Students following the Environment option must first be accepted by the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and then by the McGill School of Environment (MSE) before an offer of admission will be made by the University. Environment Option students require either a single supervisor with a joint appointment in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and the MSE, or co-supervisors, one each in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and the MSE. This option will likely be retired in the near future.
Required Courses
Course Component
ENVR 610
Foundations of Environ Policy
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: Analysis of current environmental policies to reveal implicit and explicit assumptions regarding scientific methods, hypothesis testing, subject/object, causality, certainty, deities, health, development, North-South concerns for resources, commons, national sovereignty, equity. Discussion of implications of such assumptions for building future environmental policies.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Restriction: Enrolment in the Graduate Environment Option or enrolment in the Neotropical Environment Option (NEO) or permission of the instructor.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Peter Gilbert Brown, Robin Thomas Naylor, Mark Goldberg
ENVR 650
Environmental Seminar 1
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: Interdisciplinary environmental research seminars with the goals of appreciating both the breadth and interconnectedness of environmental research questions.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Restriction: Open to students registered in Environment Option.
ENVR 651
Environmental Seminar 2
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: Environmental seminars and workshops focused on critical thinking, critical review of articles, team work, effective public speaking, grantmanship.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Restriction: Open to students registered in the Environment Option.
ENVR 652
Environmental Seminar 3
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: Final research seminar.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Prerequisite: ENVR 650.
- Restriction: Open to students registered in Environment Option.
- Terms
- Instructors
- Sylvie de Blois
- Madhav Govind Badami
Thesis Component
ATOC 691
Master's Thesis Lit Review
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Review of relevant literature in preparation for the M.Sc. research.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Terms
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ATOC 692
Master's Thesis Research 1
6 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Independent research under the supervision of the student's M.Sc. supervisor.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Terms
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ATOC 694
Master's Thes Progress Rep&Sem
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Written report on the M.Sc. research progress and oral presentation of the report in seminar form to staff and students.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Terms
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ATOC 699
Master's Thesis
12 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Independent research under the supervision of the student's M.Sc. supervisor leading to the M.Sc. thesis.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Terms
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
Complementary Courses
Environment Component
3 credits chosen from
ENVR 519
Global Environmental Politics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: How the problem of environmental degradation is dealt with at the international level. The scope and nature of global environmental protection issues that cross boundaries, both physical and conceptual. Actors, structures and processes of international society. Consideration of global commons and transnational resources and of environmental externalities.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Prerequisite: ENVR 201 or ENVR 203 or permission of instructor
- Restrictions: Open to students in the Environment Graduate Option (available to other students with permission of instructor). (Not open to students who have taken ENVR 580 -- section 001 -- in Winter 2002, Fall 2003, or Fall 2004
- Note: This course has been offered three times as a Topics in Environment Course
ENVR 544
Env. Measurement & Modelling
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: Utility of geographic information systems, remote sensing and spatially-explicit modelling for environmental planning in conjunction with analytical frameworks used in the decision-making process (e.g., cost-benefit analysis, life-cycle analysis and multi-criteria decision making).
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Prerequisites: NRSC 430 or GEOG201 or URBP 505 or permission of instructor
- Restriction: Students registered in Environment Graduate Option (or permission of instructor)
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ENVR 580
Course not available
ENVR 611
Course not available
ENVR 620
Environ and Health of Species
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: How major environmental problems affect the health of human and non-human species, and how environment and health interact at different spatial and temporal scales and with different components of the ecosystem. Immediate, chronic and evolutionary consequences on health. Uncertainty and causation.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Restriction: Open to students in the Environment Option (available to other students with permission of instructor).
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ENVR 622
Sustainable Landscapes
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: Tools and knowledge needed to evaluate landscapes for sustainable management. Processes that shape landscapes, consequences of alternate landscape patterns on ecological flows, implications of management choices on biodiversity and sustainability, and need for social innovations.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Restriction: Students registered in Environment Option, or permission of instructor.
- Note: An understanding of ecological principles is required to take this course. Comparative case studies will be used.
ENVR 630
Civilization and Environment
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: Considers ways to reduce the human impact on Earth's life support systems through variables such as population size, wealth, technology, and conduct. Critically describes ethical frameworks for judging personal and policy choices, including post-collapse scenarios.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor
- Terms
- Instructors
- Peter Gilbert Brown, Mark Goldberg
ENVR 680
Topics in Environment 4
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Environment: Seminars and discussion of advanced, interdisciplinary aspects of current problems in environment led by staff and/or special guests.
Offered by: McGill School of Environment
- Restriction: students taking the Neotropical Environment Option.
- Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
AOS Component
15 credits chosen from
ATOC 512
Atmospheric & Oceanic Dynamics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Introduction to the fluid dynamics of large-scale flows of the atmosphere and oceans. Stratification of atmosphere and oceans. Equations of state, thermodynamics and momentum. Kinematics, circulation, and vorticity. Hydrostatic and quasi-geostrophic flows. Brief introduction to wave motions, flow over topography, Ekman boundary layers, turbulence.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor
ATOC 513
Waves & Stability
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Linear theory of waves in rotating and stratified media. Geostrophic adjustment and model initialization. Wave propagation in slowly varying media. Mountain waves; waves in shear flows. Barotropic, baroclinic, symmetric, and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Wave-mean flow interaction. Equatorially trapped waves.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor
ATOC 515
Turbulence in Atmosph&Oceans
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Application of statistical and semi-empirical methods to the study of geophysical turbulence. Reynolds' equations, dimensional analysis, and similarity. The surface and planetary boundary layers. Oceanic mixed layer. Theories of isotropic two- and three- dimensional turbulence: energy and enstrophy inertial ranges. Beta turbulence.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, a previous course in fluid dynamics (such as ATOC 512), or permission of instructor
- Symbols:
- Taught only in alternate years
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ATOC 521
Cloud Physics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Review of dry and moist atmospheric thermodynamics concepts. Atmospheric aerosols, nucleation of water and ice. Formation and growth of cloud droplets and ice crystals. Initiation of precipitation. Severe storms and hail. Weather modification. Numerical cloud models.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- 3 hours
- Prerequisites (Undergraduates): ATOC 315, MATH 314, and MATH 315, or permission of instructor.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ATOC 621.
ATOC 525
Atmospheric Radiation
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Solar and terrestrial radiation. Interactions of molecules, aerosols, clouds, and precipitation with radiation of various wavelengths. Radiative transfer through the clear and cloudy atmosphere. Radiation budgets. Satellite and ground-based measurements. Climate implications.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ATOC 530
Paleoclimate Dynamics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Introduction to the components of the climate system. Review of paleoclimates. Physical processes and models of climate and climate change.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 315, or permission of instructor
- Symbols:
- Taught only in alternate years
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ATOC 531
Dynamics of Current Climates
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: The general circulation of the atmosphere and oceans. Atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models. Observations and models of the El Niño and Southern Oscillation phenomena.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 315 or permission of instructor
- Corequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 412 or ATOC 512 or permission of instructor
ATOC 540
Synoptic Meteorology 1
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Analysis of current meteorological data. Description of a geostrophic, hydrostatic atmosphere. Ageostrophic circulations and hydrostatic instabilities. Kinematic and thermodynamic methods of computing vertical motions. Tropical and extratropical condensation rates. Barotropic and equivalent barotropic atmospheres.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Fall
- 2 hours lecture; 2 hours laboratory
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): MATH 314, MATH 315, or permission of instructor
ATOC 541
Synoptic Meteorology 2
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Analysis of current meteorological data. Quasi-geostrophic theory, including the omega equation, as it relates to extratropical cyclone and anticyclone development. Frontogenesis and frontal circulations in the lower and upper troposphere. Cumulus convection and its relationship to tropical and extratropical circulations. Diagnostic case study work.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Winter
- 2 hours lecture; 2 hours laboratory
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 412 and ATOC 540 or permission of instructor.
ATOC 568
Ocean Physics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Research methods in physical oceanography including data analysis and literature review. Course will be divided into five separate modules focusing on temperature-salinity patterns, ocean circulation, boundary layers, wave phenomena and tides.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): ATOC 512 or permission of instructor
- Restriction: Graduate students and final-year Honours Atmospheric Science students. Others by special permission.
- Symbols:
- Taught only in alternate years
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.
ATOC 619
Advanced Atmospheric Chemistry
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: The recent cutting-edge areas of planetary atmospheric chemistry from field and laboratory to theoretical modelling are examined. Photochemistry, kinetics (gas and surface) of organic and inorganic pollutants in atmosphere and atmospheric surfaces (clouds and aerosols). Satellite remote sensing of atmospheric chemical species, and issues related to chemical global change.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
ATOC 626
Atmos/Oceanic Remote Sensing
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Principles of radiative transfer applied to observing the atmosphere and oceans by satellite, radar, and other methods of remote sensing. Applications to cloud physics and climate research.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Symbols:
- Taught only in alternate years
ATOC 646
Mesoscale Meteorology
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Examination of the theory of important mesoscale phenomena, including fronts, cumulus convection and its organization, and tropical and extratropical cyclones. Application of the theory with detailed case studies of these phenomena. Mesoscale processes in numerical simulations.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
ATOC 666
Topics In Ocean Circulation
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences: Recent observations of mesoscale and large-scale ocean circulation. Inverse methods and their application to tracer distributions and deep ocean circulation. Review of modern theoretical developments such as geostrophic turbulence, homogenization of potential vorticity, ventilated thermoclines, wind and buoyancy driven ocean circulation models, and coupled ice-ocean circulation models.
Offered by: Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2013 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013 academic year.