With a prestigious history dating back to its original establishment in 1888 in Guangzhou, China, Lingnan University (LU) is the only liberal arts university in Hong Kong emphasizing both the merits and close interrelationship of teaching and research. Like many American liberal arts colleges and the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, LU believes that the ethos of liberal arts education requires limited student numbers and an intimate campus setting.

For postgraduates, student-centered learning, one of the key values of liberal arts education, ensures close and supportive thesis supervision, while at the same time encouraging candidates to exercise intellectual creativity in their research endeavors.

LU has earned a strong reputation through encouraging and requiring staff research, on the premise that far from depleting energies to be spent on teaching, research actually nourishes and inspires outstanding teaching.

For research postgraduate programmes, Lingnan graduates are expected to possess the following attributes in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude:

Knowledge:

• systematic understanding of a field or fields of scholarship
• original contributions to the field

Skills:

• competence in research and analysis
• ability to critically assess intellectual claims, theories and arguments
• capacity to produce a thesis that contributes to the knowledge and understanding of the field of learning within which the subject of the thesis falls

Attitude:

commitment to applying the knowledge acquired in the chosen field and conducting further research in an ethical and socially responsible manner.

Lingnan University has five members whose research and teaching interests cover core areas of environmental science including ecology, evolution, geology, geography, urban studies, and environmental education. Key areas of research interest are (1) Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation and (2) Urban Climate, Air Pollution, and Environmental Health. As a liberal arts university, Lingnan University provides a unique postgraduate experience in Environmental Science by combining the expertise in the Science Unit with the three faculties (Arts, Social Sciences, and Business), as well as partnerships with local and international NGOs. This programme will equip students with a strong theoretical background in environmental sciences, as well as provide a diversity of hands-on, experiential experiences needed to be successful in this field.

Key Research Areas for Environmental Science Programme

1) Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation Disciplines

• Phylogenetics and population genetics
• Freshwater and terrestrial ecology
• Surveys of the wildlife trade in Asia
• Development of new technologies to aid in wildlife trade enforcement

2) Urban Climate, Air Pollution, and Environmental Health Disciplines

• 3D-GIS and spatial modelling
• Environmental and social impact assessment (urban climate and air pollution)
• Environmental epidemiology and health technologies
• Environmental consciousness and sustainability

3) Science and Environment Education