The School of Environmental Sciences offers program of study leading to MSc, MES, and PhD degrees. Graduate Studies in the Environmental Sciences programs are designed to train people to work independently and imaginatively with a high level of technical skill and scientific acumen. It is expected that the graduates of the SES program will provide leadership in research and training in academic, government, and industrial sectors of society and who will participate in the formulation and implementation of constructive national and international science policy.

The PhD program has three fields of specialization:

1. Earth and Atmospheric Sciences;
2. Ecosystem Science and Biodiversity; and
3. Plant and Environmental Health.

• Earth and Atmospheric Sciences – Research areas include: soil biology and soil physics, environmental geology, geobiology, soil chemistry, geochemistry, micrometeorology and ecohydrology, soil health and land resource management
• Ecosystem Science and Biodiversity – Research areas include: toxicology, pest management, management of agroecosystems, microbiology, forest systems, agroforestry, climate change biology, ecology, and entomology
• Plant & Environmental Health – Research areas include: plant biology, plant pathology, epidemiology, soil-plant interactions, biotechnology, molecular biology, forest systems, agroforestry, and climate change biology

Administrative Staff

Interim Director, School of Environmental Sciences
Paul Sibley (1106 Bovey Bldg., Ext. 52103)
psibley@uoguelph.ca
Associate Director, Graduate Studies, School of Environmental Sciences (MES/PhD) 
Asim Biswas (135 Alexander Hall, Ext. 54249)
biswas@uoguelph.ca
Associate Director, Graduate Studies, School of Environmental Sciences (MSc)
Marc Habash (3238 Bovey Bldg., Ext. 52748)
mhabash@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Program Assistant
Hannah Teri (261 Alexander Hall, Ext. 53937)
ses.gradsec@uoguelph.ca

Graduate Faculty

This list may include Regular Graduate Faculty, Associated Graduate Faculty and/or Graduate Faculty from other universities.

MES Program

Admission Requirements

The School’s admission standard for the MES program is the same as the University and requires a four-year, honours science degree with a minimum B- (70-72%) average during the final two years (4 semesters) of full time undergraduate study. Meeting the minimum requirement (B-) does not guarantee entrance; depending on other criteria (e.g., letters of reference, standardized test scores, academic background relevant to the area to which the applicant has applied, degree of work experience in related fields of study) students may be considered for admission with provisional status. Students on provisional status must obtain a “B” average (70%) in at least two graduate courses during their first semester of study to continue in the program.

Program Requirements

The MES (coursework Master’s) degree enables students to study the most recent theoretical and technical advances in the environmental sciences through multidisciplinary teaching and research. There are two options to the MES in Environmental Sciences: by coursework + research project and by coursework-only. The MES will promote critical thinking and enhance oral and written communication skills so that graduates can excel in industry, government and other sectors of civil society (e.g., environmental risk assessors/managers, political advisors on policy/law issues in government, senior positions in national and international agencies, etc.).

Course Work and Major Research Project (MRP)

Candidates must complete a minimum of 4.0 credits:

The research project may be completed at the University or as part of a placement with an approved non-academic agency. The project may include analysis of a data set (derived from lab, field, or computer simulation) related to the specialization chosen by the student including analyses and interpretations of relevant data (the student may or may not be involved in collecting the data), or major, critical literature review. The outcome of the research project will be a written report and a seminar presented to the department.

Course Work

Candidates must complete a minimum of 4.0 credits

Students in either option may select courses from other departments on campus but are advised that access may be restricted and permission may be required by course instructors. A maximum of 1.0 credits may be taken from senior undergraduate courses, with permission of the Graduate Coordinator.

MSc Program

Admission Requirements

The School’s admission standard for the MSc program is the same as the University and requires a four-year, honours science degree with a minimum B- (70-72%) average during the final two years (4 semesters) of full time undergraduate study. Meeting the minimum requirement (B-) does not guarantee entrance; depending on other criteria (e.g., letters of reference, standardized test scores, academic background relevant to the area to which the applicant has applied, degree of work experience in related fields of study) students may be considered for admission with provisional status. Students on provisional status must obtain a “B” average (73%) with no individual grade lower than 70% in at least two graduate courses during their first two semesters of study to continue in the program. Provisional students will be funded at the same level as regular students.

