Biology and Earth Sciences

Biology and earth sciences is a combination that brings together the study of life in all its diversity with the study of the planet that makes it possible. Biology explores living organisms from the molecular level to the ecosystem, asking how life functions, how it evolved, and how it interacts with the environment. Earth sciences examines the geological, geochemical, geophysical and atmospheric processes that shape the planet, providing the deep time perspective and environmental context within which biology makes fullest sense.

At the University of St Andrews you will engage with biology at all levels of organisation, from the molecular biology of cellular processes and disease to the ecology of animals and plants in their natural habitats. The earth sciences strand gives you access to the geological record, the physics and chemistry of the Earth system, and the tools used to understand past and future environmental change. The combination is particularly rich for understanding questions at the interface of life and its physical environment, including conservation, the response of ecosystems to climate change, and the co-evolution of organisms and their geological context.

The programme runs over four years full time and includes a year abroad, giving you international academic experience in both disciplines.

Graduates of this combination are well placed for careers in environmental consultancy, conservation biology, geological surveying, research, education and a range of roles that require an integrated understanding of natural systems. Postgraduate study in ecology, earth science, environmental management, oceanography or conservation biology is a natural further route, as is entry into research careers in academia or scientific organisations working on planetary and ecological questions.