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. Introductory 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, Environment and Sustainability.
ENVR 202. The Evolving Earth.
ENVR 203. Knowledge, Ethics and Environment.
ENVR 301. Environmental Research Design.
ENVR 400. Environmental Thought.
Core: Complementary Course — Senior Research Project
(3 credits*)
AEBI 427. Barbados Interdisciplinary 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. Principles of Ecological Agriculture.(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. Introduction to Livestock Management(M)
or (M)
BIOL 202. Basic Genetics.
or LSCI 204. Genetics.(M)
ENVB 210. The Biophysical Environment.(M)
or GEOG 305. Soils and Environment. (not offered 2024-2025)
BIOL 308. Ecological Dynamics.
or ENVB 305. Population and Community Ecology.(M)
AGEC 200. Principles of Microeconomics.(M)
or ECON 208. Microeconomic Analysis and Applications.
12 credits of APPLIED SCIENCES:
Food and Human Health
AGRI 411. Global Issues on Development, Food and Agriculture.(M)
FDSC 200. Introduction to Food Science.(M)
or NUTR 207. Nutrition and Health.(M)
MICR 331. Microbial Ecology.(M)
NUTR 501. Nutrition in the Majority World.(M)
NUTR 505. Public Health Nutrition.(M)
PARA 410. Environment and Infection.(M)
PHAR 303. Principles of Toxicology.
Food Production
AEBI 421. Tropical Horticultural Ecology.(M) (in Barbados)
AEBI 425. Tropical Energy and Food.(M) (in Barbados)
AGRI 215. Agro-Ecosystems Field Course.(M)
AGRI 325. Sustainable Agriculture Field Course(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 2024-2025)
PLNT 302. Forage Crops and Pastures.(M)
PLNT 307. Agroecology of Vegetables and 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 Caribean. (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 in Ecotoxicology. (M) (offered fall 2024 and alternate years)
NRSC 333. Pollution and Bioremediation. (M)
SOIL 510. Environmental Soil Chemistry. (M)
WILD 401. Fisheries and Wildlife Management. (M)
6 credits of SOCIAL SCIENCE:
Economic and Resource Policy
AGEC 320. Intermediate Microeconomic Theory. (M)
AGEC 333. Resource Economics. (M)
or ECON 405. Natural Resource Economics.
AGEC 430. Agriculture, Food and Resource Policy. (M)
AGEC 442. Economics of International Agricultural Development. (M)
ECON 225. Economics of the Environment.
Social Change and Human Impacts
ENVR 421. Montreal: Environmental History and Sustainability. (offered alternate years, in May term)
GEOG 340. Sustainability in the Caribbean. (in Barbados)
GEOG 406. Human Dimensions of Climate Change. (not offered)
GEOG 410. Geography of Underdevelopment: Current Problems. (not offered)
GEOG 498. Humans in Tropical Environments. (offered alternate years; in Panama)
GEOG 510. Humid Tropical Environments. (not offered 2024-2025)
HIST 510. Environmental History of Latin America (Field). (offered alternate years; in Panama)
SOCI 254. Development and Underdevelopment.
Environmental Management
ANTH 418. Environment and Development. (not offered 2024-2025)
AEBI 423. Sustainable Land Use. (M) (in Barbados)
ENVB 529. GIS for Natural Resource Management. (M)
or GEOG 201. Introductory Geo-Information Science.
ENVB 437. Assessing Environmental Impact. (M)
ENVR 422. Montreal Urban Sustainability Analysis. (offered alternate years, in May term)
GEOG 302. Environmental Management 1.
GEOG 404. Environmental Management 2. (Africa)
GEOG 530. Global Land and Water Resources. (not offered 2024-2025)
MGPO 440. Strategies for Sustainability.