Geography, Geology and the Environment

In the National Student Survey 2011 Geography and Physical Geography and Environmental Science were both ranked 6th for Student Satisfaction.

• An up-to-date programme responsive to students' and employers' requirements
• Teaching linked to career opportunities and current environmental issues
• Friendly, accessible teaching staff
• Flexible student choice of modules and assessment methods
• Exciting fieldwork opportunities and a wide range of teaching methods
• The opportunity to combine with subjects in natural sciences, social sciences and humanities
• The course is taught in a well-equipped building, with newly refurbished laboratories in the heart of the campus, by prize-winning teaching staff who are also internationally recognised researchers

Physical Geography is a rapidly evolving subject at the heart of our understanding of the global environment. It is all about understanding the natural world around us and predicting how it might change. Global warming; volcanoes, glaciers, mountains and oceans; local landscapes and complex global systems; floods, hurricanes and landslides: these are the sort of topics that fascinate physical geographers.

We explore exciting and spectacular landscapes while developing skills that will be valuable in a range of different careers. The subject offers flexible opportunities to carry out fieldwork, laboratory research and other practical activities that will give students confidence in both hands-on and virtual technologies as well as traditional learning skills.

Our programme is closely tied to the skills base described by the Royal Geographical Society and set out in national educational standards. Physical Geography staff have won a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship award and have won Keele University awards for excellence in teaching for five years in succession. Our National Student Survey results mark us out as one of the most popular Physical Geography courses in the country, with extremely high student satisfaction rates.

At Keele, we offer three undergraduate pathways in Physical Geography, all of which lead to a BSc (Honours) degree:

• A three-year Dual Honours course
• A three-year Major Honours course
• One of the above preceded by a Science Foundation Year

Physical Geography is housed in an excellently equipped building at the heart of our beautiful campus. Our laboratories and lecture theatres have generous and up-to-date facilities for students, and staff are always near at hand and happy to help. Our students often say that Physical Geography at Keele is like a friendly family that fosters a positive and supportive working and learning environment. We hope that you will agree, and that you will come and join us.

Physical Geography at Keele begins with introductory modules that provide a platform from which you can develop your knowledge, understanding and skills, and caters both for students with strong traditional A-level grades in Geography and for students with little prior experience of the subject. The first year involves a broad-based introductory programme, but in the second and third years students can specialise in the areas of Physical Geography that most interest them. In addition to core modules covering key concepts and techniques, we offer optional modules in specialist subjects such as geomorphology, meteorology, glaciology, geographic information systems, water resources, coastal environments and natural hazards. Fieldwork is important in Physical Geography, and in addition to local excursions students will take field courses in the UK (in the first year) and overseas (currently a choice between Iceland or Spain in the second year). Students will also have the opportunity to carry out an independent research project on a topic of their choice in your final year.

Fieldwork

In the first year, Physical Geography students take part in local field excursions to sites of scientific interest and in a UK-based field course that gives them the opportunity to practise skills and techniques previously learned in the laboratory. In the second year, students take part in an overseas field course that develops their research skills and provides an opportunity to explore processes and landforms in unfamiliar landscapes. Students currently have the choice between one course in the semi-arid environment of Southern Spain and one in the volcanic and glacial landscape of Iceland.

Some assistance towards meeting the cost of compulsory fieldwork can be given to home students, but it should not be assumed that all costs would be met.

First Year
The essential fundamentals of the discipline are covered, including factual information, key concepts and academic skills. You will be allocated a Physical Geography individual tutor for the year, who will help you to get established in your studies and will be available for one-to-one help whenever you need it.

Teaching includes:
Fundamentals of Physical Geography: an introduction to key concepts and information.

The Practice of Physical Geography: sets the subject in a broader practical, vocational and professional context.

People and Environment: explores the links between Physical Geography and society, such as hazards and resources.

Geographical Skills: a laboratory-based course with practical tuition in essential skills such as surveying.

Fieldwork: a field course with an opportunity to practise newly learned skills.

Small-group tutorials: a forum for focussed individual discussion and training

Second Year 
You will begin to make your own choices about what topics you study. You will develop independent research skills and be introduced to advanced topics and conceptual issues in Physical Geography.

Teaching includes:
Regional Landsystems: a lecture course that focuses on important concepts, sites, processes and events in Physical Geography.

Practical Physical Geography: a laboratory class in practical skills of data collection and analysis, including techniques such as surveying, water analysis, and GIS.

Research Training: a laboratory class in research techniques that will prepare you to carry out independent research within your studies or in your future employment.

Advanced Fieldwork: an overseas field course, typically to Southern Spain or Iceland, in which you can practise skills learnt in the classroom and laboratory, and explore unfamiliar landscapes.

Dynamic Geographies: students choose short blocks of lectures in key topics such as geomorphology, hydrology, oceanography and meteorology and begin to specialise in areas that most interest them.

You also have an opportunity to study abroad for a semester at one of our overseas partner universities.

Third Year 
You can focus on topics that interest you most and develop your knowledge and understanding to a level of expertise in your chosen specialist subjects. You also complete a research project on a topic of your choice.

Teaching includes:
Dissertation: an independent research project.

