The Faculty came into being in 1951. The disciplines it comprises - biology, geography, geology and environment sciences – have been developing throughout the centuries of the Jagiellonian University history.  Another discipline it originally comprised, that of molecular biology, became independent in 2002.

The Faculty includes fives institutes: the Institute of Botany, the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, the Institute of Geological Sciences, the Institute of Environment Sciences and the Institute of Zoology.