What can our Ecology and Conservation Biology course do for you?
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With global warming, deforestation, species extinctions and genetic modification becoming bigger and bigger issues, it has never been more important for scientists to understand how organisms work in ecosystems, and how they respond to the threats they face. The Ecology and Conservation Biology course looks at the concepts behind ecosystems, and offers a practical insight into the processes which determine whether a species thrives or struggles.
There is a structured programme of core modules on the Ecology and Conservation Biology course, to ensure students are given a good grounding in the subject. But there is flexibility too as throughout your degree you can pick modules from across APS and the University's two other biology departments, and specialise in the areas that most interest you. Click on the Module list tab at the top of the page to see the variety available to you – this includes modules that give you essential research training, and transferable careers skills that can help you get a job in any field, science or otherwise.
As a result, graduates from APS go on to do many different things. Some remain in academia and do PhDs, while others go on to careers in conservation, environmental consultancy, ecological research and government organisations such as the Environment Agency. The project management, data analysis and communication skills you learn from our degrees are invaluable in all sorts of other areas too, such as teaching, journalism and management.
After your degree
If you choose the four year MBiolSci course, you can spend an additional year conducting your own piece of advanced research which will prepare you well for a professional career in science.
Undergraduate Masters
Alternatively, you can do a degree with employment experience, where you can spend a year in the world of work, putting your scientific knowledge into practice.
Degrees with employment experience
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Inspirational teaching in state-of-the-art facilities
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In APS, our courses don't have many core text books. That’s because we teach you the latest science from cutting edge research papers, which won't be in text books until years from now. In other words, we don't just teach science – we do science. We have leading academics who are dedicated to teaching, while working hard every day to make pioneering discoveries in areas such as molecular ecology, behavioural ecology, freshwater biology and pollution biology. Our staff includes several winners of the University Senate Award for Learning and Teaching, and Professor Tim Birkhead, the UK Bioscience Teacher of the Year.
The Ecology and Conservation Biology course is more practical-based than other APS degrees, and a lot of your own research is done during field courses we offer in locations including Borneo and Portugal, as well as here in the UK. Sheffield has one of the UK's most spectacular and diverse natural ecosystems – the Peak District – on its doorstep for you to study, while on campus we have glasshouses, ponds and artificial streams for experiments, state-of-the-art DNA and molecular analysis equipment, and controlled environment chambers that can replicate any climate on the planet, past, present or future.
Typically, you will take between three and five modules each semester and in your first and second years you will spend around fifteen hours in labs and lectures each week, with small group tutorials every fortnight. In the third year, the practical classes and tutorials are replaced by your own piece of lab- or field-based research in the first semester, and a dissertation in the second semester. These can be done as individual or group projects, with our academics there to guide you and provide one-on-one supervision.
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First year
Core modules:
- Practical Skills in Biology
- Comparative Physiology
- Evolution
- Ecosystems and Environmental Change
- Skills for Biologists 1
- Genes, Cells and Populations
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Options include:
- Reproduction, Development and Growth
- Biodiversity
- Population and Community Ecology
- Behaviour of Humans and Other Animals
- Laboratory Skills in Biology 1 and 2
- Ecological Identification Skills
- Modules from Biomedical Science, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, or elsewhere in the University
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Second year
Core modules:
- Data analysis
- Freshwater Ecology Field Course
- Conservation Principles
- Population and Community Ecology 2
- Ecology Tutorials
- Ecology Practicals: options – Plant Habitats and Distributions, Ecological Interactions, Ecology Project
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Options include:
- Biotechnology and Food Security
- Animal Behaviour
- Insects
- Plant, Cell and Environment
- Evolutionary Biology
- World Ecosystems
- Plant Habitat and Distribution
- Paleobiology
- Animal Diversity
- The Molecular Revolution in Biology
- Symbiosis
- Modules from Biomedical Science, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, or elsewhere in the University
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Third year
Core modules:
- Research Project
- Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme or Dissertation
- Field course (UK, Borneo, Portugal or Sweden)
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Options include:
- Environmental Regulation in Plants
- Global Change
- Trends in Biology
- Life in Extreme Environments
- Biology and Ethics
- History and Philosophy of Science
- Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems
- Evolutionary Ecology
- Topics in Evolutionary Genetics
- Sustainable Agro-ecosystems
- Cooperation and Conflict
- The Ecology of Landscapes
- Conservation Issues and Management
- Modules from Biomedical Science or Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
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Hands-on science, incredible locations
More about field courses
Borneo
The focus of this course is on rainforest ecology, adaptations of rainforest organisms and some of the specific issues resulting from the exploitation of rainforest environments
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Portugal
With access to a range of habitats characteristic of drier southern European climates, the focus of this course is on insect ecology and behaviour
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Sweden
This course considers the ecological processes in sub-arctic environments, looking in particular at the ecology of plants, plant-animal interactions in arctic/sub-arctic environments and some of the particular threats to such environments
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Wales
Providing an opportunity to focus on carrying out investigations in the marine environment, this course is a chance to develop sustained research projects involving experimental manipulations and observations over sequential tidal cycles, with a focus on intertidal marine organisms, their adaptations, ecology and behaviour
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Sheffield - freshwater ecology
This course focusses on the ecology of running water ecosystems, with an emphasis on the applied issues associated with anthropogenic pressures on freshwaters, ranging from the management of urban rivers, to the impact of pollution, and the conservation of endangered freshwater species.
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Sheffield – Peak District
We always have one or more field courses running from the department in Sheffield which take advantage of the range of interesting and important habitats on our doorstep, with the current course focussing on insect-plant interactions and insect ecology and behaviour
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Ireland
The focus of this course is on environmental forms and processes, and their effects on the development and functioning of plant and animal communities – primarily for Environmental Science students, but open to other APS undergraduates where there is availability
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