Leadership for the Ecozoic (L4E) is a transdisciplinary initiative based at McGill University and the University of Vermont (UVM) that advances collaborative research, teaching, and leadership for a just and sustainable future. Rooted in the disciplines of anthropology at McGill and ecological economics at UVM, L4E supports innovative scholarship that bridges academic and community-based knowledge.
PhD Fellows earn their degrees through existing doctoral programs at each institution, engaging in a vibrant intellectual community of students, faculty, postdoctoral researchers, visiting scholars, activists, and Indigenous thinkers.
Inspired by Ecozoic inquiry - a vision of mutually enhancing relationships between human societies and the wider community of life - L4E fosters scholarship that is grounded in local partnerships while exploring cutting-edge theory and experimental ethnography.
L4E works toward the Ecozoic era through four key areas:
- Facilitating transdisciplinary research that empowers emerging leaders;
- Building a research-to-action network that connects theory with practice;
- Engaging in advocacy and creative communications; and
- Reimagining teaching and learning across campuses and communities.
Fellows participate in a range of collaborative activities - both in person and online - including joint courses, research-to-action projects, retreats, collaboratories, workshops, creative media, and co-authored publications and presentations.
For more information about L4E
PhD applications now open – Fall 2026
