This program is open only to students in the B.Sc. or B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.) Major Environment.
How is the environment impacted by different food production systems?
The business of food production is an area of human activity with a large and intimate interaction with the environment. As global population rises, the demand for food and food production increases. This demand must be met through a combination of increased productivity of existing agricultural land and by bring new arable land into production. This is a serious challenge for two main reasons. Firstly, there are environmental impacts of agricultural activities which can be significant and which can be difficult to assess and contain, as the effects range from loss of biodiversity due to increasing farm size, production of biofuels versus food, non-point source pollution of rivers and lakes, and a loss of arable land to urbanization. Secondly, a growing population needs support from a number of different land uses (e.g. urban growth, transportation, water resource use, timber resources etc.), many of which conflict, and all of which compete with food production land requirements. As the available land resource decreases, land-use competition for what remains will grow more fierce, making increasingly critical the need for smart and informed decision-making related to food production.
See also Information for Students for details concerning:
- Suggested First Year Courses
- Taking courses on both campuses
- ENVR course sections - beware!
Pre-requisite or Co-Requisite Courses for this Concentration (7 cr)
BIOL 112 - Cell and Molecular Biology
or LSCI 211 - Biochemistry 1 (M)
or CEGEP equivalent (objective OOXU)AND
CHEM 212 - Intro Organic Chemistry 1
or FDSC 230 - Organic Chemistry (M)
or CEGEP equivalent (objective OOXV)
Program Requirements
NOTE: Students are required to take a maximum of 34 credits at the 200 level and a minimum of 15 credits at the 400 level or higher in this program. This includes Core and Required courses, but does not include the Concentration pre-/co-requisites listed above.
Core: Required Courses (18 credits)
ENVR 200 - The Global Environment
ENVR 201 - Society,Environ&Sustainability
ENVR 202 - The Evolving Earth
ENVR 203 - Knowledge, Ethics&Environment
ENVR 301 - Environmental Research Design
ENVR 400 - Environmental Thought
Core: Complementary Course — Senior Research Project
(3 credits*)
AEBI 427 - Barbados Interdisc Project (M) (Barbados)
ENVR 401 - Environmental Research
ENVR 451 - Research in Panama (in Panama)
FSCI 444 - Barbados Research Project (in Barbados)
* Only 3 credits will be applied to the program; extra credits will count as electives.
Domain Required (6 credits)
AEBI 210 - Organisms 1 (M)
AGRI 340 - Princ of Ecological Agricult (M)
Complementary courses (36 credits)
18 credits of FUNDAMENTALS:
AEMA 310 - Statistical Methods 1 (M)
or MATH 203 - Principles of Statistics 1
or equivalent
ANSC 250 - Principles of Animal Science (M)
or PLNT 300 - Cropping Systems (M)
BIOL 202 - Basic Genetics
or LSCI 204 - Genetics (M)
ENVB 210 - The Biophysical Environment (M)
or GEOG 305 - Soils and Environment
BIOL 308 - Ecological Dynamics
or ENVB 305 - Population & Community Ecology (M)
AGEC 200 - Principles of Microeconomics (M)
or ECON 208 - Microeconomic Analysis&Applic
12 credits of APPLIED SCIENCES:
Food and Human Health
AGRI 411 - Global Issues on Dev, Food&Agr (M)
FDSC 200 - Introduction to Food Science (M)
or NUTR 207 - Nutrition and Health (M)
MICR 331 - Microbial Ecology (M)
NUTR 501 - Nutrition in Dev Countries (M)
NUTR 505 - Public Health Nutrition (M)
PARA 410 - Environment and Infection (M)
PHAR 303 - Principles of Toxicology
Food Production
AEBI 421 - Trop. Horticultural Ecology (M) (in Barbados)
AEBI 425 - Tropical Energy and Food (M) (in Barbados)
AGRI 215 - Agro-Ecosystems Field Course (M)
AGRI 325 - Sustainable Agr&Food Security (M) (in Guatamala)
AGRI 550 - Sustained Tropical Agriculture (M) (offered alternate years; in Panama)
BIOL 385 - Plant Growth and Development (not offered)
ENTO 352 - Biocontrol of Pest Insects (M) (not offered 2023-2024)
PLNT 302 - Forage Crops and Pastures (M)
PLNT 307 - Agroecol of Vegetables&Fruits (M)
PLNT 353 - Plant Structure and Function (M)
PLNT 434 - Weed Biology and Control (M)
SOIL 315 - Soil Nutrient Management (M)
Natural Resources and Natural Resource Impacts
BIOL 343 - Biodiversity in the Caribbean (in Barbados)
BIOL 465 - Conservation Biology
or WILD 421 - Wildlife Conservation (M)
BIOL 553 - Neotropical Environments (in Panama)
BREE 217 - Hydrology and Water Resources (M)
or GEOG 322 - Environmental Hydrology
BREE 322 - Organic Waste Management (M)
BREE 518 - Ecological Engineering (M)
ENVB 500 - Advanced Topics Ecotoxicology (M) (offered fall 2022 and alternate falls)
NRSC 333 - Pollution and Bioremediation (M)
SOIL 510 - Environmental Soil Chemistry (M)
WILD 401 - Fisheries&Wildlife Management (4 cr) (M)
6 credits of SOCIAL SCIENCE:
Economic and Resource Policy
AGEC 320 - Intermed Microeconomic Theory (M)
AGEC 333 - Resource Economics (M)
or ECON 405 - Natural Resource Economics
AGEC 430 - Agric, Food & Resource Policy (M)
AGEC 442 - Econ of Int'l Agric Dvlpmnt (M)
ECON 225 - Economics of the Environment
Social Change and Human Impacts
ENVR 421 - Mtl:Envr Hist & Sustainability (not offered 2023-2024)
GEOG 340 - Sustain. in the Caribbean (in Barbados)
GEOG 406 - Human Dimensions Clim. Change (not offered)
GEOG 410 - Geog of Underdvlpmnt:Cur Probs (not offered)
GEOG 498 - Humans in Tropical Envirnmnts (offered alternate years; in Panama)
GEOG 510 - Humid Tropical Environments
HIST 510 - Enviro. Hist. of L. Am (Field) (offered alternate years; in Panama)
SOCI 254 - Development&Underdevelopment
Environmental Management
ANTH 418 - Environment and Development
AEBI 423 - Sustainable Land Use (M) (in Barbados)
ENVB 529 - GIS for Natural Resource Mgmt (M)
or GEOG 201 - Intro Geo-Information Science
ENVB 437 - Assessing Environmental Impact (M)
ENVR 422 - Mtl Urban Sustainability Anal (not offered 2023-2024)
GEOG 302 - Environmental Management 1
GEOG 404 - Environmental Management 2 (Africa)
GEOG 530 - Global Land & Water Resources
MGPO 440 - Strategies for Sustainability