Student Life in Geography and Environment

Start your time in the department the right way by attending either our Undergraduate or Postgraduate Welcome Receptions. This is a great opportunity for you to meet students on your programme and the staff who will be teaching you. 

In December we hold our undergraduate and postgraduate Christmas parties. This is a great chance for you to mingle with fellow students and staff over mince pies and mulled wine.

In January 2020 we held our third annual Photography Competition Showcase. We encourage entries from all G&E staff and students based on a chosen theme. Past themes include 'World Textures' and 'Cityscapes'. Once all entries have been received and shortlisted, the top ten photographs are then displayed at our showcase, where staff and students vote for their favourite. See photos from our latest showcase here.

Come along to these free lunchtime sessions with our academics. Held throughout the Michaelmas and Lent terms, this is your opportunity to find out more about your lecturers. We provide free pizza! 

These awards are a celebration of student involvement and collaboration with the department. They are an important provision in valuing the hard work students put in to improve their experience and the Geography student community.

The awards are named in honour of Prof Robert Estall, whose legacy gift to the School funds the cash prizes. Prof Estall was Professor of Geography at LSE until 1989, and an Emeritus Professor thereafter. He was also an undergraduate student at LSE from 1952-55, and completed his PhD here in 1964.

Our 2020 awards went to:

Undergraduate prizes

Outstanding Contribution to the Department
Emily Douglas (winner)

Outstanding Services to Societies
Muhammad Shafay Sohail  (winner)
Ser Jin Tan  (runner up)
Daniel Giesemann and Issam Jamaleddine (highly commended)

Outstanding Support to Students
Lorenz Reinemer and Aarushi Arora  (winners)

Outstanding Collegiality
Auriane Moch (winner) 
Sarah Tan and Milan Shah (runners up)

Support to the Department
Saskia Straub (winner)
Natalie Yu (runner up)

Social Media
Mohammed Altab (winner)

Postgraduate prizes

Outstanding Services to Societies
Suzanne Greenwood and Alice Bessonnet (winners)
Angela Estrada (highly commended) 

Outstanding Support to Students
Benedikt Stranak (winner) 
Sarah Pagel (runner up) 

Support to the Department
Elena Castellano (winner) 
Beth Crankshaw (runner up) 

All our undergraduates in their second year of study are given the opportunity to go on an overseas field trip and carry out research abroad. Our trips include visits to Havana, Cuba and Kerala, India. 

Our first years also have the option to visit Juniper Hall in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Students explore themes of environmental pollution and urban climates, and embark on a series of hands-on activities. 

We also offer students on some of our postgraduate programmes the chance to carry out research abroad. Our MSc Local Economic Development students visit L'Aquila, Italy, and our MSc Urbanisation and Development students travel to Seoul, South Korea. 

The LSESU Geography and Environment society run a number of events throughout the year, including an annual Winter Ball, a trip to Bulgaria and pub quizzes. The Society is open to all LSE students. 

We host a range of events across topics relating to geography and the environment. Unless otherwise stated, our events are free and open to all. 

Every Friday afternoon during term time we deliver treats to both our undergraduate and postgraduate common rooms. Treats include cakes, biscuits and doughnuts!

Our Undergraduate Research Fellowships scheme gives students the opportunity to be paid to provide research assistance for our academic staff. Through this scheme, our undergraduates work on live research projects, many of which are published in leading academic journals.

We run a number of careers events throughout the year. These events are a great opportunity for students to network with recent alumni and professionals from a range of sectors. Food and drink is provided at all our careers events. These include:  

• Property and Real Estate
• Careers in Policy, Planning and Regulation
• Careers in the Urban Space
• Careers in the Environment
• Working in the Charity and Development Sector