Multidisciplinary masterclasses

To change how we live and manage our planet in the future, our thinking must evolve to develop comprehensive solutions that are aware of interconnected and multifaceted nature of global challenges. Understanding diverse perspectives informs decision-making, improves collaboration, and accelerates innovation.

Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) is one of the largest environmental research centres in Europe and combines the world-class research in biology, ecology, earth and environmental science, geography and social sciences. This breadth of collaboration enables us to tackle grand environmental challenges, and to teach our students to see the connections.

To show your students where their passions and futures careers could help tackle 21st century environmental issues, we have four multidisciplinary masterclasses on offer, designed to draw attention to the connections between different disciplines. Students will get a taste of what it’s like to study at LEC and take their skills and studies to the next level.

Capacity: Masterclasses M1 and M2 can be run with up to 50 students per day; Masterclass M3 with up to 30 students, and Masterclass M4 is ideally limited to 10 (so that all students have a chance to be involved with the bird ringing).

M1 - Unpacking Climate Change: From Atmosphere to Action

Climate change is one of the most complex challenges humanity has ever faced. It is not an issue of scientific knowledge, but rather a deeply interconnected problem involving ecosystems, economies, energy systems, and social justice. Due to this complexity, there is no single solution—no silver bullet. Tackling climate change requires a revolution in how we think, act, and collaborate across disciplines and societies. This day of activities is designed to help students explore the multiple ways in which we are building our understanding of both the problem, and the pathways toward change.

We begin with the core science, starting with how fluctuations in CO₂ levels have resulted in significant changes in Earth’s climate, including periods that were substantially warmer or cooler than today. This session explores the unprecedented impact of human activities on recent atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and gives students a taster of how scientists at LEC model the resulting climate change.

Next, we turn to some real-world impacts, perhaps most clearly illustrated by polar ice and glaciers. How quickly ice sheets shrink and glaciers retreat will affect sea levels, freshwater supplies, and feedback on global climate systems. This session will explore how we study glacial processes, what we can learn from them about past climates and how we research the behaviour of glaciers today.

Our third session dives beneath the waves to examine the fate of coral reefs in a warming world. With rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification, these fragile ecosystems are under threat. We’ll look at why this matters—not just for marine life, but for the millions of people who depend on healthy oceans.

Finally, we explore the human and political dimensions of climate action. Using the UK’s fossil fuel history as a case study, students will reflect on energy choices, policy challenges, and questions of climate justice through the lens of political ecology.

Throughout the day, students will work together to connect scientific understanding with social and environmental responsibility. The aim is to build a broad, informed perspective on one of the most urgent and complex issues of our time.

M2 - Roots, Rivers, and Rainforests: navigating sustainable landscapes

Sustainable landscape management means finding ways to care for the natural world while meeting the needs of people—and it's far from simple. Landscapes are shaped by climate, soil, water, biodiversity, and human choices. This day of activities is designed to help students explore how different elements of the environment are connected, and why managing them well is key to our future.

We begin in the Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest. This session looks at the pressures facing tropical forests and the efforts being made to protect them. Students will explore how deforestation threatens biodiversity, disrupts climate systems, and affects Indigenous communities—and what conservation strategies can help slow or reverse the damage.

Next, we go underground to focus on soil health. Far more than just dirt, healthy soil stores carbon, supports agriculture, and helps regulate the climate. Students will learn how gases exchanged through soils can tell us about their health and how good soil management plays a vital role in tackling climate change.

Mismanagement of the land has consequences downstream. Our third session investigates river pollution and water quality. Using real-life examples and citizen science techniques, students will explore how human activities—from farming to urban living—affect the health of rivers, and what we can do to monitor and improve them.

Finally, we step back to look at the big picture: how the economy shapes environmental decisions. This session invites students to think critically about the systems that influence land use, energy, and resource extraction. What would it take to reshape the economy so that it supports—not undermines—planetary survival?

Throughout the day, students will engage in hands-on learning, debate, and reflection. The goal is to build an understanding of how landscapes are managed, why sustainability matters, and what changes are needed to secure a more just and liveable future.

M3 - Managing for Extremes: When Things Go Wrong

Extreme natural events—volcanic eruptions, floods, droughts—can strike suddenly and with devastating impact. Furthermore, as the climate changes, some extremes are becoming more frequent and severe. Understanding the processes behind them isn’t just about fundamental science; it’s about protecting lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems. Even when we can't fully predict or prevent disasters, we can learn to reduce their risks and improve how societies respond and recover. This day of activities invites students to explore how environmental extremes occur, how we study them, and how we can better prepare for an uncertain future.

Our first session begins deep underground, with volcanic eruptions and the mysteries of flowing lava. Students will explore how we use indirect evidence—like rock structures, past eruptions, and satellite data—to predict the behaviour of volcanic systems we cannot directly observe. What can we learn about the behaviour of past eruptions, and how do we prepare when the unknown still looms?

The second session brings us to the surface with floods—powerful, fast-moving, and increasingly common. Students will use modern state-of-the-art sensors in flumes to investigate how nature-based solutions can be incorporated into landscapes to slow flows, and where data from new technology will help us to reduce flood risk.

Next, we shift focus to droughts, particularly in regions where people depend on rainfall to grow food. For this session students will explore how climate extremes threaten food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, and why innovations such as engineering of drought-resistant crops, can help farmers adapt and build resilience in the face of prolonged water shortages.

The final session challenges the term “natural disaster”, because disasters only occur when hazards intersect with vulnerable communities. Students will examine how media and societal narratives often fetishise spectacular extremes, overlooking everyday resilience and preparedness, and neglecting the chronic underreporting of disasters in the Global South. By exploring the social conditions that shape impacts, participants will rethink what it means to live with extremes—and why the real disaster lies in inequality, not nature.

M4 - Populations, adaptations and implications: ecology and conservation in a changing world

The animals and plants with which we share our planet have evolved to inhabit a vast array of environments and participate in an extraordinary array of interactions with both other organisms and with people. A huge challenge in understanding the benefits of biodiversity and the conservation challenges that are arising on our human dominated planet is the apparently simple task of knowing what is out there and what it is doing. This day of activities explores how animals and plants interact with one another and their environment in surprising ways, often right under our noses.

We begin in our gardens and woodlands; with charismatic animals we might think we know well. How do biologists track change in populations of native species we are all familiar with? What are the basic things we should but don’t know about woodland birds? In this session you will get up close with wild birds to learn about ringing and how it helps us to understand their ecology.

Next, imagine bird populations have changed, but the causes are unknown. Are the causes environmental, or linked to their food chain? How do environmental factors like temperature and humidity shape the success of smaller and more numerous invertebrates that creatures like birds rely on for food? What if those species affected by climate change were pests or vectors of disease, we wanted to control to protect our food or our health?

Finally, we explore plants – the primary producers in most ecosystems at the base of the food chain. We all see them every day. They can be blocking the sun and providing the shelter of woodland habitats, hiding in cracks in the pavement, or growing in our fields, destined for use as food and fibre. What about plants is special? What lets them reproduce and survive across seasons? What challenges do they face, and how are their solutions to those challenges revealed by understanding their anatomy?

To engage with concepts in ecology and conservation, students will get up-close and personal with animals and plants, offering opportunities for reflection about what it is we share our world with. The goal is to reveal connection and new perspectives on the natural world, establishing why human choices about nature matter and what it is those choices affect.