BSc Geography (Physical)

Compulsory modules

Skills in Geography and Environmental Science

Discover the expected academic standards and integrity at the undergraduate level, while being introduced to the Geography and Environmental Science discipline. Through real-world examples and data, learn essential skills for research. 

Global Challenges

Explore interrelated global issues confronting the planet and humanity today. Delve into the human geography, physical geography, and environmental science perspectives surrounding key challenges. Develop the ability to critically analyse and discuss these challenges using academic literature. 

Field Class

Gain the practical skills to identify, document, and evaluate the impact of human activities on the environment in the field. While based at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), China, you’ll conduct field work nearby.  

Restless Planet

Learn about the fundamental processes in the Earth System, encompassing the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Discover the interactions between the spheres, particularly the Earth System's integrated nature and how alterations to key biogeochemical cycles, can have far-reaching impacts across the globe. 

Landscapes and Natural Resources

Explore the integrative concept of landscape, with a focus on the component biophysical elements, their patterns and natural processes. You'll also examine the resilience of renewable and living resources in the context of global climate change.

Optional modules

Earth Lab

Gain a foundational grasp of the concepts necessary for understanding how our environment works. Through site visits, sample collection, and laboratory analysis, you will get essential fieldwork and laboratory skills to assess the local environment's health. 

Data Environment

Boost your confidence when using maths and statistical skills for effective planning, organising, fieldwork, lab activities, and subsequent data analysis and interpretation. You’ll learn about statistical packages, their pros and cons, and how to create informative charts for data presentation. 

Geographical Imaginaries: Thinking and Doing Geography

Understand how geographical knowledge and methods have changed over time and how these changes are crucial to understanding how and why we do geography today. Recognise how geographical knowledge will evolve in response to changing social, environmental and technological needs and opportunities.

Fundamentals of Ecology

Learn how species interact with each other and their environment, how biodiversity assembles in communities and forms ecosystems and biomes, and how human activities are influencing many ecological processes. In practical sessions, you'll learn how to identify species and use sampling techniques such as sweep nets, footprint tunnels, and camera traps to collect and analyse your own data.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods. 

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading. 

Compulsory modules

Skills Training and Project Design

Develop professional skills, including research approaches, project management, career awareness and employability. Work closely with an academic mentor to carry out carefully planned and highly professional research, act as consultants, designing, executing and reporting on a research project. 

Field Class 

Undertake field research in a real-world setting, using contemporary methods and equipment for data gathering and and experience working as part of a team. The training you receive will be authentic and relevant to your ambitions and to the skills you’ll likely need for dissertation field research.  

Earth Processes and Hazards

Discover the dynamic process and resultant hazards which stem from the tectonic and geomorphological evolution of the Earth including volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, weather events and landslides, and the impact these can have on the natural world and human societies. 

Optional modules

Environmental Diagnostics

Delve into a contemporary environmental issue to understand the principles and methods employed in environmental diagnostics. Learn about sampling, data quality objectives, measuring and tracking environmental parameters, as well as exploring how to present and interpret diagnostic data. 

Energy Resources

Explore past, present, and future social, environmental, health and political aspects of energy resource use. Gain a holistic consideration of the role of different energy resources in the national, international, and global energy mix.  

Geographical Information Systems

Discover the principles, techniques, and applications of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Work with the storage and management of spatial data, setting coordinate systems and projections, spatial analysis, and geoprocessing, creating and editing data, and cartography and symbology.  

Monitoring the Earth from Above

Develop your awareness of the importance of different spatial and temporal scales. Turn data into useful information for a range of geographical applications. Learn about the importance of resolution when conducting remote sensing analysis.   

Water in the Earth System

Get an introductory understanding of the connections between the abiotic and biotic components of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, pedosphere, and biosphere. Where relevant these relationships will be considered within the Drivers, Pressures, State, Impact, Response (DPSIR) Framework. 

Climate and Environmental Change

Explore the evolution of atmosphere and climate, alongside ecosystem dynamics. Examine the main processes of climate formation of energy balance and atmospheric circulation and discuss natural climatic variability and climate change.

