Geography fieldwork
An essential part of studying geography

Iceland field trip. Credit Caroline Clason
We believe that worthwhile and responsible international travel provides an important context for us as geographers to better understand different cultures and landscapes. This international theme is also a core part of our BA (Hons) Geography and International Relations course. We also we run a high quality low carbon field trip option in stage 2. More information from two of our previous field courses to Western Australia and the Pacific Northwest of the USA can be explored via these links.
Dr Matt Telfer, Geography Programme Leader
We get out for a residential field trip right at the beginning of the course. We currently travel to Bath where we stay for three nights and travel out each day to a new location at which we look at key themes in human and physical geography. In addition to the academic benefits, it also provides an opportunity for you and the staff to get to know each other.
Put your research methods training in practice on a residential field course to one of a range of exciting destinations around the world. Recent trips have run to Australia, Belize, Borneo, China/Hong Kong, France, Iceland, Ireland, Morocco, Portugal, Sweden, and the United States.
The trips involve both student-led and staff-led work, and allow you to sharpen your research and transferable skills while you investigate in the field issues you have learnt about at the University.
Depending upon the modules chosen, there are opportunities for local fieldwork visits in support of these advanced courses.
At least one of the trips each year is a ‘zero-cost’ option covered by your course fees; the remainder attract a supplement that varies by destination.
Fieldwork is a vital part of geography and ours is among the very best programmes in the UK.
This short video shows some of the issues explored by our final year students on their trip to the Pacific North West region of the USA in 2016.
"One of the highlights of my degree was the North West USA fieldwork module." Amy Sparrow, BA Geography
Geography students investigate causes and impacts of devastating forest fires in Oregon
For the past decade, geography students on our Pacific North West field course have been examining the causes and effects of wildfires in Eastern Oregon. Working with the United States Forest Service, they have explored how fire impacts on slope hydrology and how the forest itself has coped with fire.
Wild fires are a natural part of the ecosystem along the Pacific coast and tree species present there have evolved to make use of fire to propagate and win competitive advantage. Challenges for the present day come not just from climate change but arise from a more complex history of 20th and early 21st century fire management, private property rights, and political and economic drivers, among others.
During the field courses students have learned specialist techniques, such as tree coring, to gain first-hand experience of how to research and address these challenges.