This Domain is open only to students in the B.Sc. or B.Sc.(Ag.Env.Sc.) Major Environment.
What is biodiversity, and what ecological and social strategies can be used in conservation efforts?
This Concentration links the academic study of biological diversity with the applied field of conservation biology. The study of biological diversity, or "biodiversity," lies at the intersection of evolution with ecology and genetics, combining the subdisciplines of evolutionary ecology, evolutionary genetics and ecological genetics. It has two main branches, the creation of diversity and the maintenance of diversity. Both processes are governed by a general mechanism of selection acting over different scales of space and time. This gives rise to a distinctive set of principles and generalizations that regulate rates of diversification and levels of diversity, as well as the abundance or rarity of different species.
Conservation biology constitutes the application of these principles in the relevant social and economic context to the management of natural systems, with the object of preventing the extinction of rare species and maintaining the diversity of communities. As the impact of industrialization and population growth on natural systems has become more severe, conservation has emerged as an important area of practical endeavour.
See also Information for Students for details concerning:
- Suggested First Year Courses
- Taking courses on both campuses
- ENVR course sections - beware!
Program Requirements
NOTE: Students are required to take a maximum of 30 credits at the 200 level and a minimum of 12 credits at the 400 level or higher in this program. This includes Core and Required courses.
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 (in Barbados)
ENVR 401 - Environmental Research
ENVR 451 - Research in Panama (in Panama)
FSCI 444 - Barbados Research Project (in Barbados)
GEOG 451 - Res in Society & Dev in Africa (in Africa)
* Only 3 credits will be applied to the program; extra credits will count as electives.
Concentration Complementary courses (42-43 credits)
9 credits, basic courses in the biological principles of diversity, systematics and conservation:
BIOL 304 - Evolution
or AEBI 212 - Evolution and Phylogeny (M)
BIOL 305 - Animal Diversity
or AEBI 211 - Organisms 2 (M)
BIOL 465 - Conservation Biology
or WILD 421 - Wildlife Conservation (M)
3 credits of Ecology:
BIOL 308 - Ecological Dynamics
or ENVB 305 - Population & Community Ecology (M)
3 credits of Statistics:
AEMA 310 - Statistical Methods 1 (M)
or GEOG 202 - Statistics & Spatial Analysis
or MATH 203 - Principles of Statistics 1
9 credits, Interface between Science, Policy and Management:
AEBI 423 - Sustainable Land Use (in Barbados)
AGEC 430 - Agric, Food & Resource Policy (M)
AGEC 200 - Principles of Microeconomics (M)
or ECON 208 - Microeconomic Analysis&Applic
BIOL 451 - Res in Ecol&Develop in Africa (in Africa)
or NRSC 451 - Res in Ecol&Develop in Africa (in Africa)
ECON 225 - Economics of the Environment
ENVB 437 - Assessing Environmental Impact (M)
ENVR 422 - Mtl Urban Sustainability Anal (not offered 2023-2024)
GEOG 302 - Environmental Management 1
GEOG 340 - Sustain. in the Caribbean (in Barbados)
GEOG 360 - Analyzing Sustainability
GEOG 408 - Geography of Development
PLNT 312 - Urban Horticulture (M) (offered winter 2023 and alternate winters)
POLI 345 - International Organizations
POLI 350 - Global Environmental Politics
WCOM 314 - Communicating Science
3 credits of Field Courses:
BIOL 240 - Monteregian Flora
BIOL 331 - Ecology/Behaviour Field Course (at Mont St. Hilaire)
BIOL 334D1 - Applied Tropical Ecology
and BIOL 334D2 - Applied Tropical Ecology (in Barbados)
BIOL 335 - Marine Mammals (in New Brunswick)
BIOL 553 - Neotropical Environments (in Panama)
ENTO 340 - Field Entomology (M) (not offered 2023-2024)
ENVB 410 - Ecosystem Ecology (M)
GEOG 495 - Field Studies-Physical Geog (in southern Quebec)
PLNT 358 - Flowering Plant Diversity (M)
PLNT 460 - Plant Ecology (M) (offered in summer)
WILD 401 - Fisheries&Wildlife Management (M)
WILD 475 - Desert Ecology (in Arizona; offered summer 2023 and alternate summers)
WOOD 441 - Integrated Forest Management (M)
6 credits of General Scientific Principles
ANSC 326 - Fundamentals of Pop'n Genetics (M)
or BIOL 324 - Ecological Genetics (not offered)
BIOL 202 - Basic Genetics
or LSCI 204 - Genetics (M)
ATOC 341 - Caribbean Climate and Weather
BIOL 216 - Biology of Behaviour
BIOL 342 - Glob Chng Biol of Aquat Ecosys
BIOL 432 - Limnology
BIOL 441 - Biological Oceanography
BIOL 515 - Advances in Aquatic Ecology
BREE 217 - Hydrology and Water Resources (M)
or GEOG 322 - Environmental Hydrology
BREE 529 - GIS for Natural Resource Mgmt (M)
or ENVB 529 - GIS for Natural Resource Mgmt (M)
or GEOG 314 - Geospatial Analysis
ENVB 313 - Phylogeny and Biogeography (M)
GEOG 272 - Earth's Changing Surface
GEOG 321 - Climatic Environments
MICR 331 - Microbial Ecology (M)
SOIL 315 - Soil Nutrient Management (M)
OR, Second field course from the Concentration curriculum may also be taken
3 credits of Social Sciences:
AGEC 333 - Resource Economics (M)
AGRI 411 - Global Issues on Dev, Food&Agr (M)
ANSC 555 - The Use and Welfare of Animals (M)
ANTH 339 - Ecological Anthropology
ANTH 416 - Environment/Dev: Africa (in Africa)
ANTH 451 - Res in Society & Dev in Africa (in Africa)
ECON 326 - Ecological Economics
ENVR 421 - Mtl:Envr Hist & Sustainability (not offered 2023-2024)
GEOG 404 - Environmental Management 2 (in Africa)
GEOG 498 - Humans in Tropical Envirnmnts (offered alternate years; in Panama)
GEOG 530 - Global Land & Water Resources
6 credits of Organisms and Diversity:
AEBI 421 - Trop. Horticultural Ecology (in Barbados)
AGRI 340 - Princ of Ecological Agricult (M)
ANTH 311 - Primate Behaviour and Ecology (not offered)
BIOL 310 - Biodiversity and Ecosystems
BIOL 343 - Biodiversity in the Caribbean (in Barbados)
BIOL 350 - Insect Biology and Control
or ENTO 330 - Insect Biology (M) (not offered)
or ENTO 350 - Insect Biology and Control (M) (not offered)
BIOL 352 - Dinosaur Biology
BIOL 427 - Herpetology (offered in fall 2022 and alternate fall terms)
BIOL 540 - Ecology of Species Invasions
or ENVR 540 - Ecology of Species Invasions
PARA 424 - Fundamental Parasitology (M)
PLNT 304 - Biology of Fungi (M)
PLNT 434 - Weed Biology and Control (M)
REDM 400 - Science and Museums
WILD 307 - Natural History of Vertebrates (M)
WILD 350 - Mammalogy (M)
WILD 420 - Ornithology (M)