Welcome to your course
Welcome to the National School of Forestry, University of Cumbria. We hope that your chosen course, the BSc (Hons) Woodland Ecology and Conservation with or without placement, will inspire and challenge you. We aim to provide the support you need and hope that you will enjoy your time with us. The course is structured to give you the skills in the first and second year to enable you to undertake a placement year if you choose. In final year, you have some a mix of core and optional modules to enable you to become the kind of future woodland ecologist that you want to be. The aim is that you will obtain the benefits of being taught by staff within the National School of Forestry and our colleagues in the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas.
Welcome Week has been designed to give you an interesting and enjoyable start to your BSc (Hons) Woodland Ecology and Conservation with or without placement. During the week we will explain more about the course and who to speak to if you feel you need any help. There will be opportunities to get to know staff, each other and students from other courses. There will be some trips to some of the woodlands in the Lake District National Park that you will use to practice what you learn.
Study Tours
All National School of Forestry students go on two study tours during their courses. The first years go north to Scotland around Easter time to see upland conifer plantations and iconic Caledonian pinewoods. The second years go south to look at lowland broadleaved silviculture and traditional coppicing. Our students usually describe these trips, meeting hosts who are forest industry and woodland conservation experts, on their own patch, as the highlights of their course.
The costs of these 5 day Monday to Friday study tours, staying in Youth Hostels, or equivalent accommodation, are kept to a minimum. In recent years they have been subsidised by the University, but that cannot be guaranteed. Students should anticipate each trip costing up to £150 for travel and accommodation.
Woodland Ecology and Conservation students have the option of choosing an Applied Field Studies module instead of attending the second year study tour. In this case, they would be able to go to Gambia, or a similar destination, with students on other conservation courses. This study tour is a great option for anyone interested in conservation in the developing world, especially in tropical regions, but inevitably is a bit more expensive.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about your course, please don't hesitate to get in touch with our Admissions team.
