The School of the Environment offers a variety of environmental programs, some in collaboration with participating departments, that emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of achieving understanding of environmental issues and problems from scientific, political, social, and ethical perspectives. Our programs prepare students for a wide range of graduate school and career opportunities, and facilitate students making a difference in their work and in their lives.

The School of the Environment offers programs leading to both Hon. BA and Hon. BSc degrees.

• School of the Environment
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Admission Information

• Arts Programs
• Apply to the Social Sciences admission category on the St. George campus
• Six Grade 12 U or M courses, including English are required
• Calculus and Vectors is required for the Environmental Economics program
  
• Students outside of Ontario should have the equivalent senior high school credits
• Science Programs
• Apply to the Life Sciences admission category on the St. George campus
• Six Grade 12 U or M courses, including English and Calculus and Vectors are required
• Senior high school credits in Biology and Chemistry are required or recommended for first-year courses
• Senior high school Physics is required or recommended preparation

Honours Bachelor Arts Programs

• Environmental Studies (major and minor options)
• Environmental Ethics (major and minor options)
• Environmental Geography (minor)
• Environmental Anthropology (minor)
• Environmental Economics (minor)
• Geographic Information Systems (minor)

Honours Bachelor of Science Programs

• Environmental Chemistry (specialist and minor options)
• Environmental Geosciences (specialist, major, minor options)
• Environment and Health (specialist and major options)
• Environment and Toxicology (specialist)
• Environmental Science (major)
  
• Environment and Behaviour (minor)
• Environment and Energy (minor)
• Environment and Science (minor)
• Environmental Biology (minor)
• Physics: Life and Environmental (minor)
• Physical and Environmental Geography (minor)

First-Year Courses

The School does not offer any science courses at the first year level but does offer ENV 100H1 – Introduction to Environmental Studies, a social science course. The foundation courses for the School's programs are ENV 221H1 - Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Environment and ENV 222H1 – Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, both offered at the second-year level.

Advice for First Year

If you are interested in taking a BA environmental program, there are no required first year courses, but ENV 100H1 and ENV 200H1 -- Assessing Global Change: Science and the Environment, are recommended preparation. The latter also counts as a breadth course, and can be taken by first year students. If you are interested in taking a BSc environmental program, you will need to take the first year science course or courses required. The first year science course requirements vary from program to program.

Careers

Finding solutions to the pervasive and accelerating deterioration of our environment will require innovative, interdisciplinary approaches.  The job market requires professionals who can combine discipline-based knowledge and skills with a broader understanding of complex environmental issues.  We see already that existing careers are adapting to reflect an increased ecological awareness: corporate accountants now have to consider the full costs and equitable allocation of fiscal responsibility for environmental exploitation; environmental law is one of the fastest growing subsets of the legal profession, with practitioners advocating for policy changes in all levels of government; and increasing corporate responsibility and tighter government auditing requires environmental assessors to address the local, global and future implications of industrial projects.  Success in these and other careers will require professionals with the educational background and critical faculties to negotiate the emerging 'green' economy.

Direct career options include:

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