Offered through the interdisciplinaryÌýBieler School of Environment, this major brings together a broad range of perspectives, ideas, and expertise to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing our world.
This major will prepare you to address complex and uncertain problems through systems thinking, and to propel change and inform policy through effective communication.
Most of your lectures and labs will take place on ¿´Æ¬ÊÓƵ University'sÌýMacdonald Campus. You can also explore courses and other opportunities on the Downtown Campus. Many Environment students pursue field courses and research activities locally and around the world, including field study semesters in Panama, Barbados, and Africa.
Your courses
The Bachelor of Science (Agricultural and Environmental Sciences) - Major in Environment will introduce you to interdisciplinary approaches to viewing and understanding our social and natural ecosystems in all their complexity.
At the core of your program will be 18 credits of courses on global change, sustainability science, environmental ethics, and environmental research design and a 3-credit research project. You will also choose a concentration, consisting of 39–42 credits of complementary courses.
Concentrations
In this major, you’ll choose a concentration. You could focus on:
Biodiversity and Conservation
The academic study of biological diversity linked with the applied field of conservation biology.
Ecological Determinants of Health
The relationship between the environment and well-being, with particular focus on how food and infectious agents connect human health and the environment.
Choose from two streams of study: cellular, which explores these interactions at a physiological level, or population, which focuses on an ecosystem level.
Environmetrics
Using statistical methods of data analysis to study environmental changes and their impacts on humans and ecosystems.
Food Production and Environment
Providing food to meet humanity's needs while minimizing environmental damage.
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Land Surface Processes and Environmental Change
The complex processes on the earth's surface that determine an ecosystem's biological productivity and response to environmental changes.
Renewable Resource Management
Managing ecosystem structures and processes to sustain the delivery of food, clean water and air, essential nutrients, and the provision of beauty and inspiration.
Water Environments and Ecosystems
Earth's water environments, from rivers to the oceans to the atmosphere.
Choose from two streams of study: biological, which explores the mechanisms regulating life forms in water bodies, or physical, which focuses on the transport and transformation mechanisms of water.
Career paths
This program provides broad training which can lead to a variety of careers. You’ll be prepared to tackle pressing environmental issues from many angles. Some examples:
- Advising in corporate, social, and environmental responsibility
- Environmental assessment
- Environmental communication
- Environmental or climate science
- Environmental policy development
- Green innovation and entrepreneurship
- Public health
- Sustainable development
Internships & research
As you progress in your program, you can gain valuable hands-on experience by completing a field course or internship. You can also gain research experience with a professor over the summer, through independent study, and through the Honours program. Our students have been:
- Interning on agroforestry projects in Ecuador
- Working with Parks Canada and the City of Montreal
- Assisting with research on a Quebec beaver census
- Educating the public as local Environment Awareness Agents