Program Requirements

The objective of the MSc program is to develop and train graduate students that possess a high level of knowledge about the field of environmental science, expertise in specific aspects of environmental science (their thesis research focus), training in laboratory and field techniques, and excellence in writing and oral communication. With these skills, MSc students will possess a strong foundation on which they can be highly successful in science-related positions in government, industry, and consulting, or carry out high quality research at the PhD level.

The MSc thesis program requires:

• At least 1.5 graduate course credits, including one mandatory 0.50 credit course (Research Seminar in Environmental Sciences).
• Completion and defense of a thesis on research carried out under the direct supervision of a core faculty member.

The thesis and the oral defense of the thesis are evaluated on a pass/fail basis. An acceptable MSc thesis consists of a defensible account of the student’s research. The project is expected to represent a well-defined research problem, or hypothesis, and should be planned such that the clarity of the underlying rationale, the appropriateness of the technical approach, the research, and the critical evaluation of the results could normally be completed and the thesis defended within six semesters.

PhD Program

Admission Requirements

Admission to the PhD program is generally restricted to students with a recognized MSc degree in a related field obtained with a minimum academic standing of “A-“ (≥80%) in their postgraduate studies. Students who meet the minimum University requirement (73-76%) but not the School requirement (≥80%) may be considered depending on other criteria (e.g., letters of reference, standardized test scores, academic background relevant to the area to which the applicant has applied, degree of work experience in related field of study) for admission with provisional status. Students on provisional status must obtain an “A-“ (≥80%) and no individual mark below 80% average in at least two graduate courses during their first two semesters of study to continue in the program. Provisional students will be funded at the same level as regular students. In exceptional cases, students may enter the PhD program directly from a BSc (Hons) if they have the minimum requirements as defined by the Office of Studies, University of Guelph.

Program Requirements

The objectives of the PhD program are to develop highly competent, independent, creative, and critical scientists. Doctoral students of the SES graduate program will provide leadership as scholars in academic institutions, as managers and officers in the industrial research and development sector, research and policy branches within the government sector and in other social institutions. Research in the PhD program is expected to be original and novel, contribute significantly to the relevant research field, and published in high-quality peer-reviewed journals.

The PhD program requires:

• Completion of one mandatory 0.50 credit course (Research Seminar in Environmental Sciences).
• Successful completion of a qualifying exam within five semesters of first registration in the program
• Successful defense of a thesis describing original research, carried out under the direct supervision of a core faculty member.

In the PhD program, the qualifying exam, thesis and the oral defense of the thesis are evaluated on a pass/fail basis. An acceptable PhD thesis consists of an authoritative report of the student’s research. The project is expected to represent a well-defined research problem, or hypothesis, and should be planned such that the research could normally be completed and the thesis defended in nine semesters (12 semesters for those students transferring from the MSc program). The research described in the thesis must represent a significant contribution to knowledge in that field. Emphasis is therefore placed on the quality of the presentation, maturity in scholarship, breadth and depth of the work, and critical judgement. Successful completion of the PhD thesis occurs when the research is judged to be sufficiently meritorious to warrant publication in reputable, peer-reviewed journals in its field. PhD students are normally expected to have published, or have “in-press”, one or more papers in peer-reviewed journals prior to the defense. In cases involving intellectual property, it is recognized that publication may not always be immediately possible. In such cases, a Pass will require that the committee is satisfied that, in their opinion, the work is of sufficient quality and originality that it would meet the standards for peer-reviewed publications.

Collaborative Specializations

International Development Studies

The School of Environmental Sciences participates in the MSc collaborative specialization in International Development Studies. Please consult the International Development Studies listing for a detailed description of this collaborative specialization.

One Health

The School of Environmental Sciences participates in the collaborative specialization in One Health. Master’s and Doctoral students wishing to undertake thesis research or their major research paper/project with an emphasis on one health are eligible to apply to register concurrently in Environmental Sciences and the collaborative specialization. Students should consult the One Health listing for more information.

Toxicology

The School of Environmental Sciences participates in the masters/doctoral collaborative specialization in toxicology. The faculty members' research and teaching expertise includes aspects of toxicology; they may serve as advisors for MSc and PhD students. Please consult the Toxicology listing for a detailed description of the masters/doctoral collaborative specialization.

Courses