Degree Info

haydar

I was just wondering if an environmental science degree (if it is a degree?) would be the right one to do if I wanted to get into studying climate change and if so what does it focus on? e.g. Chemistry,Biology etc..

Silent Runner

I have a BSc in Environmental Science, so here's my two cents. The course ispretty intense and is based on best practice and management of the environment

It's a good course as it doesn't limit you to a particular field as such; you cover a lot of issues. Toxicology, Radiation, Health and Safety, Microbiology, Chemical analysis, GIS, Environmental monitoring systems, Ecology, Environmental Engineering, Legislation, Waste management ... etc to name a few! The only thing is that if you have a particular interest in a certain field, you’ll still have to cover alot of topics that may not be of much benefit to you as it would to others, but it’s Environmental Science.

I don't mean to sound rude and I'm not directing this at you, but I found in my experience that the course attracts people from Greenpeace or people with zero tolerance to the ideas of development or controversial topics like incineration/nuclear power (fair enough if you don't support it but at least back it up with scientific facts as opposed to political ideology). A lot of these people had to repeat or couldn't finish the course asit's based on hard science, not on nice green ideas. (This sounds harsh, but it’s just my own opinion)

You definitely will cover climate change, and there will be of talks and presentations during science week in your college. However the course is geared toward getting you a job after college more so than global issues. If you’re serious about going for the course, look up job adverts on epa.ie, EA.uk,SEPA.uk or search "Environmental" into recruitment sites and look up the job spec. This will give you a very good idea of the jobs involved, or better yet contact the course coordinator they will send you a detailed document of the course (what subjects you study, work placement, projects required etc)

HTH

haydar

I am a believer in science and the main reason I am looking into this is I thought there would be work in it and probably/hopefully continue to be.

Urizen

I also have a B.Sc in Environmental Science, and would agree with pretty much everything that Silent Running said. Although I myself was never really in with a bunch of hippies (I mean that in the nicest way possible), the kind of thing you go into is real science, not fluffy bunny science, and it would alienate those not interested in the science (although there are some field trips, to actual fields, and you'd probably see some bunnies there :P)

I'd would add that there really isn't a lot to be done on climate change (in my opinion) unless you're at Ph.D level, doing funded research, and even that isn't exactly booming. I have yet to see any actual jobs that would only require a B.Sc that directly relate to climate change. Plenty in air monitoring, pollution, and general environmental monitoring though, which could probably be considered the important 'ground' work of it all.

But I digress. Basically, Environmental Science is the way to go to get into that kind of area around climate change and the environment. It's really the only one that'll give you enough all-around training to pursue what I think you want. I can also vouch for the fact that it's awesome, and you'd likely have a blast doing it. I know I did. Just don't expect to leave college and go straight to fixing the planet from the top down, ya know?

riffmongous

Why not meteorology? You can learn about why the climate is actually changing