The Ecology MRes at Newcastle University is for graduates in the field of environmental, conservation, restoration, biodiversity and related sciences. We have developed this degree programme to allow students to gain critical skills required in the national and international environmental management and wildlife conservation sectors.

We want students to benefit from the wealth of expertise accessible in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences here at Newcastle. We want to give them the skillset they need whilst allowing them plenty of time to do the research they want to be involved in in their future career paths. Our current students, who started in 2021, have joined PhD candidates in Tanzania to investigate crop health indicators and their relationships with natural capital, in Brunei Darussalam to look at infrastructure expansion effects on mammals in rainforests and in the north of the UK to use drones and other exciting tools for mapping peatland health. We look forward to meeting future cohorts of students that want to work with us to address sustainable development challenges.

Dr Marion Pfeifer (Assoc Prof Landscape Ecology and Management, Head of TROPS lab, Degree Programme Co-Director)

The taught element (60 credits), selecting from several options with the help the programme directors, allows you to develop the conceptual understanding underpinning the conservation, restoration and environmental management sectors and to develop key analytical skills (including spatial analyses, remote sensing for conservation sciences, data visualisation and analyses) increasingly required for further academic study, or research-focused industry roles. The dissertation component (120 credits) with the selection of a project of interest being led by the student, will take up the majority of your focus. It will allow you to apply the skills you acquired and expand them rapidly, whilst delivering a project of impacts (e.g. an NGO you already work with would like an answer to an urgent research question, or you want to get a foot in the door of doing animal movement sciences with a conservation angle, or you want to find sustainable solutions to managing crop production landscapes for biodiversity and food security).