Environmental Studies

​​​Lead Faculty​

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
​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 Environmental Studies (ES) Collaborative Specialization, which is offered through the School of the Environment. Graduate students admitted to a participating graduate degree program in the respective degree-granting unit, also called the "home department or home unit," can apply to the Collaborative Specialization 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 Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies provides students who have an interest in the environment with interdisciplinary learning that complements the discipline-based focus of their home units. One of the compelling strengths of the specialization is the interdisciplinary environment in which teaching and research are conducted. For example, the core course ENV 1001H typically has students from 10 to 20 academic disciplines and, accordingly, places an emphasis upon the challenges and rewards of interdisciplinary communication. Students are both able to specialize in an area of environmental research and gain exposure to a wide range of intellectual and methodological disciplines focused on environmental issues.

Upon successful completion of the degree requirements of the participating home graduate unit and the Collaborative Specialization, students receive the notation “Completed Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies” on their transcript and an official parchment from the School of Graduate Studies.

Contact and Address

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

Environmental Studies Collaborative Specialization
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 Environmental Studies (ES) Collaborative Specialization 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 graduate unit can be found on the School of Graduate Studies website and on the respective degree-granting unit's website.

• Prospective students who are planning to enrol in the ES Collaborative Specialization are strongly encouraged to submit copies of the documents indicated on the Sc​hool of the Environment website by the application deadline established by the degree program admission committee in the respective home department. Applicants should contact the home department to which they intend to apply in order to confirm its application deadline. The School of the Environment also allows potential students to enrol in its ES Collaborative Specialization beyond the deadline set by their home department, provided that students will be able to complete the ES Collaborative 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 master's 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 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 vary slightly. 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 Collaborative Specialization requirements, unless they have an internship component built into their degree program. Specific Collaborative Specialization requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the Sc​hool of the Environment 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 ES Collaborative Specialization 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 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 ES Collaborative Specialization 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 Environmental Studies (ES) Collaborative Specialization 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 and on the respective degree-granting unit's website.

• Prospective students are strongly encouraged to submit copies of the documents indicated on the Sc​hool of the Environment website by the application deadline established by the degree program admission committee in the respective home department. Applicants should contact the home department to which they intend to apply in order to confirm its application deadline. The School of the Environment also allows potential students to enrol in its ES Collaborative Specialization beyond the deadline set by their home department, provided that students will be able to complete the ES Collaborative 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 respective 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 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. Specific Collaborative Specialization requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the Sc​hool of the Environment 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.

• Present a seminar on thesis research, either in the School of the Environment's Environment Seminar Series or at the School of the Environment Research Day.

• 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. 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 ES Collaborative Specialization requirements by each participating degree program for doctoral students, please visit the School of the Environment 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. With the exception of the core course, not all courses are offered every year. Graduate students enrolled in the Environmental Studies Collaborative Specialization are also allowed to take Environment and Health Collaborative Specialization elective courses toward completing their Environmental Studies requirements. For a current graduate course listing, please refer to the School of the Environment 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

Forestry

Geography and Planning

Global Affairs

Information

Management

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Physics

Political Science

Social Justice Education