Students interested in sustainability science careers have a flexible new study option in Brock’s Master of Sustainability program.

Starting next fall, students in the Sustainability Science and Society graduate program will be able to choose a new 12-month, course-based pathway to a Master of Sustainability degree.

The new option, which complements existing major research project (MRP) with co-op and thesis streams in the same program, grew out of extensive consultation with students, alumni and professionals working in the sustainability field about how best to build capacity in the growing sector.

“This new program option comes out of a combination of student demand and our desire to keep evolving and maintaining our programs’ relevance,” says Julia Baird, Director of the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC). “We surveyed current, former and potential students and heard that they want professional skills — many already have jobs but want to keep developing their knowledge and skills. It can be challenging to work and complete a research project at the same time, and this course-based pathway provides another option.”

To create a robust course-based option, Graduate Program Director Garrett Hutson says that every graduate course offering related to sustainability across Brock University was reviewed. Then, through an iterative process of collaboration with other graduate program directors, the program assembled a broadly transdisciplinary course bank to offer Sustainability Science and Society students an array of courses with various topics and lenses.

“Sustainability science and the way it’s approached and learned is expansive, and this new program option represents that,” says Hutson. “The MRP and thesis options are wonderful, traditional ways to complete a master’s degree, but more and more across the university landscape, we see more creative, open-ended ways to navigate graduate school, especially for students who already know what they want and who can now sculpt the program to serve their specific needs.”

Hutson says the creation of the course bank also reflects Brock’s interest in sustainability as an institutional priority, with programs ranging from Public Health to Education to Social Justice and Equity Studies — and many others — co-operating to support career-minded professionals in the field.

The newly broadened course bank also benefits research-focused students, who will now have more choice in the topics they explore through elective course work as well as an increased range of experiential learning opportunities.

“It’s one thing to talk about water governance, but it’s another to see something like a wastewater treatment plant in action and to understand the realities of what they’re dealing with day-to-day, how climate change is affecting their operations or what their constraints and opportunities are,” says Baird, who will remount a course on water governance next year as part of the enlarged course bank. “I bring that practical, real-world element into what I’m teaching as much as I can.”

These on-the-ground learning opportunities can have a big impact. Bridget Matthews, a current student in the MRP and co-op stream, says that courses have been an important site of learning and context for her.

“The courses have been the most beneficial aspect of this program for me, in that they promote discussions in a variety of sustainability topics and have also opened doors to networking and collaborating with sustainability professionals,” she says. “These experiences have improved my ability to articulate ideas about sustainability problems and provided me with valuable insights into what working in sustainability looks like.”

Applications for all streams of the Sustainability Science and Society program for 2025 are now open. For more information about the program, please contact the ESRC.