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Overview  2021

Entry Requirements

See entry requirements

Duration

Minimum

Duration

Duration refers to the minimum and maximum amounts of time in which this course can be completed. It will be affected by whether you choose to study full or part time, noting that some programs are only available part time.

Location

Hobart
Semester 1, Semester 2
Launceston
Semester 1, Semester 2

This course may not be available to international students. Please see the list of distance courses (i.e. online and taken outside Australia) that are offered to international students

"I chose the University of Tasmania because it offers such a practical Natural Environment and Wilderness course, there is a lot of field work and everything is right at your door."

David Heaton
Bachelor of Natural Environment and Wilderness student
The information on this page is indicative of our course offerings for 2022. Information about our 2022 offerings will be updated in August 2021.
A Bachelor of Natural Environment and Wilderness gives you a broad, multi-disciplinary approach to understanding and tackling environmental issues, and develops your skills to conserve biodiversity and geodiversity in one of the more difficult times in the history of nature on the planet and build a better future for us all.

Nature, and especially wild nature, has become increasingly important for human mental and physical wellbeing. At the same time, it is fast being displaced, degraded and destroyed. An ability to think critically and creatively across disciplines, in the intersection between nature and human society, is vital for informing the management, protection, and use of the natural environment. People with this knowledge will work to protect and restore nature on our one planet.

There is no better place to study natural environments and wilderness than Tasmania. Our state is a living laboratory with world leading , with a fifth of it in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Areas, and 42% in protected areas, plus all accessible straight from the campus door. Tasmania also offers a vibrant variety of urban, social, and environmental enjoyments and issues to engage with, learn from, and live amongst.

This wide, interdisciplinary degree will enable you to contribute your skills and experience to a wide variety of occupations in a wide variety of places. Every nation, regardless of their level of development, has a natural environment which must be managed and protected.

Catalyst Program

Are you a high achiever and want to get the most out of your University experience? The Catalyst Program combines your Bachelor degree with scholarships, extracurricular experiences, special events, and networking opportunities. It was created for outstanding students, just like you. Learn more about the Catalyst Program

  • The Bachelor of Natural Environments and Wilderness helps students develop the ways of thinking, integrative knowledge and practical skills that will enable them conserve biodiversity and geodiversity in one of the more difficult times in the history of nature on the planet: the Anthropocene extinction event caused by unrestricted economic growth.
  • The structure of the degree ensures that you gain a broad cross-disciplinary understanding of the natural environments and wilderness, while being able to specialise in areas of interest. In addition to specialist knowledge and skills, this degree also develops a wide range of general abilities applicable to careers across any sector, including communication, data collection, fieldwork, analysis, information retrieval and presentation, planning and policy development.
  • Graduates will be able to draw on their multidisciplinary range of knowledge and skills as they seek to address complex socio-environmental problems that have no obvious solution, and often generate considerable public interest. For example, we know that communicating climate change science is only part of the challenge and that professionals working in this area need to be able to navigate politics and social values to effect change.
  • You could also look to address challenges where the solution involves an understanding of multiple disciplines such as ecology, planning, and environmental impact processes, and the ability to engage with a range of stakeholders who all have different views and experience levels based, such as helping maintain healthy populations of endangered species like eagles.
  • Graduates work in environmental advocacy, park management and planning, natural environment interpretation, environmental assessment, natural environmental research, environmental management, natural resource management, policy development and business enterprises, particularly those associated with natural area tourism. They are, and will be, making a big difference.

Your study experience will be a combination of classroom, laboratory and in-the-field learning in the inspiring landscapes of Tasmania.

Tasmania is literally a living laboratory

Within half an hour from the Sandy Bay campus, we access marine, coastal, heathland, wetland, grassland, woodland, dry eucalypt, wet eucalypt, rainforest, subalpine and alpine natural environments, as well as urban nature. The world’s second largest temperate rainforest is only an hour away. We’re the gateway to Antarctica and, as the birthplace of the green movement, celebrate our biodiversity and environmental sustainability. Many of your classes will be conducted outside in this natural environment, and your proximity to a wide range of pristine, diverse environments, and the researchers who travel from around the world to work in them, give you unparalleled practical field experience while you study. Plus, it makes Tasmania an amazing place to live!

