This course focuses on advanced processes in watershed hydrology for furthering our understanding of complex environmental problems, ranging from the characterization of freshwater resources to contaminant transport in aquatic systems. Course topics will include a quantitative understanding of how water moves on, and below, the earth�s surface, how tracer studies can be coupled with physical measurements to understand complex problems in hydrology and water quality, land use change impacts, and approaches to watershed management. Students will participate in discussions on current and benchmark scientific literature.

Most environments have experienced dramatic shifts in their functions due to anthropogenic pressure. Successful restoration techniques are based upon our knowledge of biogeochemical processes in ecosystems. In this course, the fundamental principles of biogeochemistry will be presented and discussed from a degradation and restoration perspective, and several case studies will be explored. Special focus will be placed on sustainable ecological technologies that aim to mimic natural phenomena, e.g., biomineralization.

This course will focus on biophysical interactions at the advanced level, incorporating specialized concepts on plant-soil relationships, biogeochemical cycles, and ecosystem functioning in managed forests and agriculture. Students will be provided the opportunity to engage with course topics in seminar, field and laboratory format. Sampling and analytical techniques covered are in-situ soil and leaf-level gas exchange analysis, soil sampling, preparation and elemental analysis, and quantification of plant metrics. By the end of this course, students will have an understanding of the complexities and dynamics in managed environments, specifically ecosystem structure and function, soil fluxes including decomposition and mineralization processes, plant growth and nutrition, and production-diversity relationships.

This course introduces students to the regulatory framework for brownfields redevelopment in Ontario. The focus of the course will be building competency in Phase One and Phase Two Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), determining the requirement for remediation or environmental risk assessments, and in the filing of a record of site condition (RSC) according to Ontario Regulation 153/04. Students will be guided in the use of real date from actual GTA locations as case studies.

This course will involve a circular tour of central Ontario that exposes students to key features of the Ontario environment that allow for observation, measurement and sampling opportunities. Locations may vary from year to year but the most likely destinations will be : Manitoulan Island (to illustrate Devonian and Silurian rock formations), Killarney Provincial Park (to demonstrate lake acidification and collect phytoplankton samples), Parry Sound (to demonstrate geophysical mapping of Lake Huron and sampling), Havelock (central metasedimentary belt geology, forest diversity surveys, lake mapping, water quality testing inside and outside of anthropogenic inputs), and Burketon or Pontypool (Geology and hydrology of Oak Ridges Moraine).

This course will introduce and discuss the basic topics and tools of applied climatology, and how its concepts can be used in everyday planning and operations (e.g. in transportation, agriculture, resource management, health and energy). The course involves the study of the application of climatic processes and the reciprocal interaction between climate and human activities. Students will also learn the methods of analyzing and interpreting meteorological and climatological data in a variety of applied contexts. Topics include: Solar Energy; Synoptic Climatology and Meteorology; Climate and Agriculture; Climate and Energy; Climate and Human Comfort; Urban Effects on Climate and Air Pollution.

Jointly offered with EESD31H3

This course offers an advanced introduction to climate data analysis. The goal is to provide an overview of statistical methods used to interpret climate data in the space, time and spectral domains. Statistical techniques such as regression, correlation and spectral analysis of time series will be explored with a focus on hypothesis formulation, application to real-world problems and interpretation of the analysis. Multivariate approaches will also be introduced. Although some previous knowledge of probability and statistics will be helpful, a review will be provided at the beginning of the course. Concepts and notation will be introduced, as needed.
Jointly offered with EESD21H3

The course is designed to introduce the fundamental concepts underlying our current understanding of the climate system. The science of climate includes basic radiation physics and dynamics, which are the basis of modern climate modelling. The changes in the radiation energy budget will be examined in terms of natural variability and anthropogenic activities, in particular, greenhouse gases and their sources and sinks. Underlying physical processes that shape our climate will be explored e.g. solar variability, orbital mechanics, atmospheric and oceanic circulation, and volcanic and atmospheric aerosols. In addition, the types of climate modelling experiments performed with modern climate models and scenarios will be reviewed by focusing on the evidence for past and present climate change. The latest projections of future climate on a variety of temporal and spatial scales will also be presented and evaluated. This course is aimed at connecting the essentials of climate science and modelling, and training students to interpret the results of modelling experiments.

All policy is climate change policy. The challenges and solutions for climate change span across society and the economy, which means that addressing the climate crisis requires transformative change to both eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Global greenhouse gas emissions need to reduce rapidly in the next ten years and reach net zero around mid-century in order to have a chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. At the same time, climate change is exacerbating existing societal vulnerabilities and is having deep impacts across natural and social systems. This course focuses on the governance of the transformation necessary to address this crisis and covers theories behind and practical approaches to the multilevel governance of climate change. The course covers a range of public policy areas related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, including energy supply, energy use and demand, carbon markets and economic tools, food and agriculture, and transportation. In this course, students will learn about dealing with complexity in climate policy-making and the range of actors involved in climate change policy spanning multiple levels of government as well as non-state actors. The primary focus is on policy-making in Canada, but the course also incorporates international policy and global North case studies.

