MSc Arid Land Studies

2 years full-time

Our MSc Applied GIS will equip you with the technical and analytical skills to use geographical information systems in research and practice.

You'll develop a variety of skills including basic thematic mapping and cartograms, advanced spatial analysis, visualisation of spatial data, statistical analysis, and policy applications of GIS in practice.

We have three separate pathways within our programme: Applied GIS and Data Visualisation, Applied GIS and Policy Applications, and Applied GIS and Advanced Spatial Analysis.

Your dissertation can be a traditional academic study or it can be based around an internship and research project with an external organisation.

Course structure

Your first semester will be in Sheffield, where you'll take four modules. Your second semester will be at Texas Tech where you'll study three modules.

You'll spend the summer months doing fieldwork for your dissertation in either Texas or New Mexico. Your third semester will be at Texas Tech, taking an additional module and working on your dissertation.

You'll spend six weeks at Humboldt University working on a research project and completing your dissertation. You'll then return to Sheffield for an oral examination of your dissertation.

Modules

Sheffield modules – choose four from:

• Sources to Sinks
• Research Design in Analysis of Terrestrial Systems
• Environmental Process Fluxes
• Geochemical Techniques
• Spatial Techniques in Environmental Analysis
• Current Issues in Environment Analysis

Texas modules – choose three from:

• Watershed Management
• Precision Agriculture
• Soils and Crops in Arid Lands
• Aerial Terrain Analysis
• Imagery Interpretation in Natural Resource Management
• Geographic Information Systems
• Spatial Data Analysis and Modelling
• Water Resource Management
• Surface Water Hydrology
• Groundwater Hydrology
• Ecology of Grazing Lands Systems
• Soil and Plant Relationships
• Advanced Range Ecology
• Advanced Non-Game Ecology
• Geography of Arid Lands
• Regional Analysis
• Weather, Climate and Applications
• Environmental Toxicology
• Ecological Risk Assessment

Teaching

• Lectures
• Fieldwork
• Seminars
• Reading groups
• Workshops

Assessment

• Coursework assignments
• Project work
• Field work
• Dissertation

Your career

You'll develop the skills to work in private or public sector research, or join the civil service.

Recent graduates have started careers in consulting or with organisations like CAFOD, the Environment Agency and the British Library. Many of our graduates stay on to do research. We have a high success rate in securing funding for those who wish to study for a PhD with us after finishing a masters.

Study with the best

The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise puts us in the UK top ten for geography. This is a vibrant postgraduate community, with strong international links.

Our research partners are global, from UK universities to institutions in southern Africa, Denmark, Iceland, Australia and the USA. Our teaching is invigorated by work from several interdisciplinary research groups, like the Sheffield Centre for International Drylands Research (SCIDR) and the Urban and Regional Policy Research Institute.

Our research partners are global, from UK universities to institutions in southern Africa, Denmark, Iceland, Australia and the USA.

Facilities and equipment

A new £1m Sediment-Solute Systems lab enables geochemical analysis of aqueous and solid phases, especially in the context of biogeochemistry. We have equipment for chromatography, UV spectrometry and flow injection/auto analysis.

Our sample preparation facilities enable digestion, pre-concentration by evaporation under vacuum, and tangential flow filtration. There are alpha and gamma counters, a laser particle sizer and a luminescence dating lab. Field equipment includes automatic water samplers, weather stations, data loggers and environmental process characterisation sensors.

We have high-quality petrological microscopes for examining geological samples. We have labs for spectrometry and for palaeontological preparation, and you’ll also have access to specialist facilities in other departments at the University.

Laptops, camcorders, tape recorders and transcribers are available for your fieldwork. Our postgraduate computer labs have networked workstations for GIS research and climate modelling, ARC/INFO, ERDAS software and specialist software for remote sensing. GIS facilities are also provided by the £5m Informatics Collaboratory for the Social Sciences.

Our recently refurbished building has brand new study areas for postgraduate students and a café.

Apply now

You can apply for postgraduate study using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It is a quick and easy process.

Postgraduate Online Application Form