BA (Hons) Geology

This course covers a range of topics which may include looking at rocks, minerals and fossils, and geological processes. Beyond that, a range of optional modules allows you to tailor your degree towards your individual interests and/or career aspirations. Our courses are strongly aligned to the role of geoscience in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. On this course, we aim to focus particularly on applied research skills which will encourage you to collect, analyze and interpret different types of geological data, and to carry out your own research using specialist software and equipment. Furthermore, you may have the opportunity to complete a comprehensive and integrated fieldwork program with no-cost options. You will acquire a wide range of transferable skills, including communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills, and the ability to research, evaluate and synthesize information from diverse sources. You will develop subject specific-skills like the ability to manipulate, analyze and present geospatial data using industry-standard GIS and drawing software.

Year 1

• Minerals and Rocks
• Earth Structure
• Academic, Professional, and Fieldwork Skills
• Geoscience Data Interpretation, Analysis, and Visualisation
• The Earth System
• Climate Change: The Scientific and Societal Context
• Stratigraphy and Palaeontology

Year 2

• Palaeoclimatology and Quaternary Studies
• Petrology
• Field Techniques
• Geology and Society
• Geochemistry

Year 3

• Economic Geology
• Geoscience: Independent Field Project – ISP
• Advanced Petrology and Structural Geology Field Course

Optional Modules

• Glaciers and Glacial Geomorphology
• Natural Hazards
• Global Environmental Change
• Exploration Geophysics for the Hydrocarbon Industry
• Structure and Geodynamics
• Water Resources
• Hydrological and Engineering Geology
• Micropalaeontology: Principles and Applications
• Coastal Environments
• Advanced Topics in Sedimentology
• The Science of Soil

Employability

Geology graduates are likely to be high in demand as modern society requires increasing amounts of energy, raw materials, and other resources such as water, the vast majority of which are discovered by geoscientists, and this is likely to continue into the future. Geologists are also needed for civil engineering in designing foundations and tunnels and in environmental projects such as carbon dioxide sequestration. You could go on to work in the mining, oil and gas, hydrogeology, or geotechnical sectors.

Many of our graduates go on further study at the Master’s/PhD level.

Recent employers

• Base Energy Services Ltd
• Cyient
• GB Geotechnics Limited
• RSK
• Thomas Broadbent