Learn from the best, and learn by doing

Our world-class teaching staff bring their cutting-edge findings and examples to your lessons. And not just in the laboratory and classroom, but outside doing real-world tasks such as environment management plans and heritage assessments. Research in scientific fields of agriculture, chemistry, earth sciences, ecology, environmental science and management, fisheries sciences, oceanography, physical geography, plant biology, and zoology is ranked well above world-class*, meaning that you’re learning from some of the best in the world in the same environment where they conduct their world-class research.

*Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2018 National Report

Become a Student Ambassador

Improve your communication, teamwork and leadership skills, meet new people, inspire and help others, and developing lasting friendships and networks as a student ambassador. Our ambassadors proudly represent the University throughout Tasmania in schools, at University and community events, and support a range of recruitment and engagement activities. Though the Student Ambassador Program or STEM Outreach Team you will have many opportunities for training and professional development, experience in real-world community engagement and outreach, networking, and public speaking, plus end up with a key point of distinction on your CV.

Study overseas at one of our partner institutions

Our international exchange program offers opportunities to study at universities around the world, and it counts towards your degree. Exchange can allow you to have an affordable educational and cultural experience in a foreign country for a semester, or a full year. To facilitate this, we offer a range of scholarships and financial assistance. You may also be eligible for OS-HELP Loans or scholarship funding to assist with their airfares, accommodation and other expenses.

UPDATE (MARCH) 2021: Please note, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Face-to-Face Study Abroad & Exchange programs have been postponed until 2022.

Alternative Virtual Exchange Opportunities can be found on our Virtual Overseas Experiences tab. For more information please contact Global.Mobility@utas.edu.au

Find out more about Student Exchange.

Units in this degree, including KGA331 Fire, Weeds and Ferals and KGA381 Environmental Impact Assessment involve you working with teams of students, undertaking intensive field work, and producing natural environment management plans. These plans are often utilised by the owners and managers of the land on which the students are assessing, providing direct benefit to the environment and community while you study.

Career outcomes

Gemma Rushton first found her passion for the outdoors growing up on the north coast of New South Wales. Her interest took her to Tasmania, where she studied Natural Environment and Wilderness. Now she’s thinking about postgraduate study in Environmental Management or Planning.

Gemma Rushton
Natural Environment and Wilderness graduate

This interdisciplinary degree provides you with the knowledge and skills to gain employment in a wide variety of sectors related to natural environments and wilderness, vital as we continue to expand our presence on the earth and need to live in harmony with the natural environment to ensure our survival.

Opportunities include nature-based tourism, natural area management and natural area interpretation, across government, private and not for profit industries.

The broad nature of the degree also provides more general employability in the same way as the Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts. The skills you learn are applicable to industries and sectors all over the world. Anywhere there is interaction with the natural environment, your skills and knowledge can be utilised.

Career opportunities with natural environment and wilderness studies include:

  • Environmental protection
  • Environmental organisations and consultancies
  • Land and heritage management
  • Nature-based and eco-tourism
  • Parks planning and management
  • Resource-based industries such as forestry
  • Natural resource management
Postgraduate study

While the degree may be taken out after three years of successful study, the fourth year of the degree provides the opportunity to develop either research skills, or job-ready skills and job-related experience. Professional certification as a planner can be gained as a progression from this fourth year, or as an alternative to the fourth year, plus one extra year.

Postgraduate courses are also available in Environmental Management and Protected Area Management.

Course structure

Entry requirements

Fees & scholarships

Domestic students

Scholarships

Scholarships for domestic students

Each year, the University offers more than 900 awards to students from all walks of life, including: those who have achieved high academic results, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, students with sporting ability, students undertaking overseas study, and students with a disability.

The University provides a number of relocation scholarships to encourage students relocating from interstate, or Tasmanian students who are required to move away from home, to study the Bachelor of Natural Environment and Wilderness and to assist with relocation expenses.

For information on all scholarships available at the University of Tasmania, please visit the scholarships website.

Applications for most awards commencing in Semester 1 open at the beginning of August and close strictly on 31 October in the year prior to study.

Scholarships for international students

There are a huge range of scholarships, bursaries and fee discounts available for international students studying at the University of Tasmania. For more information on these, visit International Scholarships.

How can we help?

Do you have any questions about choosing a course or applying? Get in touch.

Domestic
13 8827 (13 UTAS)
International
+61 3 6226 6200
Email
Course.Info@utas.edu.au
Online
Online enquiries

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