With the School of Environmental Studies, you'll study relevant, real-world issues
For my ENSC 430 (Honours Project) I am assessing the Natural Heritage/Conservation type planning in the Ontario Algonquin to Adirondack (A2A) region from a landscape scale perspective. The research my group and I conduct will be included in the project that people from the A2A region are actually working on now. This isn’t just a credit, we will have a major impact on a project that is vital for the conservation of the natural heritage areas in Ontario.
– PJ Garret
I am collaborating with a team to identify adaptation and mitigation strategies/programs in the Frontenac Arch Biosphere (FAB). Our research will help the FAB Board of Directors write a 10-yearreview to the United Nations. I am also writing an Ecotoxicological Environmental Assessment and a New Development Environmental Assessment. These projects require a lot of group work and commitment, but it gives me experience as to how to write and compile different types of reports.
– Jennifer Jang
I think that it is something that is really unique about our department- the fact that our program is so current with the issues our society is facing and that members of the department can unify over trying to find solutions to the problems.
– Makenzie MacKay
...through interdisciplinary, experiential learning and training
The School of Environmental Studies allowed me to pursue my dream of working on environmental issues the world is facing today as well as specializing my degree in a subject I love: chemistry. The School of Environmental Studies program can tailor your degree to you interests, and gives you many different options.
– PJ Garret
I have to traveled to locations such as the Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS) for different field trips. Visualizing the active lecture material in the field has always been my favorite part of the program. It's just awesome to be able to take your classroom knowledge and watch it come to life in the real world!
– Sam Patterson
...in a supportive, collegial, and professional environment
Professors are always excited when students visit them in office hours and they want to help us succeed academically and in our future career endeavors.
– Makenzie MacKay
My undergraduate thesis under Dr. Brian Cumming in the PEARL lab was one of my more formative experiences. I had the opportunity to complete a quantitative research project in its entirety: from pulling sediment cores from lakes, to analyzing the results, to writing up the results, and (I think) even contributing to a larger paper (several years after I left PEARL.... I could be wrong about this). It was amazing to have the opportunity to work closely with a great professor and get a taste of academic lab life. It taught me what components of research I enjoyed, and equally valuably, what components I did not.
– Colin Robinson
The courses I’ve taken and the professors I’ve connected with have inspired me to pursue a career in the environmental field. The discussions I have been able to have with classmates and professors have enabled me to develop a well-rounded perspective of environmental issues. I also believe it has given me the confidence to express myself around industry professionals.
– Em Goldney
...and go on to do exciting things.
Prior to moving to South America, I worked (August 2014-December 2015) for Castlemain, which provides indigenous clients a variety of management consulting services, specializing in sustainable development and negotiations/relations with government and industry, mostly in Western Canada. I continue to do a little consulting work for them. I'm also contributing to a Canadian magazine called Verge, and publishing a lot for my own small writing project, Tread Slowly. Before starting the southward journey, I worked for 8 months (Jan-August 2016) with a social enterprise startup called EqwipHUBS, which operates a social entrepreneurship incubator for low-income youth in the peripheral neighborhoods in Lima, Peru. It was during this time that I learned Spanish and hatched the plot for the South American overland journey. While in Lima, I also worked part time for the Peruvian chapter of an international trade association called the Business Association for Secure Commerce.
– Colin Robinson
I am currently back at Queen's in my first year of a Masters in Urban Planning. I spent the previous 6 months working for Global Affairs Canada doing coastal resource management work in the Philippines, and prior to that worked in the City of Ottawa's Environmental Policy and Programs department.
– Em Goldney