University of Victoria
AC-4: Graduate Program

The School of Environmental Studies has three interdisciplinary focus areas in ecological restoration, ethnoecology and political ecology, and embraces a full range of learning opportunities spanning natural and social sciences, humanities and traditional ecological knowledge. Programs are research based and therefore all students are supervised by a faculty member along with an advisory committee. Admission is tied directly to a faculty member who agrees to work with the student and act as the major adviser.

Environmental Studies graduate students have access to a wide variety of research facilities across campus. In addition to the institution's modern Ethnoecology, Restoration and Conservation Ecology, and Visualization labs, UVic’s location on southern Vancouver Island provides easy access to marine and alpine ecosystems, freshwater wetlands, rivers, lakes and the temperate rainforest. There is also opportunity for collaboration with many First Nations, government agencies, environmental and other non-governmental organizations and corporations.

The Geography graduate degree program emphasizes the integrated nature of geography and allows students to pursue Master's (MA and MSc), and PhD degrees that are highly tailored to their research interests.

At UVic, the diverse research opportunities provide great connections with local and international research partners. The Geography department has research strengths in coastal systems, human geography, physical geography, resource management and geographic information sciences.

UVic's location on southern Vancouver Island provides easy access to marine and alpine ecosystems, freshwater wetlands, rivers, lakes and the temperate rainforest. Many of our graduate students are also involved in international projects with research opportunities around the world. There is also opportunity for collaboration with many First Nations, government agencies, environmental and other non-governmental organizations and corporations.

The School of Environmental Studies creates UVic's major sustainability programs. It offers interdisciplinary programs, with courses that examine systemic aspects of environmental issues and explore solutions that cut across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. We also recognize that many aspects of local, national and international environmental problems are inextricably connected to our dominant cultural values, and attendant political, social, economic and educational institutions. The graduate programs offered are research based and require the completion of an independent research project to graduate.

UVic offers 13 sustainability focused graduate-level major degree programs and 21 sustainability related graduate-level major degree programs. Sustainability focused graduate-level courses were determined if over 50% of that departments courses offered were identified as sustainability focused courses based on our definition of a sustainability focused course. These sustainability focused graduate programs can all also be taken as a minor or concentration within a student’s degree program.

List of sustainability-focused graduate degree programs and minors (alphabetical order):

1. Ageing
2. Civil Engineering
3. Community Development
4. Environmental Restoration
5. Environmental Studies
6. Forest Biology
7. Geography
8. Commerce
9. Indigenous Governance
10. Indigenous Health Studies
11. Public Administration Dispute Resolution
12. Public Health and Social Policy
13. International Summer Institute for Business Management (ISIBM)