Advanced Ecology

Deepen your understanding of the patterns and processes in ecological systems. Lectures will cover biochemical cycles and the role of microbes in ecological processes, food webs, ecosystem services, and macroecological and biogeographical rules. You'll also explore the latest methodologies and become familiar with diverse computational and statistical techniques (genomics, macroecological comparative methods, species distribution modelling).

Summer Placement

Undertake a research or professional placement related to your degree. Research placements provide the opportunity to work with a member of staff on a current project based in the UK or internationally. Professional placements allow you to work with a professional organisation, consultancy or government organisation.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods. 

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.  

Compulsory modules

Dissertation

All students must produce a dissertation as part of their degree. The dissertation is an original piece of research carried out by the students independently, with support from a supervisor, contributing to knowledge in a particular field of study. 

Optional modules

Air Pollution

Explore the history of air pollution, the origins and effects of sulphur dioxide and smoke, nitrogen oxides and particulates, ozone and other secondary pollutants, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, acid rain, indoor air pollution and more.  

Ecosystems Modelling

Model ecological dynamics, particularly land and below water ecosystems, which are relevant to a range of global issues, from environmental changes to food security. Gain an understanding of the building blocks of ecological models, from empirical to mathematical, for better understanding the ecosystem processes. 

Volcanic Hazards and Risk Management

Explore volcanic hazards and risks imposed on societies and the impact of multi-scale volcanic eruptions. Use a wide-range of evidence-based approaches including practical-based investigations of volcanic materials/examples to illustrate the approaches.    

Climate Change and the Geographies of Responsibility

Analyse and discuss the role of businesses in mitigating climate change. Build practical skills relating to corporate carbon accounting and disclosure. Critically engage with corporate climate activities, including carbon reduction claims, science-based climate targets and carbon offsets. 

Carbon and Global Change

Learn about the global carbon cycle as a basis for evaluating recent advances in scientific knowledge on the impact of climate change, land use and atmospheric pollution on carbon cycling in natural environments. Pay particular attention to carbon on the land surface.  

Preparing for Floods

Understanding key issues in flood preparedness, from the local to the global scale, including flood forecasting and warning, response and incident management and building community resilience. Encounter interactive seminars, computer practicals, guest speakers and a visit to the Global Flood Awareness System operational centre.  

Climate Change

Learn about changes in global and regional climates that occurred in the last 1,000 years with emphasis on the recent (150 years) past. Examine natural and anthropogenic factors driving climate change such as changes in solar activity, aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere, and changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. 

Tropical Rainforests, Climate, and Lost Civilisations

Unravel the long-term history of tropical forests and human-environment interactions using a range of complimentary approaches, with a focus on tropical South America, particularly Amazonia. Integrate physical and human geography, ecology, and archaeology.    

Physical Geography Field Class

Gain field experience to investigate natural hazards and their impact on human societies both past and present. We expect this field class will take place in Iceland and will allow you to experience a range of natural environments including such activities as: ice cave formation, glacier walking, volcanic tephra sampling, volcano monitoring and archaeological investigations.  

Environmental Science Field Class

Gain the practical skills to identify, document, and evaluate the impact of human activities on the environment in the field. While based at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), China, you’ll conduct field work nearby.  

Geography and Environmental Science Field Class

Conduct in situ problem-based research, encompassing data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Learn practical skills applicable to regional geographical and environmental issues, enriching your knowledge of field investigation methods used in human and physical geography, as well as environmental science. 

Human Geography Field Class 

Put into practice key concepts in Human Geography through field research in a real-world setting through experiential learning and using a range of contemporary field techniques. Explore economic and social change in an urban context and how this relates to globalisation and other global processes. 

Coastal and Estuarine Management

Explore changes in coastal and estuarine environments in response to sea level rise, climate change, and anthropogenic pressures. Discover the processes driving the formation and evolution of a range of coastal environments, the geomorphic and hydrodynamics response to external forcing mechanisms, and the consequences for the natural and anthropogenic environments. 

Water Resources

Engage with past, current and future water quality problems and critically examine their impact, particularly on public health, as well as effectiveness of water resource management strategies and legislation.  

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods. 

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.