The earth and environmental sciences are central to securing the future of our planet and its habitability; they exemplify the pinnacle of applied interdisciplinary scientific enterprise.

 This specialisation encompasses the study and understanding of earth processes, from its core to the living environment and atmosphere. It involves an adventure through all spatial scales, from nanometres to planetary scales, the comprehension of deep time and conceptualisation of changes in three to four dimensions. Such breadth of understanding the human–planetary relationship will inspire you to look deep into earth’s history, monitor its constantly evolving environment, and seek to predict and anticipate possible futures of our planet. As a graduate with knowledge of climate change, natural hazards, nonrenewable resources and beyond, you’ll have the skills to provide innovative solutions for the challenges faced by stewardship of our fragile planet.

Key Features

• Our flexible and modular curriculum can be tailored to your interests and career goals.
• You’ll be trained by our distinguished staff to develop job-ready skills via engaging field-based learning and access to modern laboratories designed to foster collaboration and cutting-edge scientific research.
• You’ll dedicate yourself to the most pressing challenges of our time: environmental degradation, climate change, managing big earth data, discovering and sustaining natural resources, and reducing our impacts on the environment.
• You’ll graduate with highly transferable skills, excellent employment prospects, and be empowered to address the quintessential challenges of the 21st century.
• Macquarie is a leading player in large national earth and environmental sciences initiatives, such as the International Ocean Discovery Program, the UNCOVER initiative, Auscope and the National Research Infrastructure for Australia projects, the Australian Lithospheric Architecture Magnetotelluric Project and the Australian Passive Seismic Array Project.
• In your final year, you’ll undertake a work-integrated learning activity with a partner organisation to help prepare you for real workplace scenarios.
• Macquarie is one of only two universities to be given the top rating of five for environmental sciences research in all three Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) evaluations.
• Macquarie is ranked number one in Sydney for teaching quality and overall graduate satisfaction in science (QILT, 2017).

• Climate scientist or atmospheric physicist
• Disaster management adviser
• Environmental and resources manager
• Environmental or geotechnical consultant
• Environmental scientist, planner or assessment officer
• Field-based geologist
• Geographical information systems developer
• Geotechnical specialist
• Government and policy adviser
• Government geological surveyor
• Land care and catchment manager 
• Local council environmental officer 
• Marine, mining or petroleum geochemist, geologist or geophysicist
• Mineral or oil and gas exploration scientist
• National parks, utilities or water resource manager
• Natural resources or contaminated land assessor
• Project manager
• Research officer
• River or land management officer
• Transport and utilities manager