Specialist option modules from a list including:
Global Environmental Change
Coastal Environments
Glaciers and Glacial Geomorphology
Water Resources
Natural Hazards
Applied Environmental Geographic Information Systems
Inspirational Landscapes

And a range of additional Earth Science and Life Science modules.

BSc Physical Geography (Major) (F840)

Many students enjoy Physical Geography as part of a Dual Honours combination, but students who wish to focus their studies more specifically on Physical Geography may elect to take Physical Geography as a Major Honours course. Major Honours students read a second subject alongside Physical Geography for the first two years of the course but then focus solely on Physical Geography during the third year.

Students should indicate their choice of second subject (from the list above) in the ‘further information’ section of your UCAS form.

Dual Honours Course can be combined with:

Major and Foundation course available:

We teach in a variety of different ways in order to help students to learn in the way that suits them best. Students will be involved not only in traditional lecture-style classes, but also in small-group and individual tutorials, laboratory classes, field study groups, and independent study and project work. Assessment is based on a flexible combination of coursework (continuous assessment) and examinations. The nature of the coursework is very varied, reflecting the range of teaching situations students will encounter, and can include projects, technical reports, web pages, posters, practical exercises, online discussions and seminars as well as traditional essays. Overall, about 60-70% of your assessment will be by coursework, depending on students' choice of options. Students can choose a pathway through the course that suits their style of learning and allows them to make the most of their particular skills and strengths.

Programme specifications (new window)

The Physical Geography course is an ideal foundation for careers in earth sciences, conservation management, geo-consultancy and environmental research, as well as in traditional geographical employment destinations such as planning, teaching, and academic research. We have involved colleagues from industry in the design of parts of the course and we encourage students to recognise the significance of their studies to future employment. Graduates in Physical Geography are well trained in a range of professional and transferable skills. These include the use of IT and skills in the acquisition, handling and interpretation of a wide range of types of data. Physical Geography graduates can be expected to be competent in making written and spoken presentations, and in making informed assessments of all types of information.

Visit our Careers pages (new window)

Physical Geography and Applied Environmental Science
The combination of Physical Geography with AES provides a deep insight into the formation and nature of the landscape, and its relationship with the living world. With emphasis on IT and the use of a wide range of types of data in Physical Geography, coupled with training in field techniques in both subjects, graduates are well placed for a variety of careers in resource management, environmental protection and environmental consultancy as well as in more general environmental careers.

Physical Geography and Geology
Physical Geography is the most popular subject to study in combination with Geology at Keele. These two related disciplines are closely integrated, with most lectures and practical classes from both subjects being taught in the GeoSchool building that is equipped with specialist teaching facilities. Physical Geography students gain insight into the processes and landforms that shape the present-day earth surface. This forms an ideal base from which students can begin to understand how similar mechanisms have acted to control the evolution of the Earth over geological timescales. The point of common overlap of the two disciplines is the study of late Quaternary environments (the last few tens of thousands of years of Earth history). Here, students investigate how factors such as global climate change have controlled the development of landforms and how these features are represented in the recent geological record. The Physical Geography/Geology combination assumes no prior experience in either discipline. Students combining Physical Geography and Geology may register for a Dual Honours degree, or may choose to specialise in either Physical Geography or Geology in their final year and receive a Single Honours degree. They may also opt for the four-year MGeoscience undergraduate Masters degree.

“Thanks to you, I now appreciate and question the physical world in a different light.”

Lizzie Derbyshire

"I am a second year Physical Geography student. Physical Geography at Keele is great and allows students to do in-depth studies of aspects such as hydrology, meteorology and geomorphology to name but a few! The staff are really helpful and always there for when you have an essay writing crisis (as I have had on a number of occasions!) The department is very friendly, and everyone knows each other which means there is always a friendly face to talk to. I have really enjoyed my time so far to Keele, and I can’t believe I am almost half way through my degree. I think I should do another degree just to extend my time here: I don’t want to leave! "

Michael Kelly

“I am studying dual Honours Physical Geography and Geology, because I feel that the ability to look at a landscape and understand its meaning is very important. I’m a 3rd year student so a lot of my time is spent on my two dissertations: geological mapping and of the Cantabria Region, Northern Spain and research on lahar erosion at Merapi Volcano, Indonesia. I’m also finding time to run the GeoSoc as President, which is exciting as I get to know the new students in the department, see what they are interested in, and pass on all the knowledge I have from my time at Keele. My goal is to become a Hydrological, Meteorological and Oceanographic officer in the Royal Navy, specialising in ocean surveys. Skills and experiences gained in physical geography at Keele will be put to great use on a regular basis.”

Heather Bayliss

"I am a 3rd-year Physical Geography student. The Northern Welsh scenery gave me a hunger to understand how and why the landscape is shaped the way it is. The teachers at my high school had a very influential effect on my degree choice and gave me such a contagious love for the physical side of geography. My inspiration has come from the Earth itself and my appreciation for the beautiful natural creation that is given to us. Studying Physical Geography with Geology makes complete sense, and learning at Keele is brilliant as the glaciated landscape and the wooded areas surrounding the university make it an ideal place to study. I had the privilege to study in one of the most beautiful places on Earth on an exchange program at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver). My aspirations include a job where I can travel around the world and to one day work in Antarctica!"