Global Health: Food Security, Sustainability and Biodiversity MSc

Global Health: Food Security, Sustainability and Biodiversity (MSc)

This degree is run in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

From pollution in the air and water, climate change and unsustainable farming and food supply chains, to population growth and concerns about hunger, obesity, or eating too much meat - the challenges of sustainable living are all around us.

The MSc in Global Health: Food Security, Sustainability and Biodiversity is an exciting partnership between Royal Holloway and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Students on this degree will study at Royal Holloway and at Kew, learning from world leading experts at both institutions and spending approximately equal time at our main campus in Egham, Surrey and Kew’s main site in Richmond, south west London.

This one year course covers a range of topics at the intersections of environmental health and human health, addressing the crucial link between biodiversity, sustainable livelihoods and food security.

You will examine some of the most pressing issues affecting our planet, from deforestation and climate change to pollution and the threats from extinctions, intensive agriculture and a growing human population. You will see new, innovative solutions in food security, and you will learn about innovative farming approaches, such as silvopasture, vertical farming and hydroponics. You will also consider crop histories, indigenous knowledge and the links between our environment, culture, economy and the health and livelihoods of people around the world.

You will develop your understanding and ability to blend agricultural, ecological, political and socioeconomic factors, and acquire a strong skill set through practical training in a range of transferable skills including communication, team working, science writing, data visualisation, statistical analysis, and mapping. Students will participate in field trips and study visits, spending time on a residential field course in the last two weeks of the spring term at Kew’s Wild Botanic Gardens, Wakehurst in Sussex, learning from researchers in the laboratory and field, and working collaboratively to complete a group research project*.

Find out more on our partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew here

We have consolidated and expanded our ethnobotany offering as a discipline that sits at the intersection of food security, sustainability, and biodiversity. We will cover the fundamental concepts, methods and themes needed to carry out independent ethnobotanical research. Understanding traditional and indigenous uses of plants for food, medicine and fibre with an interdisciplinary lens that ties together the natural and social sciences could hold the key for more responsible use of the planet’s resources, as well as a more holistic way of conducting scientific research.

On this degree we aim to keep teaching within core hours over 3 days each week (except for the residential course *) and we strive to make it inclusive for those with outside commitments.

* Please speak with the course leader to discuss your requirements if you need to return home in the evenings.

Through interdisciplinary learning and hands on activities in a range of associated topics, our graduates will be better equipped to become the next generation of scientific researchers, policymakers and business leaders, ready to solve global sustainability challenges.

We are a member of CHAP - UK Agri-Tech Innovation Centre, bringing together leading scientists, farmers, advisors, innovators and businesses to understand industry challenges, drive research and innovation and develop and trial solutions that transform crop systems.

Bachelor degree with 70%, 3.0 out of 5.0 or 2.8 out of 4.0 overall.

English language requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5.
• Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51.
• Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III.
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
• TOEFL iBT: 88 overall, with Reading 18 Listening 17 Speaking 20 Writing 26.
• Duolingo: 120 overall, 135 in Literacy, 135 in Production and no sub-score below 100.