Geography and Natural Hazards BSc (Hons)

" Geography and Natural Hazards BSc (Hons)

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— Coventry University (@covcampus) February 9, 2015 OVERVIEW

This Geography and Natural Hazards course runs in 2016/17.

Natural hazards affect millions of people every year. This course is designed to provide you with an in-depth understanding of the processes that are responsible for these hazards, together with the skills required to help communities prepare for and respond to natural disasters.

WHY CHOOSE THIS COURSE?

This course takes an integrated ‘geographical’ approach to the study of natural hazards such as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, wildfires, tropical cyclones and associated flood events.

You will learn the key principles of geology, geomorphology, hydrology and climatology and apply the latest technologies in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to map and analyse natural hazards and predict their impacts.

If you choose this course you will benefit from:

• an academic course that is recognised nationally for the excellence of its teaching and very high levels of student satisfaction (source: Times and Guardian, 2014);
• residential field courses to build up your experience of the geography and hazards of the UK. In your final year you will have the opportunity to undertake an international field course;
• Physical and Geographical Sciences have one of the highest employment rates of all science subject areas (What do graduates do? September 2013, pdf);
• excellent opportunities to find graduate-level jobs in a range of public and private sector organisations. These have in the past included the Environment Agency, the Meteorological Office, insurance companies, the teaching profession and the crises management and/or environmental departments of local authorities;
• experienced teaching staff who bring professional and research expertise to their teaching;
• a modern GIS and Simulation Lab with industry-standard software to support your studies;
• an annual programme of lectures from invited speakers, which has recently included talks by people working for the Environment Agency, Severn Trent Water and Middlemarch Environmental;
• academic links with universities in Reykjavik and Stockholm and prestigious government institutions such as the Alaskan Volcano Observatory which feed into the course;
• the opportunity to apply for and undertake professional training during a three month or twelve month paid work placement;
• student membership of the Royal Geographical Society which includes a subscription to Geographical Magazine and access to information and advice on career planning.

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

In the first year you will be introduced to the main features of the physical environment, and the principal characteristics of natural hazards and the disaster management cycle.

In your second year you will deepen your knowledge of specific geophysical, hydrological and meteorological hazards, methods of geographical analysis using GIS and issues of warning and informing communities of environmental risk.

In the final year you will be encouraged to reflect critically on the nature of best practice in the analysis using GIS and management of natural hazards. You will also conduct an independent research project on a topic of your choice. Many students decide to base this on the experience they obtained whilst on professional training.

HOW WILL THIS COURSE BE TAUGHT?

Your course will be based on a series of lectures, with associated seminars, fieldwork and practical classes. In addition, your personal tutor will review and discuss your progress with you and every week they will be available for advice.

If you are interested in part-time study (which is taught during the day) please contact the Part-time Admissions team on +44 (0) 24 7765 4321 or email part-time.uni@coventry.ac.uk for further information, but please note that not all courses have a part-time option.

HOW WILL I BE ASSESSED?

An estimated percentage breakdown of how your final grade is assessed is as follows: formal examinations 25%; coursework reports, essays, practicals, presentations, posters 60%; project work 15%.

A compulsory Add+vantage module must also be completed: please see the page on the Add+vantage scheme for more details.

TEACHING CONTACT HOURS

In a typical week you will have up to 16 contact hours of teaching and this will break down as:

Personal tutorial/small group teaching: 4 hours of small group teaching each week

Medium group teaching: 6 hours of practical classes, workshops or seminars each week

Large group teaching: 6 hours of lectures each week

Personal study: 20 hours each week studying and revising in your own time

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