The didactic portion of this course will take a holistic approach to the issue of environmental change and human health. Environmental change and human health issues are often complex and require a holistic approach where the lines between different disciplines (e.g., natural, physical, health, and social sciences) are often obscured. Environmental change, as defined in this course, includes the biophysical and built (social, cultural, political) settings. Human health is broadly defined to include the concept of wellbeing. Case studies will be used to introduce students to topics, such as: toxicants (e.g., �heavy� metals; persistent organic pollutants); toxins (e.g., botulinum); diabetes; infectious diseases (e.g., West Nile Virus), and oral health. Concepts introduced in these case studies � such as, the etiology of disease - will provide the foundation for the hands-on portion of the course. In this part of the course, students will learn how to write a CV (Curriculum Vitae) and complete a Canadian Institutes of Health Research, open operating grant proposal (or similar grant proposal with permission of the instructor). Students will learn about the different elements of a grant proposal required for success, while honing their researching, writing, and presenting skills. Students will also increase their content knowledge about the environmental health issue they have chosen for the grant proposal.

This graduate course will focus on adaptation science and practice at local, provincial, national and international scales. Students will learn about how climate change adaptation is perceived, studied and performed by civil society groups and governments through various theoretical perspectives: resilience theory, neo-liberal theory, and critical theory. Students will also learn about different governance approaches that support adaptation: multi-level, poly-centric, experimental, and anticipatory governance arrangements. Using case studies ranging from local adaptation planning in Canada to the IPCC's contributions to knowledge synthesis, students will gain a better understanding of the social, economic, political and ethical dilemmas at the core of adaptation science and practice. Combined lecture-seminar format.

This course provides an introduction to the use of programming languages R and Python, and their applications in the biological and physical sciences. Students will use their own data to explore R and Python based statistical packages. Students will be trained in the use of Python for data processing and analysis in bioinformatics, climate science and other areas will be detailed.

This course is designed to provide an in-depth understanding of the potential effects, on human health, of exposure to environmental contaminants and the underlying mechanisms of toxicity, with special attention to population groups bearing a disproportionate exposure burden. In this course, students will learn about methods used to investigate the health effects of environmental contaminants, and specific classes of environmental contaminants (sources, pathways of exposure, human health effects, mechanisms of toxicity). To understand the complexity of factors influencing environmental quality and health, students will work with real air quality data collected from various Canadian regions and will assess the interplay between the sociodemographic and built environment and levels of exposure to contaminants.

This course is designed to facilitate student integration into the research process at the very start of M.Sc. Environmental Science studies. The course begins with an intensive workshop co-taught by current M.Sc. Environmental Science supervising faculty, focusing on experimental design, approaches to environmental science research and connection to important research resources. The summer term course continues with the integration of the student into their thesis supervisor’s research group for the collection of data toward addressing a research question. Student success in summer research is supported through a direct supervisor-student research mentorship.

This course introduces major theories, concepts, methods, and intellectual and creative traditions within environmental science research. There is a particular focus in this course on the critical evaluation of existing knowledge, oral and written communication skills, teamwork, and the ethical and professional responsibilities of environmental scientists.

This course will cover environmental legislation at all levels of government that determines the way in which the Canadian Environment is managed. Students will be taught the values, assumptions and guiding principles which underlie environmental legislation and will cover the basic regulatory policies governing the environment, particularly as they relate to contaminants in the environment.

This course is a broad introduction to applied risk assessment for environmental professionals. Course material will cover Human Health Risk Assessment and Ecological Risk Assessment including conceptual models, risk characterization, uncertainty analysis, and risk perception and communication. Through specific examples, students will understand how to apply the theoretical concepts to conduct "quantitative" and "semi-quantitative" risk assessments as required under provincial regulations, and to communicate the results to a variety of stakeholders, including managers, regulators and the general public.

This course is designed for new DPES PhD students to develop core Graduate level competencies for the successful navigation of their doctoral work. These competencies include oral and written communication, project management, an understanding of ethics in research, scholarship and teaching, professional development, and research methods. Students will learn from core Graduate faculty and gain exposure to the breadth of research and career paths in environmental science. In the winter semester of this fall/winter course, students will be expected to contribute a draft PhD proposal document for their own topic of interest and present a mock PhD proposal to the class. The class will meet bi-weekly throughout the fall and winter. The course is restricted to those students enrolled in the PhD in Environmental Science program.

In this course, students work with a specific faculty member to review the literature in a specific area of study that may be directly or indirectly to their thesis topic. It is of particular value for students who lack expertise in an area that is critical to an interdisciplinary study. Evaluation is based on written literature reviews.

Canada has a complex conservation landscape. Through lectures and interactive discussions with leading Canadian conservation practitioners, this course will examine how conservation theory is put into practice in Canada from our international obligations to federal and provincial legislation and policies, and the role of environmental non-government organizations. The course will emphasize how conservation theory is put into practice in Canada, from its international obligation (Convention on Biological Diversity) to its federal legislation (Species at Risk Act) and policies (Canadian Biodiversity Strategy) to provincial legislation and policies, and the role of environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs). The course will link conservation science theory to policy in Canada through lectures and interactive panel discussions with leading Canadian conservation practitioners. The course will provide the students with an in-depth understanding of the role of science in Canadian conservation policy and the roles of conservation practitioners in government agencies and ENGOs and will better prepare students to engage in the Canadian conservation landscape.

