Environment and Health

Environment and Health: Introduction

Lead Faculty of the Collaborative Specialization

Arts and Science

Participating Degree Programs

Adult Education and Community Development — MA, MEd, PhD
Architecture, Landscape, and Design — PhD
Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry — MASc, MEng, PhD
Community Health — MScCH
Environmental Science — MEnvSc, PhD
Forest Conservation — MFC
Forestry — MScF, PhD
Geography — MA, MSc, PhD
Landscape Architecture — MLA
Medical Science — MSc, PhD
Music — MA, MMus, PhD
Planning — MScPl, PhD
Public Health Sciences — MPH, PhD
Women and Gender Studies — MA, PhD

Overview

The graduate degree programs listed above participate in the Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health (CSEH), which is offered through the School of the Environment. Graduate students admitted to a participating graduate degree program in a degree-granting unit, also called the home department or home unit, can apply to the CSEH and pursue coursework and research in areas related to environment and health. The School of the Environment currently has graduate students from across the disciplinary spectrum.

The study of environment and health recognizes that human health is fundamentally dependent on a healthy environment. With a focus on understanding the human health implications of chemical, biological, and physical hazards in our environment, it encompasses topics such as the health impacts of air and water quality, climate change, contaminated lands and urban design, and the need for interdisciplinary approaches to address them. The CSEH exposes students in the health sciences to broader environmental perspectives on related health issues, while students in environmental studies and sciences can have the opportunity to gain insight about the health implications of environmental quality. This specialization may also be of interest to students who are concerned with ethical, pedagogical, and policy approaches to understanding and addressing environment and health issues.

Upon successful completion of the degree requirements of the participating home department and the CSEH, students will receive the notation “Completed Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health” on their transcript.

Contact and Address

Web: environment.utoronto.ca/graduate
Email: grad.director.env@utoronto.ca or grad.office.env@utoronto.ca
Telephone: (416) 978-3475
Fax: (416) 978-3884

Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health
School of the Environment, Earth Sciences Centre
University of Toronto
Room 1016V, 33 Willcocks Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E8
Canada

Environment and Health: Master's Level

Admission Requirements

  • Students who wish to enrol in the CSEH offered by the School of the Environment must first apply to and be accepted into a master's program in a degree-granting unit, also called a home department or home unit. Information about applying to a home unit can be found on the School of Graduate Studies website as well as on the respective websites of participating degree-granting units.

  • Prospective students who are planning to enrol in the CSEH are strongly encouraged to submit copies of the documents outlined on the School of the Environment's website by the application deadline established by the degree program admission committee in their home department. Applicants should contact the home department they are applying to confirm its application deadline. The School of the Environment also allows potential students to enrol in the CSEH beyond the deadline set by their home department, provided that students will be able to complete the CSEH requirements by the time they are ready to graduate from their degree program.

Specialization Requirements

  • The requirements listed below must be completed in combination with that expected for the master's degree program requirements of the home department. These are normally counted as electives toward the degree program requirements of the student’s home unit. Typically, students complete up to 1.0 full-course equivalent (FCE) and conduct research on an environment and health topic. Please note that requirements in some participating programs vary slightly. Therefore, students are encouraged to check the calendar entries of their respective home department programs. The CSEH requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the School of the Environment's website under the Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health.

Master's Degree Coursework Option

  • Complete the mandatory core course ENV4001H (0.5 FCE).

  • Complete one elective course (0.5 FCE) from the School's list of approved electives below. Courses (including Special Topics) that have an environmental focus but are not included in the School’s approved list can be counted as an elective, pending approval from the Graduate Associate Director.

  • For coursework degree programs that require a research project in their home department, the topic should be within the field of environment and health, as approved by the home department and the School of the Environment. A copy of the final research project must be submitted to the School of the Environment prior to graduation.

Note: Master's students who are enrolled in a coursework-based degree must complete 30% of their program requirements within their collaborative specialization. For a complete and most up-to-date list of the CSEH requirements by each participating degree program for master's students in the coursework option, please visit the School of the Environment website and click on the home graduate unit or degree program.

Master's Degree Thesis Option

  • Complete the mandatory core course ENV4001H (0.5 FCE).

  • Complete one elective course (0.5 FCE) from the School's list of approved electives below.

  • For degree programs that require a thesis in their home graduate unit, the topic should be within the field of environment and health, as approved by the home unit and the School of the Environment. A copy of the final thesis must be submitted to the School of the Environment prior to graduation.

Note: For a complete and most up-to-date list of the CSEH requirements by each participating degree program for master's students in the coursework option, please visit the School of the Environment website and go to the home graduate unit or degree program.

Environment and Health: Doctoral Level

Admission Requirements

  • Students who wish to enrol in the CSEH offered by the School of the Environment must first apply to and be accepted into a doctoral program in a degree-granting unit, also called a home department or home unit. Information about applying to a home department can be found on the School of Graduate Studies website as well as on the respective websites of participating degree-granting units.

