography
Geography at Durham explores the very real challenges facing the world, be they natural or a consequence of human activity. Through teaching and research in risk, climate change, sustainable futures, hazards and security, we provide in-depth insight into these problems and how they might be resolved using practical and sustainable solutions.
The Department of Geography is a global academic centre for the study of physical and human geography. Our high-quality research and our industry connections combine to create a learning experience underpinned by the theory and practice to take on the challenges we face as a result of natural events and human activity.
We provide a leading-edge environment in which to study, giving a learning experience that is tailored to suit particular interests. We offer two suites of Masters programmes:
The courses on the Sustainable Futures route respond to the profound challenge of developing ‘sustainable futures’ in the midst of climate change, by understanding relations between climate change, cities, environmental processes and society, and on exploring and evaluating emergent sustainable solutions at different scales.
The courses on the Risk route provide a thorough grounding in theoretical and practical approaches to identifying, understanding, framing, assessing and managing different aspects of risk.
Our academic staff are experts in their field with research activity in the Department divided into seven clusters comprising Politics-State-Space, Economy and Culture, Urban Worlds, Geographies of Life as well as Sea Level, Ice and Climate, Catchments and Rivers, and Hazards and Surface Change.
The postgraduate community plays a crucial role in contributing to the Department’s research goals, by conducting original research and by learning from research-led teaching about understanding and implementing the process of turning policy into practice. An in-house conference provides the opportunity for postgraduates to present ideas.
The Department of Geography is located on the main campus of Durham University at Lower Mountjoy, not far from the historic centre of the city with UNESCO World Heritage status.
Apply
Find out more:
Apply for a postgraduate course (including PGCE International) via our online portal.
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