Our MA in Environmental Hazards and Risk takes a detailed look at a range of environmental hazards bringing devastation to many parts of the world, analysing the impact on society and studying how risks linked to events such as flooding, landslides, heatwaves and earthquakes, are managed.
Teaching physical and social science approaches, the course examines how society, as individuals, organisations and governments, makes decisions about defining and mitigating against environmental risk in order to address vulnerability and build resilience.
You will study for a year full-time or two years part-time, taking modules on areas that cover the concepts and techniques for researching risk and environmental hazards, the social dimensions of risk, and the latest skills and techniques involved in working with environmental data. There is also a module dedicated to current research in the fast-growing field of risk.
The course culminates in a dissertation which can be either an original independent study on a relevant subject of interest, or you can elect to complete a vocational dissertation that combines external work partnerships with independent research.
Thanks to our close links with the renowned Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR) whose home is at the University, you will learn about current thinking and practice in environmental hazards from world-renowned experts in the field. The IHRR organises annual seminars bringing cutting-edge research and practice directly to our students.
The course is one of five masters programmes in the Department of Geography that, together, form a vibrant and active postgraduate community which consistently proves to be supportive and encouraging, both academically and socially.
Course structure
Core modules:
Understanding Risk 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.
Using Geographical Skills and Techniques provides training in the use of geographic skills and techniques with the aim of developing a range of transferable skills relevant to professional and personal development. The emphasis is on enhancing existing quantitative and qualitative research skills, exploring issues involved in the design and conduct of working with geographic information, and providing hands-on experience working with spatial data in a human-geography context.
Risk Frontiers is delivered by the Institute of Hazard and Risk Research. 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.
Social Dimensions of Risk and Resilience offers advanced training in topics relevant to understanding the social dimensions of risk and resilience with a particular emphasis on environmental hazard, climate change, security, migration and insurance. This module takes an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on research in human geography, security studies, sociology of risk, political science, science and technology studies, as well as legal and commercial risk studies.
The Dissertation (Research or Vocational) 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.
The remaining module is chosen from two physical geography modules:
Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Hazards is a science-based module that considers issues relating to locations and timings, along with the key physical characteristics, of a variety of hazards. It offers both theoretical and practical training in how to understand and quantify such dimensions of hazards.
Hydro-meteorological Hazards provides fundamental knowledge of hydro-meteorological hazards, with a focus on flood and drought risk, their causes and the changing environmental conditions that influence them, including projected climate change. The module will also look at the ways that such hazards might be investigated and dealt with as part of an overall management strategy.
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.
The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).
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 information 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 property and surveying, environmental consultancy and management, conservation, town planning, geopolitical risk, market research, development work, health, public policy, social research, logistics, youth and community work, education, energy, utilities, tourism, banking, law, PR, IT, publishing, journalism and the media.
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 MA and MSc degrees in Climate, Risk and Society and in Environmental Hazards and Risk, and MAs in Geography (Research Methods) and in Risk, Security and Politics.
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.
Ranked Joint 1st Nationally based on GPA (REF 2021)
Facilities
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.
Facilities are state-of-the-art after a £1.7 million investment and our laboratories are equipped with an extensive suite of analytical and geotechnical instruments which are overseen and supported by a team of dedicated technical staff.
Also available to postgraduates are a dedicated computer lab, world class library and research facilities, one of the few dedicated cartographic units in the region and field and labwork support.
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