School Notes
Subject Code for Environmental Science: ENSC
World Wide Web Address: http://www.queensu.ca/ensc/
Director: Ryan Danby
School Administrator: Colin Khan
School Office: BioSciences Complex, Room 3134
School Telephone: 613-533-6602
School E-Mail Address: envst@queensu.ca
Chair of Undergraduate Studies: Kristen Lowitt (Fall), Stephen Brown (Winter)
Undergraduate Assistant: Tammy Wintle
Chair of Graduate Studies: Allison Goebel
Graduate Assistant: Colin Khan
Overview
In the School of Environmental Studies, you will acquire an appreciation of the scope and complexity of environmental systems, the ability to deal with the socio-economic dimensions of an issue, and the fundamental knowledge to adapt to changes in the future. Students will study environmental systems from both the perspective of the natural and physical sciences, while recognizing the human and cultural dimensions of the issues.
Advice to Students
Counsellors
Department | Counsellor |
---|---|
Environmental Studies | R. Stephen Brown (stephen.brown@chem.queensu.ca) - Biosciences Complex, Room 3130 |
Biology | R. Stephen Brown (stephen.brown@chem.queensu.ca) - Biosciences Complex, Room 3130 |
Chemistry | R. Stephen Brown (stephen.brown@chem.queensu.ca) - Biosciences Complex, Room 3130 |
Geography and Planning | Ryan Danby (ryan.danby@queensu.ca) - Biosciences Complex, Room 3244 |
Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering | David McLagan (david.mclagan@queensu.ca) - Biosciences Complex, Room 3230 |
Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (Life Sciences) | Louise Winn (winnl@queensu.ca) - Biosciences Complex, Room 3127 |
Environmental Studies Plans
The School of Environmental Studies offers Plans in both the Arts and Sciences. The following outlines describe each Plan:
Major (Arts) Plan in Environmental Studies
This Plan will prepare arts students to engage in and address environmental issues that are pressing and complex, require scientific expertise, socio-political understanding, the linking of global and local processes, and individual and institutional responsibility.
General (Arts)/Minor (Arts) Plan in Environmental Studies
This Plan provides an introduction and overview of environmental studies.
Joint Honours (Arts) Plan in Environmental Studies
This Plan provides disciplinary strength in the humanities and social science plus interdisciplinary environmental courses on the science side. Students will acquire a basic science background, an understanding of the complexity of environmental issues and their solutions.
Major (Science) Plan in Environmental Science
This Plan provides a multidisciplinary view of environmental science with an emphasis on sustainability, and ecosystem and human health. The Plan includes core courses in science, integrative courses in science and social science, and environmental courses in the humanities.
Specialization (Science) Plans
These Plans provide a multidisciplinary view of environmental science as well as in-depth study in one of six science subjects: Earth System Science, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Life Sciences, or Toxicology. A strong link is made to environmental studies, stressing human responses to environmental issues and to questions of environmental policy and management.
Faculty
For more information, please visit: https://www.queensu.ca/ensc/people/faculty-and-staff
- R. Stephen Brown
- Dongmei Chen
- Diana Cordoba
- Brian Cumming
- Ryan Danby
- Marc Epprecht
- Vicki Friesen
- Allison Goebel
- Geof Hall
- Myra Hird
- Peter Hodson
- Heather Jamieson
- Jorge Legoas
- Stephen Lougheed
- Kristen Lowitt
- Warren Mabee
- David A. McDonald
- David McLagan
- Steven Moore
- Diane Orihel
- Christian Seiler
- Sergio Sismondo
- Mick Smith
- John P. Smol
- Marcus Taylor
- Kyla Tienhaara
- Gary van Loon
- Nicholas Vlachopoulos
- Molly Wallace
- Yuxiang Wang
- Graham Whitelaw
- Louise Winn
- Barbara Zeeb
- Frank Zeman
Specializations
- Earth System Science – Specialization (Science) – Bachelor of Science (Honours)
- Environmental Biology – Specialization (Science) – Bachelor of Science (Honours)
- Environmental Chemistry – Specialization (Science) – Bachelor of Science (Honours)
- Environmental Geology – Specialization (Science) – Bachelor of Science (Honours)
- Environmental Life Sciences – Specialization (Science) – Bachelor of Science (Honours)
- Environmental Toxicology – Specialization (Science) – Bachelor of Science (Honours)
Majors
Joint Honours
General/Minor
Courses
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Adopt and make accurate use of disciplinary language to communicate on environmental issues with a variety of audiences.
- Apply concepts and practices of ecological citizenship.
- Competently explain key terms for course (e.g. Sustainability, Indigeneity, etc.)
- Critique constructively the dominance of individualism and voluntary action as core social beliefs in mainstream society.
- Evaluate the impact of the intersection of scientific and social aspects of a variety of environmental issues.
- Explore personally the possibilities and/or limitations of individual actions in relation to sustainability.
- Identify and explain the contested aspects of environmental knowledge (e.g. Around climate change, scientific uncertainty, etc.).
- Identify relative importance and verifiability of scientific and social aspects of environmental issues.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Informed understandings of the complex interactions between societies and their environments.
- Understand and be able to critically reflect upon the relationship between ongoing settler colonialism and consumption in Canada.
- Enhanced critical thinking and effective communication skills.
- Enhanced research and writing abilities.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Interpret and analyze basic toxicological data.
- Communicate environmental toxicology concepts in oral and written formats.
- Explain and define key environmental toxicology terms (e.g. toxicant, endpoint, LD50).
