Anthropogenic Impact on the Urban Environment

Module code: GL7106

In this module you will learn to think like a scientific researcher; undertaking genuine exploratory research that is relevant to society. You will learn about the principles of scientific logic, research design, how to ask the right questions and avoid the wrong ones, how to erect suitable hypothesis, how to collect appropriate data, how to analyse data to test your hypothesis, and how to write a scientific report and how communicate your findings to a non-specialist in the form of an Infographic.  

The vehicle through which we will explore how to do research is to study urban geology and the Anthropocene concept. We will undertake fieldwork in the City of Leicester to understand how urban development is based on underlying geology and how you can read the urban environment through the lens of underlying substrata. In addition, you will put into practice ‘how to do scientific research’ through designing a field survey of an urban waterway in Leicester that is highly modified Anthropogenically, and is contaminated by plastic and other litter types. As part of this module you will learn about the ‘Anthropocene’ as a new geological unit of time, understand the pivotal moment in Earth’s history (through which you are living), and understand how geological thinking has influenced this field.