University of Waterloo Faculty of Environment

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Faculty of Environment
Established 1969 (1969)
Type Faculty
Academic affiliation University of Waterloo
Location Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Dean Jean Andrey [1]
Website uwaterloo.ca/environment

The Faculty of Environment is one of six faculties at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

The faculty was established in 1969. During its 40th anniversary at the start of the Fall 2008 term, its name was changed from Faculty of Environmental Studies to the current name, Faculty of Environment. The reason for the name change was because the faculty does more than just study the environment, and works towards "Smart, Green, Solutions", and that its professors and students are engaged in hands-on research projects across Canada and internationally. With the name change, the buildings formerly known as ES1 and ES2 have been renamed EV1 and EV2. Recently completed is a third building, appropriately named EV3. EV3 consists largely of the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) and the School of Planning, as well as a lecture hall.[2] The newly constructed building is targeting LEED Platinum status.[3] In order to obtain this goal there are many green features. From a two-story high living wall to a constructed wetland that deals with wastewater to solar panels and energy efficient technology,[4] Environment 3 was built with sustainability in mind.

There was some student resistance with this name change, which came in the form of disagreements whether there should be a "the" in the new name, and problems with the commonly used 'ES' abbreviation throughout the Faculty. This was rectified by changing the meaning of 'ES' from 'Environmental Studies' to 'Environment Students'. The new abbreviation for the faculty is ENV or EV.

Programs

The faculty has grown significantly since its establishment, having become one of Canada’s largest centres for environmental research and teaching.[5] The Faculty offers undergraduate and graduate programs in:

  • Environment and Business
  • Environment and Resource Studies
  • Geography and Environmental Management
  • Geography and Aviation
  • Geomatics
  • International Development
  • Knowledge Integration
  • Urban planning
  • Local Economic Development
  • Tourism Policy and Planning

Currently matriculating 1,100 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students, and 50 faculty members, the Faculty is growing in both undergraduate and graduate enrollment[citation needed].

Co-op education, whereby students alternate 4 months in school with 4 month paid work terms in jobs relating to their program, is a major feature of the Faculty. Co-op students can graduate with nearly 2 years of paid work experience.

Departments and schools

The Faculty of Environment consists of:

Research

The Faculty's research centres and groups include: Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3), Adaptation and Impacts Research Group, Ecological Restoration Group, Ecoplan China, Heritage Resources Centre, Parks Research Forum of Ontario (PRFO), Sustainable Energy Research, Transportation Research Group (TRG), Waterloo Laboratory for Earth Observations (WatLEO), and the Water Policy and Governance Group.

Student life

Students in the Faculty of Environment are represented by the Environment Students Society (ESS) which has many roles including event planning, student space improvements, management of a student coffee shop, and representing student interests on various boards within and outside of the Faculty. Additionally, all students pay into the Waterloo Environment Students Endowment Fund (WESEF) which has approved over $500,000 in student-led projects to improve student life.[6]

Each program within the faculty has their own student association that organizes social and academic events for students within the program, with the association presidents answering to ESS. These societies are:

Rankings and reputation

SEED's Environment and Business program was ranked the top undergraduate business program in Canada for the third year in a row by Corporate Knights in 2010.[7]

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ [1] Archived March 23, 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links

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