- Explain the interactions of hazard, exposure, receptors, and risk for various pollutants, using examples.
- Independently research and present the key toxicology and risk aspects of an environmental issue.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Critique approaches to sustainability in terms of claims, feasibility, and expected outcomes.
- Describe core concepts and theory related to sustainability.
- Link the concepts of planetary boundaries, resilience, and global governance to sustainability solutions.
- Understand the impact of messaging and communications in defining and advancing sustainability.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Understand and be able to communicate through writing how consumption is a Canadian and global social justice issue, involving inclusion, diversity, equity and Indigenous sovereignty issues.
- Critically assess the role and importance of the relations between material and social processes.
- Critical assessments of the ways in which differing theoretical and methodological approaches might be deployed to understand consumption as social justice issues, involving environmental, social, political, economic, and cultural interactions.
- Demonstrate critical thinking and effective communication skills, including through written assignments, addressing the multidisciplinary topic of consumption.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Develop the skills necessary to start at an entry level environmental assessment job with the government, private sector, or NGO sectors.
- Grasp main environmental assessment concepts - scoping, alternatives, significance, trade-offs, harmonization, public consultation.
- Identify valued ecosystem components (VECs) and know how these are used to scope environmental assessment processes.
- Recommend specific environmental assessment impact studies for a specific case.
- Understand design of environmental assessment processes.
- Understand the main types and steps of environmental assessment.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Appreciate that environmental governance is multilevel (i.e., occurs at local, regional, national, and global levels) and that interactions between these levels can be complex and contentious.
- Have some of the skills required to advocate effectively for better environmental policy.
- Recognize how other areas of policy (e.g., trade policy) can conflict with environmental policy and hinder progress on environmental objectives, and that the mainstreaming of environmental values/principles across government is critical.
- Understand how different actors influence the development of environmental policies.
- Understand the competing perspectives on the best way to approach environmental policy.
NOTE Field Trip: estimated cost $30.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Engage and apply interdisciplinary perspectives to the study of food systems.
- Critically interrogate the state of food systems and reflect on their own relationships with food.
- Understand key issues and trends in the food system in the local area, including opportunities for community engagement.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Apply basic theories of wildlife conservation science to "real-world" examples through the presentation and interactive analysis of case studies.
- Explore past and current issues in wildlife use, management, and conservation at both species and ecosystem levels.
- Explore the concept of wildlife as well the ecological foundations of, and societal basis for, its conservation.
- Foster independent learning and critical thinking.
- Identify current threats to wildlife at local, regional, national, and international scales.
- Survey relevant institutional arrangements, including species-based regulations and legislation and habitat protection.
- Understand how your own philosophy and perspectives on wildlife issues relate to the wide diversity of perspectives in this area.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Apply concepts of environmental justice to specific environmental issues.
- Appreciate the contributions of global political economy, global development studies, and social science theories of environmental justice.
- Foreground global and local inequalities as they shape production and outcomes of environmental problems.
- Identify gaps in environmental justice approaches.
- Identify impacts of social equality and conflicts of power in environmental
- undefined
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Be able to work effectively and collegially in an interdisciplinary team.
- Evaluate sustainability initiatives through application of indicators and monitoring.
- Link the main concepts of sustainability (integration, equity, efficiency, precaution, scale, etc.) to a practical proposal dealing with a current topic.
- Understand and be able to apply leading edge concepts and theory related to sustainability to research and practice.
- Understand the role (potential role) of government, private sector and civil society in advancing sustainability.
NOTE Field Trip: estimated cost $30.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Describe water resources and identify main watersheds processes.
- Identify challenges and opportunities related to water resources around the world.
- Interpret the movement of water within a watershed and the implications for water quality, quantity, and human health.
- Apply geospatial analysis and advanced visualization techniques to better evaluate water resources.
NOTE Field Trip (Local Harbour or Marina): estimated cost $30.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Appreciate the history of chemical contamination in Kingston, Ontario.
- Compare effects of pollutants at different levels of biological organization.
- Describe the major classes of pollutants and their fate in the environment.
- Search, synthesize, critique, and discuss scientific papers.
- Solve problems and draw conclusions from ecotoxicological data.
NOTE Field Trip (Biosphere Reserve): estimated cost $30.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Write literature reviews and project proposals.
- Apply their knowledge of environmental studies to real-world issues.
- Communicate their knowledge and ideas to different audiences and stakeholders.
- Work effectively and collegially in an interdisciplinary team.
NOTE Field Trip: estimated cost $30.
Course Learning Outcomes:
- Understand and be able to communicate through writing and oral presentation how waste is a Canadian and global social justice issue, involving inclusion, diversity, equity and Indigenous sovereignty issues.
- Critically assess the role and importance of the relations between material and social processes using the three central concepts of Social Justice, Upstream-downstream, and Inverted Quarantine.
- Critically assess differing theoretical and methodological approaches that might be deployed to understand the role of waste in social justice issues involving environmental, social, political, economic, and cultural interactions, and critically examine proposed solutions.
- Apply enhanced research methods and independent critical thinking to the multidisciplinary topic of waste.
- Apply effective communication skills through oral presentation and writing abilities directed to an audience of diverse stakeholders.
NOTE Field Trip (Local Farm or Nature Reserve): estimated cost $30.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.
NOTE Field Trip (Local Waste Treatment Facility): estimated cost $30.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.
NOTE This course is intended for a self-motivated student with an established record of undergraduate performance, i.e. cumulative GPA of approximately 3.0. It is the responsibility of the student to secure a supervisor prior to registering in the course.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.