Teaching

A key learning environment for students

The SCENE field station is located within the stunning Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

Students have immediate access to the rich habitats and diverse species of Loch Lomond and the Dubh Loch (a Site of Special Scientific Interest), the oak woodlands surrounding the facility, plus conifer plantations, mountains and moorlands. Geological features include the Highland Boundary Fault cutting across the loch, producing a deep fjord-like northern basin and shallow southern basin in the same water body.

SCENE’s geographical location and rich teaching facilities create a unique educational environment. Students are able to learn by experiencing the natural world in the field and by analysing field-collected samples in a modern, well-serviced laboratory. Learning opportunities range from gaining important species identification skills to exposure to rigorous research approaches based on the most current experimental techniques and technologies. Such an integration of field and laboratory teaching is the ideal approach to underpinning students’ understanding of the processes that affect the structure of natural communities, habitats and ecosystems

Teaching skills for the future

Our students develop skills relevant to future work in important applied areas such as conservation, policy development, the water industry, aquaculture and ecotourism, as well as teaching.

They also become well-positioned for continuing a research career: of the undergraduates attending courses at SCENE, 25% continue into post-graduate studies.

SCENE’s new facilities bring cutting-edge techniques to fieldwork, and develop our ability to provide a top-quality, hands-on learning experience. This combination is difficult to find elsewhere in Europe.

Expanding the education opportunities

Beyond its benefit to undergraduate and postgraduate students, the current redevelopment enables greater outreach to the wider public.

These new facilities, becoming available in 2014, will enable us to host an even wider range of environmental education courses and information events.

Historically, some 300 University of Glasgow undergraduates have used the field station each year, alongside a further 300 visiting students from other UK universities and international visiting groups from all over the world. These numbers will further grow once the facilities in the new teaching wing under construction become available.