Life & Environmental Sciences courses

Our fantastic location, combined with our reputation for excellence, makes BU the ideal place to study. Our academics are a multi-disciplinary research team, with a broad range of interests who conduct cross-cutting research in ecosystem services, terrestrial and aquatic ecology, environmental and biological sciences and wider sustainability research.

Graduates who make a difference

Our courses have a socio-political dimension as well as a scientific base to allow our graduates to make a difference in environmental management. In addition, our research supports policy development and implementation, and we have strong links with conservation practitioners and policy makers locally, regionally and internationally.

Superb facilities

Our courses are supported by a comprehensive range of technical and scientific facilities, including dedicated research and high specification analytical laboratories, survey and geophysical equipment, a GIS and spatial information suite and a dedicated postgraduate student computer laboratory. Field-based teaching capitalises on our location within a biodiversity hotspot.

Network of links

Our academics have a wide network of links at local and international levels providing opportunities and employment leads with organisations including IUCN, UNEP, UNESCO, FAO, WWF, Conservation International, Natural England, Environment Agency and other government agencies.

Some of our courses in this area are accredited by the following bodies (see each course listing for details):

If English is not your first language, you'll need an IELTS (Academic) qualification or equivalent. See each courses website for details.

Case study: Of apes and elephants

BU research investigates the combined effects of forest degradation, human-wildlife interactions, and climate change on survival of forestdwelling tropical mammals.

The survival of tropical forest mammals such as primates and Sumatran elephants depends on having access to the habitats that enable them to thrive. However, the rapid degradation and destruction of these forests increases contact between forest mammals and humans and limits their ability to cope with climate change.

Forest climates

Postgraduate students are at the heart of research at the Department of Life & Environmental Sciences that investigates the effects of environmental change on primates and elephants in Indonesia and primates across Africa. Tropical forests harbour a multitude of environments within them, providing localised climatic conditions (microclimates) that can offer mammals shelter from high temperatures and safeguard availability of water. We study how forest modifications alter these micro-climates and the overall structure of the forests, and how those changes influence primate and elephant survival.

Findings

The research, led by BU’s Professor Amanda Korstjens, is a collaboration among scientists and conservation leaders at BU, Liverpool John Moores University, Syiah Kuala University (Indonesia), the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP, Indonesia), and Leuser Conservation Forum (FKL, Indonesia). Our postgraduate students showed how temperatures within lowland degraded forests in Indonesia can vary by up to 15°C among different locations depending on height in the tree and incoming solar radiation and shade. At the hottest time of day, arboreal apes need to find shaded locations to avoid overheating. Forest structure also influences density of siamangs and gibbons, who rely on well-connected canopies, a feature that is lost when forests are fragmented or tall trees are selectively removed.

Acoustics

We are also developing acoustic monitoring methods with interactive arts studio Invisible Flock, sound experts at BU, ZSL, FKL, and Rainforest Connection to monitor elusive forest wildlife and elephant welfare, but also to translate our research into art installations.