School of Natural Sciences

• Welcome
• Areas of Expertise
• Locations
• History

Welcome

Message from the Head of School

Welcome to the School of Natural Sciences, part of the College of Health and Science at the University of Western Sydney.

Our school is educating tomorrow's science graduates in an environment that is contemporary, challenging, inter-disciplinary and adapted to a rapidly evolving world. Our degree programs embrace a range of innovative approaches to teaching, often in partnership with external organisations, and are designed to equip our graduates with a passion for life-long learning. We offer undergraduate (including honours) and postgraduate programs in coursework and research masters degrees, in addition to a versatile and highly regarded PhD program. Most of our courses contain linkages between teaching, industry and the community, allowing students to place their study and learning in real-world contexts.

Schools such as ours also embody the ethos of extending the boundaries of scientific knowledge and exploring synergies that exist at traditional discipline boundaries through research. It is a truism that many of the most exciting and contemporary scientific problems reside at such boundaries, and our staff lead externally funded research programs in diverse inter-disciplinary fields that address Australia's National Research Priorities.

We seek to make a difference to the quality of life in the complex and vibrant environment of Greater Western Sydney and beyond. On behalf of the school, I encourage you to find out about us here or to contact us to find out more about the school, the programs we offer, the research we are doing, or the many other activities we are involved in to support the goals of our students and the region.

Professor John Bartlett
BSc Hons Newcastle, PhD Newcastle
Head of School

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Areas of Expertise

The school has several key teaching areas, which include:

• biological and chemical sciences
• medical science
• forensic science
• animal science
• food nutrition and biotechnology
• environmental health, management and science
• agriculture and horticulture.

We have a long history of externally funded research success and a number of active research groups, with over 100 Honours and Post-graduate research students contributing to all areas of research within the school. Our research activities are undertaken in collaboration with partners within Australia and a diverse range of international organisations.

The Centre for Plant and Food Science is a research centre with an international reputation. The peri-urban node of the Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures is part of our school and is developing innovative approaches to the management of scarce water resources in Sydney (including water capture and re-use). Other areas of research strength, which underpin our teaching programs and link our research and teaching activities, include:

• geochemistry
• tear formation in the human eye
• design, properties and applications of nanoscale systems
• landscape and ecosystems management
• native animal ecology
• environmental health
• confocal microscopy

This research is embodied in a Weekly Seminar Series [MS Word Document: 67Kb] in which staff and research students present their work in a public forum designed to stimulate active debate and discussion.

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Locations

The School of Natural Sciences offers programs on Hawkesbury and Parramatta campuses. For information about the programs we offer and their availability, please see the College of Health and Science course directory.

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History

The School of Natural Sciences was formed in January 2006 following the amalgamation of the former School of Environment and Agriculture and the School of Science, Food and Horticulture.

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