Geography, Geology and the Environment

Dr Zoe Robinson Course director	Dr Sherilyn MacGregor Course director

We hope you’re looking forward to starting your degree at Keele in September.  These Environment & Sustainability Welcome pages aim to help you prepare to come to Keele and help you settle in quickly when you're here.

One thing to note is that there will be a compulsory field course on Friday 4th October to help you to get to know us and each other and to find out more about what the Environment and Sustainability degree at Keele is all about. Make sure you have boots and waterproofs for this day!

If you’re keen to get started with some reading to prepare you for the course then we’d recommend purchasing the following book:

Buckingham, S. and Turner, M. (2008) Understanding Environmental Issues.  Sage.

We look forward to welcoming you to Keele and the Environment and Sustainability course in September.

If you have any queries about the course please don’t hesitate to contact the course directors, Dr Zoe Robinson (email: z.p.robinson@keele.ac.uk, Tel: 01782 734303) or Dr Sherilyn MacGregor (email: s.macgregor@keele.ac.uk, Tel: 01782 733352)

Although we don’t expect you to have been doing preparatory reading for the course, if you are keen to get started and do some background reading and start thinking about environment and sustainability issues, we would recommend purchasing the following book, which will prove useful throughout your course:

Buckingham, S. and Turner, M. (eds.) (2008) Understanding Environmental Issues. Sage

Another useful book to look at is:

Porteous, A. (2000) Dictionary of Environmental Science and Technology (3rd edition).  Wiley

To help you in your transition to university and the development of your study skills at university we would also recommend purchasing:

Kneale, P. (2011), Study skills for Geography, Earth and Environmental Science Students. Hodder Education.

You don’t have to buy these books as they (along with a large number of other relevant texts) will be available in the library at Keele.  You will be directed to further reading throughout the course when you arrive at Keele.

You might also like to have a look at some recent "environmental" films, if you haven't already seen them. Try:

• The 11th Hour
• The Age of Stupid
• An Inconvenient Truth
• The End of the Line

To give you a good background in the variety of cutting edge research being carried out by Environmental Scientists I would recommend looking at the ‘Planet Earth’ publication of the Natural Environment Research Council.  You can look at it on line. 

Other things to bring with you include:

• A diary (academic year)
• A scientific calculator
• A good stock of stationary, including files and folders, a stapler, etc…

The University will provide you with Enrolment Information about arriving and registering at Keele. Make sure you check those before looking at the details below, which relate just to your sessions with Environment and Sustainability.

Week 1 is 'Welcome Week' during which you will complete your official registration with the university alongside attending a number of welcome and induction sessions relating to Environment and Sustainability. During these sessions you will receive important information about the E&S course so it is important that you attend.

During Welcome Week there are three important sessions relating to your E&S course that you are required to attend:

1. Monday 30th September 2013, 10-11 am, William Smith Building WS 0.05 - 'Introductory Session'.
2. Tuesday 1st October 2013, 3:30 - 5:30 pm, William Smith Building WS 0.16 - 'Campus Induction'.
3. Friday 4th October 2013, William Smith Building WS 0.11 - 'Field trip'. Please note that much of this session will be outside. We will be visiting a local Community Country Park and the day will include a trip down a mine so come prepared with suitable walking shoes (or boots) and waterproofs etc

During Welcome Week you will also meet with your personal tutor. Details on this will be confirmed at the Introductory Session.

Fieldwork and data collection  is an essential part of your Environment & Sustainability degree, and throughout your degree you will learn many essential field skills from ecological identification to water sampling and geochemical analysis to interview techniques and questionnaire design.  You will work in a wide range of locations and habitats and will need to be prepared for all weathers.

During your Environment & Sustainability degree you will attend several compulsory residential fieldcourses, including around the local area, North and Mid-Wales and the Lake District, or an overseas alternative, in  your second year.  You will be informed of the exact dates as soon as these are finalised.

Your first fieldcourse will be a day trip to a local site, highlighting the diversity of the Environment & Sustainability programme, and providing an opportunity to get to know the local area and the other students and the staff teaching on the Environment & Sustainability course.  This will take place on Friday 4th October 2013. 

We often end up carrying out fieldwork in less than ideal weather conditions, therefore you must ensure that you have a good set of outdoor equipment at the beginning of your degree.  This should include:

• Walking boots
• Waterproof jacket
• Waterproof trousers
• A small rucksack
• Hat and gloves
• Clipboard

Your next fieldcourse to the Centre of Alternative Technology in Mid Wales will take place over the weekend 2nd/3rd November 2013 so please make sure you keep this weekend free.

Fieldwork Costs: A substantial part of the cost of fieldwork is borne by the School; however, you will be required to pay part of the cost of each course. The exact amount payable will be posted on the Environment & Sustainability Year 1 notice board at the beginning of the Autumn Semester.

If you have any queries or concerns about coming to Keele or starting your Environment and Sustainability degree, please feel free to contact the E&S Course Directors:

Dr Zoe Robinson (email: z.p.robinson@keele.ac.uk; Tel: 01782 734303) or

Dr. Sherilyn MacGregor (email: s.macgregor@keele.ac.uk ; Tel: 01782 733352)

Additional information which you may find helpful:

Keele University Welcome Web and Welcome Week Events:

http://www.keele.ac.uk/newstudents/

Environment and Sustainability course information for current students:

http://www.keele.ac.uk/gge/students/es