{"id":26025,"date":"2014-01-27T15:42:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T20:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=26025"},"modified":"2014-01-29T09:15:48","modified_gmt":"2014-01-29T14:15:48","slug":"new-brock-program-tackles-sustainability-and-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2014\/01\/new-brock-program-tackles-sustainability-and-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"New Brock program tackles sustainability and the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tieg<\/a>

Student Tieg Lapointe measures plant water status in a vineyard. There will be more of such activities in Brock's future, with a new master's program in sustainability.<\/p><\/div>\n

A new master’s program at Brock University will prepare graduates for careers that help address our most pressing and complex environmental challenges and opportunities.<\/p>\n

The program, Sustainability Science and Society<\/a>, responds to a growing social need to better understand and positively shape our relationship with the planet’s natural systems.<\/p>\n

Students who successfully complete the program will earn a Master’s of Sustainability (MS), which is available with or without a co-op option. The program is housed within Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC)<\/a>, which researches the environment, sustainability and social-ecological resilience.<\/p>\n

“There are few master’s degrees specifically designed to address contemporary challenges through the transdisciplinary lens of sustainability science,” says Ryan Plummer, director of the ESRC<\/p>\n

“Confronting the complex problems we face going forward requires new perspectives that are transdisciplinary in nature,” he says. “This program will allow for the cross-pollination of ideas among students coming from different backgrounds of study.”<\/p>\n

The new sustainability program also highlights the University’s unique geographical position<\/a> atop the Niagara Escarpment in St. Catharines, Ont.<\/p>\n

“Brock is one of only a few Canadian universities to be located in a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve,” Plummer says. “This privileged location provides us with a unique mandate for sustainability education.”<\/p>\n

The ESRC, located within Brock’s Faculty of Social Sciences<\/a>, is also one the University’s five flagship transdisciplinary hubs<\/a>. As such, it will foster the kinds of environment and sustainability research that go beyond conventional disciplinary boundaries to advance scholarship, inform policy and enhance on-the-ground work.<\/p>\n

“This is a milestone for Brock, as it is the first graduate program to arise from one of our transdisciplinary hubs,” says Neil McCartney, Brock’s Provost and Vice-President, Academic. “The program will help to meet the growing demand for skilled researchers and workers with the kinds of environmental expertise that cut across disciplines like biology, economics, psychology and tourism.”<\/p>\n

With the growing public consciousness of the importance of environmental conservation, studies and careers in the environmental field are on the rise.<\/p>\n

Environmental Careers Organization Canada notes enrolment in university environment-related programs from 2000 to 2007 showed increases of 40.1 per cent compared to a 25.4 per cent increase in all programs.<\/p>\n

“Job vacancies for students studying in sustainability studies, not just environmental or climate related programs, is robust,” says Cindy Dunne, director of co-op programs at Brock. “Our office is contacted frequently by employers seeking students with the kinds of skills and academic foundations offered by this degree.”<\/p>\n

This new program is an important part of Brock’s Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA)<\/a> submission to the provincial government, which aims to enhance innovative and high-quality teaching and learning, establish a culture of research leadership, and engage with communities for transformative change in the Niagara region.<\/p>\n

Addressing environmental challenges as well as realizing emerging opportunities is especially fitting in Niagara. The region is undergoing a transformation from its historical manufacturing base by building a green economy that offers enormous potential.<\/p>\n

Brock’s Sustainability Science and Society graduate program received strong support from community partners. This includes the City of St. Catharines, Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce, and Niagara Region.<\/p>\n

In a letter of support, Marty Mako, chair of the City of St. Catharines’ Sustainability Committee, notes, “I would be proud to recommend a graduate-level program right here in our city geared to developing change agents who can think critically to help build sustainable communities of the future.”<\/p>\n

Brock University’s new Master’s of Sustainability program will accept its first intake of students<\/a> in September with an application deadline of March 1.<\/p>\n

This story has been edited from a previous version in which Tieg Lapointe was incorrectly identified as a master’s student. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new master’s program at Brock University will prepare graduates for careers that help address our most pressing and complex environmental challenges and opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,1],"tags":[296,3330,1559],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26025"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26025"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26031,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26025\/revisions\/26031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}