The University of Sheffield, UK is inviting applications for its MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation course starting in September 2024. Institute claims that through this course students can develop fundamental knowledge about major conservation issues and their human and environmental drivers, including marine plastics, urbanisation, tropical logging and the balance between sustainable food production and biodiversity, as per the official announcement.
This MSc course claims to prepare students for a career protecting biodiversity in a range of natural, agricultural and urban ecosystems around the world. Throughout the course, students will have an opportunity of field learning about conservation issues and the constraints posed by budgets, policy and legislation.
Institute further inform that students will have the choice of undertaking a tropical field course to The Gambia, with its range of ecosystems providing both wildlife watching opportunities as well as illustrating many of the most important global issues in tropical conservation, or exploring North Norfolk, with its internationally important coastal habitats making it one of Europe’s top wildlife watching destinations.
As per the university, students will have a chance to develop an understanding of how environmental change can impact biodiversity and how the effective management of ecosystems can positively impact both biodiversity and the ecosystem itself.
Students will conduct an Independent Research Project, spending three months researching an area of biodiversity or conservation that matches their future career aspirations. Students could be field-based, lab-based or complete a computational data-driven project, tackling topics such as urbanisation, ecosystem services, tropical deforestation and marine conservation.
The course duration will be one year holders of a three year bachelor degree with a minimum of 60% or ‘first class’ from a reputable university in biological sciences or other relevant science subject are eligible to apply for this course, as per the university.
The additional criteria includes an overall IELTS grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component or equivalent.