Ecology and Conservation with a Placement Year

Overview

Ready to turn your passion for the natural world into a purpose-driven career? With UEA’s BSc Ecology and Conservation with a Placement Year degree, you’ll study how animals, plants, and ecosystems interact and evolve, and learn how science drives global conservation efforts. Whether you dream of protecting endangered species, restoring habitats, or shaping environmental policy, this is your springboard to a future where you can make a real difference.

At UEA, you’ll be taught by world-leading experts from our Schools of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Our unique approach to ecology and conservation will see you learning in the classroom, in our state-of-the-art labs, and in the field from your first year through to your final year research project. You’ll spend your third year in a work placement gaining invaluable real-world skills and experience in an area of your choice to greatly enhance your employability.

UEA has a vibrant campus to explore with thousands of species thriving in and around the lake, woods, reedbeds and meadows. You’ll have the exciting opportunity to experience conservation work firsthand and develop biodiversity survey and identification skills. Norfolk is a dream location for aspiring ecologists – with vast beaches, rolling sand dunes, ancient woodlands, and hundreds of nature reserves right on your doorstep. It’s the perfect natural classroom to explore, observe and put your learning into action.

This course equips you with the full toolkit for a career in ecology and conservation – from fieldwork techniques to lab analysis, computing, and scientific writing. You’ll learn how to investigate pressing ecological challenges and design innovative solutions to protect our planet's future.

At the end of this BSc Ecology and Conservation course, you’ll have the knowledge and research skills needed to prepare you for a career in industry, research or academia. Your wealth of experience in laboratory and fieldwork will make you stand out to potential future employers, as will the connections you make during your time at UEA.

Disclaimer

Course details are subject to change. You should always confirm the details on the provider's website: www.uea.ac.uk

In Year 1 you will be introduced to many aspects of ecology with modules such as Biodiversity and Global Environmental Challenges. In Year 2, you will take a mixture of compulsory modules, such as Field Ecology, as well as optional modules such as Aquatic Ecology and Evolution Biology. In your final year, you will have the opportunity to take a number of optional modules such as Social Evolution, Biological Oceanography and Marine Ecology and also have the opportunity to take a field trip to East Africa.