  • Prospective students are strongly encouraged to submit copies of the documents indicated on the School of the Environment website by the application deadline established by the degree program admission committee in the home unit. Applicants should contact the home department they are applying to in order to confirm its application deadline. The School of the Environment also allows potential students to enrol in the CSEH beyond the deadline set by their home department, provided that students will be able to complete the CSEH requirements by the time they are ready to graduate from their degree program.

Specialization Requirements

  • The requirements listed below must be completed in combination with the PhD degree program requirements of the student’s respective home department. These are normally counted as electives toward the degree program requirements of the student’s home department. Typically, students complete up to 1.0 full-course equivalent (FCE) and conduct research on an environment and health topic. Please note that requirements in some participating programs vary slightly. Therefore, students are encouraged to check the calendar entries of their respective home department programs. Specific CSEH requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the School of the Environment website under the Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health.

  • Complete the mandatory core course ENV4001H (0.5 FCE), unless already completed at the master's level.

  • Complete one elective course (0.5 FCE) from the School's list of approved courses. Courses (including Special Topics) that have an environmental focus but are not included in the School’s approved list can be counted as an elective, pending approval from the Graduate Associate Director.

  • Give an oral presentation of their doctoral research as part of the School’s Environment and Health Seminar Series or Research Day, which is held once per year. For the latter, the oral presentation may or may not be done in conjunction with a summary poster, depending on the decided format of the School’s Research Day in any given year.

  • Complete a thesis on a theme in environment and health. Normally, the thesis committee will include a supervisor from the student's home department who holds a graduate faculty membership (GFM) in the School of the Environment. If the student’s primary thesis supervisor does not hold a GFM in the School of the Environment, the School’s Director will either initiate the process of assigning a GFM to the primary supervisor, or review the composition of the thesis committee to ensure it has appropriate expertise. A copy of the final thesis must be submitted to the School of the Environment prior to graduation.

  • Additional courses may be required by the home department and/or by the supervisor or supervisory committee, depending on academic and/or career goals of the student, as well as departmental regulations.

  • A supervisor or supervisory committee may be appointed for each student by the home department and the School of the Environment.

Note: For a complete and most up-to-date list of CSEH requirements by each participating degree program for doctoral students, please visit the School of the Environment website and click on the home department or degree program.

Environment and Health: Courses

The School of the Environment offers individual credit courses that are open to graduate students from all units of the University, subject to enrolment limits. Except for the core course, ENV4001H, not all courses are offered every year. Graduate students enrolled in the CSEH are also allowed to take electives listed for the School’s Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies (CSES) to fulfil the specialization requirements. For a current graduate course listing, please refer to the School of the Environment website.

Core Course

Course Code Course Title
ENV4001H
Graduate Seminars in Environment and Health

Elective Courses

Course Code Course Title
ENV1703H
Water Resources Management and Policy
ENV1704H
Environmental Risk Analysis and Management
ENV3000H
Topics in Environment and Health
ENV3000Y Topics in Environment and Health

Elective Joint Courses with the School of the Environment

Course Code Course Title
JGE1425H
Livelihoods, Poverty, and Environment in the Developing Countries
JNC2503H
Environmental Pathways
JNP1014Y
Interdisciplinary Toxicology
JNP1016H
Graduate Seminar in Toxicology

Other Elective Courses

Adult Education and Community Development (Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education)

Course Code Course Title
LHA1197H
The Pedagogy of Food

Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry

Course Code Course Title
CHE1435H
Fundamentals of Aerosol Physics and Chemistry
JNC2503H
Environmental Pathways

Chemistry

Course Code Course Title
CHM1401H
Transport and Fate of Chemical Species in the Environment
CHM1410H
Analytical Environmental Chemistry
CHM1415H
Atmospheric Chemistry
CHM1420H
Environmental Chemistry of Soil
CHM1425H
Modelling the Fate of Organic Chemicals in the Environment

Forestry

Course Code Course Title
FOR1575H
Urban Forest Conservation

Geography and Planning

Course Code Course Title
GGR1422H The Geography of Urban Air Pollution
JGE1425H
Livelihoods, Poverty, and Environment in the Developing Countries
JPG1428H Greening the City: Urban Environmental Planning and Management

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Course Code Course Title
JNP1014Y
Interdisciplinary Toxicology
JNP1016H
Graduate Seminar in Toxicology

Public Health Sciences

Course Code Course Title
CHL5126H
Building Community Resilience
CHL5413H
Public Health Sanitation
CHL5416H
Environmental Epidemiology
CHL5809H
Ecological Public Health
CHL5903H
Environmental Health
CHL5910H
Occupational and Environmental Hygiene I
CHL5911H
Occupational and Environmental Hygiene II
CHL5921H Protecting the Public from Air Pollution

Social Justice Education

Course Code Course Title
SJE1909H
Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice 1
SJE1919H
Advanced Topics in Environmental Justice Education