Conservation professionals often act as the interface between basic science and policy or management decisions. Thus students require a fundamental basic scientific literacy. The main topics covered in this course include: 1) writing for scientific, policy and general audiences; 2) reading and interpreting basic statistics; 3) writing sound funding proposals for different types of funders, including government agencies, NGOs and industry; and, 4) designing data collection for different purposes, including hypothesis testing, baseline monitoring, and impact assessments. The course will help students learn basic tenants of scientific literacy. The main topics covered in this course include: 1) writing for scientific, policy and general audiences; 2) reading and interpreting basic statistics; 3) writing sound funding proposals for different types of funders, including government agencies, NGOs and industry; and, 4) designing data collection for different purposes, including hypothesis testing, baseline monitoring, and impact assessments.

Through lectures, this course will examine the legislation, regulations, and policies that form the foundation for the conservation of biodiversity in Canada including our international obligations and federal and provincial legislation and policies. To become professional conservation practitioners, students must understand the legislation, regulations, and policies that form the foundation for the conservation of biodiversity in Canada. The course will provide an in-depth examination of conservation policy in Canada from its international obligation (Convention on Biological Diversity) to its federal legislation (Species at Risk Act) and policies (Canadian Biodiversity Strategy) to provincial legislation and policies.

Taxonomic skills are in increasing demand among the Canadian conservation community. This course will provide students with in-depth taxonomic training. The course will include lecture, lab, and field components taught by taxonomic experts and will be held over 37.5h during the last week of April. Students will be required to choose training for one taxonomic group. Students will be responsible for fully attending all components of the course, complete in-class exercises.

Conservation genetics is a rapidly developing field, due to rapid advances in genomic technologies. Through lectures, discussions and examinations of case studies, this course will explore how genetics data and analyses contribute to the conservation of biodiversity.

The field of ecology is rapidly changing and this course will cover recent advances, concepts or controversies in ecology. This course will focus on specific scientific issues using current literature and the learning experience will be augmented by student presentations and discussions. The course will help ensure that students become familiar with current understanding and basic ecological concepts. This will be an elective course, and will be especially attractive to those students who did not take advanced ecology courses during their undergraduate studies. This "Topics" course is meant to be a flexible offering that focuses on recent advances, concepts or controversies in ecology.

Nowhere is the human impact on natural systems more apparent than in urban and rural (human-impacted landscapes outside of cities) settings. Students embarking on a career in conservation need to understand how biodiversity is impacted in human-dominated systems, and how various management options can help enhance biodiversity and ecosystem function. Students will use current literature to apply current theories to the ecology of urban and rural ecosystems. The course will introduce to important ecological and conservation issues in human-dominated landscapes. This will be an elective course in the MEnvSc program, and will be especially attractive to those students who wish to pursue careers in urban conservation. This �Topics� course is meant to be a flexible offering that focuses on the processes and management options in urban and rural systems.

This course consists of a work term (minimum of 2 consecutive months/8 consecutive weeks) at a location approved by the Graduate Chair and/or Program Directors. Students will be responsible for securing their own internships although the MEnvSc. Internship Coordinators are aggressive in seeking out opportunities in industry, government and non-governmental organizations. Internships will be evaluated through reports and/or poster presentations. The course is restricted to UTSC students in one of the approved Combined Degree Program options with the MEnvSc.

In this course students will design, implement and present a research project involving a literature review, laboratory or fieldwork. Students are required to obtain the permission of a faculty member who will supervise the project (existing faculty allow a broad range of research topics). The Graduate Chair and the supervising faculty member must approve a detailed project proposal outlining the objectives and scope of the project. The research will be written up in a research journal format and will be evaluated by a small committee. The course is restricted to UTSC students in one of the approved Combined Degree Program options with the MEnvSc.

The course is organized around the three pillars of the Harney Collaborative Specialization: ethnicity (and other predicates of groupness), immigration, and pluralism. Academic and political debates around each of these topics are marked by antinomies: Are ethnicity, race, and nationhood substantive categories, deeply rooted in culture, or are they constructed either through the choices of individuals or the machinations of interest-seeking elites? Is immigration a specific mode of human migration, premised on the organization of the world into a system of nation-states, or one of many kinds of human mobility that should not be privileged? Is the quest for pluralism a step toward greater justice, especially for historically oppressed groups, or a ruse meant to reinforce already existing differentials in power? The course is divided into three parts, each addressing these and related questions. Part I explores ethnicity, gender/sexuality, race, and nationhood; Part II focuses on immigration/mobility and citizenship in the industrialized democracies and Global South; Part III turns to debates around pluralism, including arguments for and against multiculturalism.

An introduction for reading knowledge to the oldest literary form of English, with discussion of readings drawn from the surviving prose and verse literature.