Environmental Studies

​​​Lead Faculty​ of the Collaborative Specialization

Arts and Science

Participating Degree Programs

Adult Education and Community Development — MA, MEd, PhD
Anthropology — MA, MSc, PhD
Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry — MASc, MEng, PhD
Chemistry — MSc, PhD
Civil Engineering — MASc, MEng, MEngCEM, PhD
Earth Sciences — MASc, MSc, PhD
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology — PhD
​Forest Conservation — MFC
Forestry — MScF, PhD
Geography — MA, MSc, PhD
Global Affairs — MGA
Information — MI, PhD
Management — MBA, PhD
Music — MA, PhD
​Physics — MSc, PhD
Planning — MScPl, PhD
Political Science — MA, PhD
Public Policy — MPP
Religion — MA, PhD
Social Justice Education — MA, MEd, EdD, PhD
Sociology — MA, PhD
Sustainability Management — ​MScSM
Women and Gender Studies — MA, PhD

Overview

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

The CSES provides interested students an opportunity to examine environmental-related issues from different disciplinary perspectives and gain insights about the importance of understanding and applying interdisciplinary approaches and methodological concepts and tools in environmental decision making. The purpose is to complement the discipline-based learning and research focus of their home units by providing students an interdisciplinary forum to examine, discuss, and address environmental issues. With participating students from as many as 20 different disciplines, the core course, ENV 1001H Environmental Decision Making, gives students a unique opportunity to engage with faculty and peers coming from a range of academic backgrounds and perspectives.

Upon successful completion of the degree requirements of the participating home graduate unit and the CSES, students will receive the notation “Completed Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies” 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 Environmental Studies
School of the Environment, Earth Sciences Centre
University of Toronto
Room 1016V, 33 Willcocks Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E8
Canada

Admission Requirements

• Students who wish to enrol in the Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies (CSES) 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 master's program 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 CSES are strongly encouraged to submit copies of the documents indicated on the Sc​hool of the Environment's website by the application deadline established by the degree program admission committee in the home department. Applicants should confirm the application deadline with the home department they are interested in applying to, as this can vary between units. The School of the Environment also allows potential students to enrol in the CSES beyond the deadline set by their home department, provided that students will be able to complete the specialization 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 of the home department. These are normally counted as electives toward the degree program requirements of the student’s home graduate unit. Typically, students complete up to 1.0 full-course equivalent (FCE) and conduct research on an environmental topic. Please note that requirements in some participating programs may vary. Therefore, students are encouraged to check the calendar entries for their respective home department degree programs. The School of the Environment also offers students in the non-thesis master's degree stream the opportunity to complete an internship in fulfilment of the CSES, unless they have an internship component built into their degree program. The CSES requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the Sc​hool of the Environment's website under the Environmental Studies Collaborative Specialization.

Master's Degrees Coursework Option

• Complete the mandatory core course ENV 1001H (0.5 FCE).

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

• Complete an environment-related internship of approximately three months full-time employment (ENV 4444Y⁺; 1.0 FCE), unless students have an internship requirement included in their degree program.

• Produce a brief research paper on an environment-related topic, which may be related to the internship experience (ENV 5555Y⁺; 1.0 FCE), unless students have a research paper requirement included in their degree program.

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

Master's Degrees Thesis Option

• Complete the mandatory core course ENV 1001H (0.5 FCE).

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

• Write a thesis in the home graduate unit on an environment-related topic.

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

Admission Requirements

• Students who wish to enrol in the CSES 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 graduate 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 are strongly encouraged to submit copies of the documents indicated on the Sc​hool of the Environment's website by the application deadline established by the degree program admission committee in the home department. Applicants should confirm the application deadline with the home department they are interested in applying to, as this can vary between units. The School of the Environment also allows potential students to enrol in the CSES beyond the deadline set by their home department, provided that students will be able to complete the specialization 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 home unit. 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 environmental topic. Please note that requirements in some participating programs vary slightly. Therefore, students are encouraged to check the calendar entries for their respective home graduate unit programs. The CSES requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the Sc​hool of the Environment's website under the Environmental Studies Collaborative Specialization.

• Complete the mandatory core course ENV 1001H (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.

• 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 an environmental topic in the home department. It is recommend that the thesis committee membership will include a supervisor (from the student's home unit who is a member of the core faculty of the Collaborative Specialization and a member of the graduate faculty in the School of the Environment) and at least one other member from a collaborating unit. If the student’s primary thesis supervisor does not hold a graduate faculty membership (GFM) at the School of the Environment, the School’s Director will initiate the process of assigning a GFM to the primary supervisor. 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 unit and/or by the supervisor or supervisory committee, depending on academic and/or career goals of the student, as well as graduate unit 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 CSES by each participating degree program for doctoral students, please visit the School of the Environment's website and click on the home graduate unit or degree program.

The School of the Environment offers individual credit courses that are open to graduate students from all parts of the University, subject to enrolment limits. Except for the core course, ENV 1001H, not all courses are offered every year. Graduate students enrolled in the CSES are also allowed to take electives listed for the School’s Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health (CSEH) to fulfil the specialization requirements. For a current graduate course listing, please refer to the School of the Environment's website​​​.

Core Course

Elective Courses

⁺ Extended course. For academic reasons, coursework is extended into session following academic session in which course is offered.

Elective Joint Courses with the School of the Environment

Other Elective Courses

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

Anthropology

Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry

Chemistry

Computer Science

English

Forestry

Geography and Planning

Global Affairs

History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

Management

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Physics

Political Science

Social Justice Education