The Palaeobiology degree stream will provide you with a strong background in the evolutionary history of life, including interactions with Earth’s climate. It is the interface of Earth & Life Sciences
How, when, and where did life evolve, and are we alone in the universe? Why did dinosaurs and other species disappear during mass extinctions, when other groups survived and subsequently flourished? How will species respond to the current climatic and environmental crisis? Palaeobiology provides a unique perspective in addressing these and other questions that are central to our understanding of the past, present, and future of biodiversity.
“Palaeobiology sits at the interface of Earth and Life Sciences, incorporating a diverse range of disciplines, including evolutionary and molecular biology, anatomy, geology, climatology, ecology, astrobiology, geochemistry, geography, oceanography, and conservation science.
It also traverses an extraordinary range of temporal, spatial, and biological scales, from the reconstruction of ancient DNA in extinct species, to deciphering the origins of life billions of years ago, to studying the evolution of the microscopic organisms that populate the oceans, to understanding how the largest animals to ever walk on land were able to reach unprecedented sizes.
The Palaeobiology degree stream at UCL will provide you with a strong background in the evolutionary history of life, including interactions with Earth’s climate. It will teach you the cutting-edge methods that enable our understanding and reconstructions of past life, as well as how we incorporate this information into addressing the current biodiversity crisis. Delivered by experts spanning the full range of palaeobiological-related disciplines, from the origin of life to present-day biodiversity, and from the smallest life forms to the giant dinosaurs, our flexible degree stream also allows you to focus on an Earth or Life Sciences route to becoming a palaeobiologist.
Further enquiries: Prof Phil Mannion
Modules:
To find more information about external modules, check the UCL’s Module Catalogue
Year 1 Bsc/MSci
Core or compulsory modules
Term 1:
Term 2:
Optional modules:
Term 1:
Term 2:
Fieldwork:
- GEOL0015 Maps, Images and Structures (Dorset field course of 6 days)
Year 2 Bsc/MSci
Core or compulsory modules
Term 1:
Term 2:
Optional modules:
Term 1:
- GEOL0011 Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
- GEOL0016 Structural Geology and Tectonics
- GEOL0076 Introduction to Environmental Geoscience
- BIOL0008 Fundamental of Molecular Biology
- HPSC0013 Science in Popular Culture
- XBKB0023 Introduction to Astrobiology (Level 5) taught at Birkbeck
Term 2:
- GEOL0010 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
- GEOL0017 Isotope Geology
- GEOL0018 Numerical Methods for Earth Sciencess
- GEOL0077 Introduction to Mineral Resources
- BIOL0011 Evolutionary Genetics
- BIOL0014 Fundamentals of Ecology
- HPSC0036 Engaging the Public with Science
Fieldwork:
Year 3 Bsc/MSci
Core or compulsory modules
Term 1:
Term 2:
Optional modules
Term 1:
Term 1 & 2:
Term 2:
- GEOL0045 Palaeoclimate and Palaeoenvironmental Change
- GEOL0068 Applied Geoscience for Mineral Resources
- GEOL0069 Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation (AI4EO)
- GEOL0024 Geological/Environmental Mapping Project Summer
- BIOL0020 Sex, Genes & Evolution
Fieldwork:
Year 4 MSci
Compulsory modules MSci:
Term 1
- GEOL0044 Palaeoceanography
- BIOL0035 Vertebrate Life and Evolution (if not already taken in Year 3)
Term 2
Term 1 & 2
Optional modules MSci:
Term 1:
Term 2:
- GEOL0045 Palaeoclimate & Paleoenvironmental Change
- GEOL0069 Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation
- GEOL0070 Volcanoes, Society and the environment
Fieldwork:
- Germany Part of GEOL0039 Earth & Planetary System Science