It seems like just yesterday that the ESRC welcomed two new cohorts of graduate students to Brock – our ninth group of Master’s students and our first-ever group of PhD students!

Both of these groups have now successfully completed their first years in their respective programs, and we could not be prouder of all they’ve achieved. We thought the best way to celebrate was with final class presentations, a social gathering for students and faculty, and a field trip!

On Friday, March 31st, the SSAS students presented their MRP and Thesis research proposals to their peers. They have been working towards these presentations since September, and all did a wonderful job outlining their research topics.

Back Row L-R: Kassie Burns, Zeal Pandya, Sanjida Amin, Sydney McIntyre, Evan Rodenburg, Erin Isaac, Dr. Jessica Blythe, Natalie Seniuk. Front Row L-R: Anmol Burmy, Zaara Momin.

Back Row L-R: Dr. Todd Green, Sydney McIntyre, Evan Rodenburg, Erin Isaac, Dr. Jessica Blythe, Natalie Seniuk, Dr. Ryan Plummer, Dr. Xavier Fazio. Front Row L-R: Zeal Pandya, Kassie Burns, Sanjida Amin, Anmol Burmy, Zaara Momin, Dr. Marilyne Carrey, Amanda Smits

With their research proposal presentations behind them, our SSAS students were then joined by their peers in the PhD program for a field trip to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) in Welland on April 4th, 2023. Since January, both cohorts have been working closely with Kerry Royer and Natalie Green to develop sustainability assessment frameworks and implementation tools for the NPCA as part of their course work in SSAS 5P03 and SSCI 7P02. The purpose of this field trip was for both groups to present their findings and recommendations to the staff at the NPCA. The presentations were a great success, and we received wonderful feedback from our partners at the NPCA!

We are very proud of these graduate students for all they have achieved this year, and wish them all the best as they head into the Spring and Summer terms to begin co-op placements and research projects!