Note: This is the 2023–2024 eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or .
Program Requirements
This 18-credit Minor is intended for Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science students and Faculty of Science students, but is open to students from other faculties as well, except Arts, Law and Management. Students in Arts, Law and Management should complete the Minor Concentration Environment.
Advising Note:
Consultation with the Program Adviser for approval of course selection to meet program requirements is obligatory. No overlap is allowed between this program and the student's major program or concentration, or a second minor program.
For more information, contact:
Ms Kathy Roulet, Program Adviser
Email: Kathy.roulet [at] mcgill.ca
Telephone: 514-398-4306
Complementary Courses (18 credits)
18 credits of complementary courses, all of which must fall outside the discipline or field of the student's major program or concentration, and which must be 200-level or above, selected as follows:
12 credits of Bieler School of Environment core courses:
The core courses are taught at both campuses. You should register in Section 001 of an ENVR course that you plan to take on the Downtown campus, and in Section 051 of an ENVR course that you plan to take on the Macdonald campus.
-
ENVR 200 The Global Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : A systems approach to study the different components of the environment involved in global climate change: the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. The interactions among these components. Their role in global climate change. The human dimension to global change.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Ricciardi, Anthony; Fabry, Frederic (Fall) Lovat, Christie; Bennett, Elena (Winter)
Fall
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
-
ENVR 201 Society, Environment and Sustainability (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : This course deals with how scientific-technological, socio-economic, political-institutional and behavioural factors mediate society-environment interactions. Issues discussed include population and resources; consumption, impacts and institutions; integrating environmental values in societal decision-making; and the challenges associated with, and strategies for, promoting sustainability. Case studies in various sectors and contexts are used.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Manaugh, Kevin; Barrington-Leigh, Chris (Fall)
Fall
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
-
ENVR 202 The Evolving Earth (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : Formation of the Earth and the evolution of life. How geological and biological change are the consequence of history, chance, and necessity acting over different scales of space and time. General principles governing the formation of modern landscapes and biotas. Effects of human activities on natural systems.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Leung, Brian; Soper, Fiona; Lovat, Christie (Winter)
Winter
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
-
ENVR 203 Knowledge, Ethics and Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : Introduction to cultural perspectives on the environment: the influence of culture and cognition on perceptions of the natural world; conflicts in orders of knowledge (models, taxonomies, paradigms, theories, cosmologies), ethics (moral values, frameworks, dilemmas), and law (formal and customary, rights and obligations) regarding political dimensions of critical environments, resource use, and technologies.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Kosoy, Nicolas; Freeman, Julia (Fall) Hirose, Iwao; Garver, Geoffrey (Winter)
Fall - Macdonald Campus; Winter - Downtown
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
-
ENVR 400 Environmental Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : Students work in interdisciplinary seminar groups on challenging philosophical, ethical, scientific and practical issues. They will explore cutting-edge ideas and grapple with the reconciliation of environmental imperatives and social, political and economic pragmatics. Activities include meeting practitioners, attending guest lectures, following directed readings, and organizing, leading and participating in seminars.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Kosoy, Nicolas; Freeman, Julia (Fall) Freeman, Julia; Sieber, Renee; Janzwood, Amy (Winter)
Fall - Macdonald Campus; Winter - Downtown
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
Prerequisite: ENVR 203
Restriction: Open only to U3 students, or permission of instructor
6 credits of environmentally related courses selected with the approval of the Program Adviser (at least 3 credits must be in social sciences). A list of Suggested Courses is given below.
Suggested Course List
The Suggested Course List is divided into two thematic categories: Social Sciences and Policy; and Natural Sciences and Technology.
Most courses listed at the 300 level and higher have prerequisites. You are urged to prepare your program of study with this in mind.
This list is not exhaustive. You are encouraged to examine the course lists of the various domains in the Environment program for other courses that might interest you. Courses not on the Suggested Course List may be included with the permission of the Bieler School of Environment Program Adviser.
Some courses on the Suggested Course List may be subject to other regulations (e.g., the Restricted Courses List for Faculty of Science students). If in doubt, ask the Program Adviser.
Location Note: When planning your schedule and registering for courses, you should verify where each course is offered because courses for this program are taught at both McGill's Downtown campus and at the Macdonald campus in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.
Social Sciences and Policy
-
AGEC 231 Economic Systems of Agriculture (3 credits)
Overview
Agricultural Economics : The structure and organization of Canada's agriculture-food system, the operation, financing, linkages, and functions of its components. Focus to be on management of the various components and the entire system, types of problems confronted now and in the future.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Doidge, Mary (Winter)
Winter
3 lectures
Prerequisite: AGEC 200 or equivalent
-
AGEC 333 Resource Economics (3 credits)
Overview
Agricultural Economics : The role of resources in the environment, use of resources, and management of economic resources within the firm or organization. Problem-solving, case studies involving private and public decision-making in organizations are utilized.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Mukhopadhyay, Kakali (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisites: AGEC 200 or equivalent
-
AGEC 430 Agriculture, Food and Resource Policy (3 credits)
Overview
Agricultural Economics : Examination of North American and international agriculture, food and resource policies, policy instruments, programs and their implications. Economic analysis applied to the principles, procedures and objectives of various policy actions affecting agriculture, and the environment.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Hickey, Gordon (Winter)
Winter
3 lectures
Prerequisites: AGEC 200 or equivalent
-
AGEC 442 Economics of International Agricultural Development (3 credits)
Overview
Agricultural Economics : The course deals with economic aspects of international development with emphasis on the role of food, agriculture and the resource sector in the economy of developing countries. Topics will include world food analysis, development project analysis and policies for sustainable development. Development case studies will be used.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Harou, Aurelie (Winter)
-
AGRI 411 Global Issues on Development, Food and Agriculture (3 credits)
Overview
Agriculture : International development and world food security and challenges in developing countries. Soil and water management, climate change, demographic issues, plant and animal resources conservation, bio-products and biofuels, economic and environmental issues specially in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Globalization, sustainable development, technology transfer and human resources needs for rural development.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Vasseur, Elsa (Winter)
Winter
Two 2-hour conferences
-
ANTH 206 Environment and Culture (3 credits)
Overview
Anthropology : Introduction to ecological anthropology, focusing on social and cultural adaptations to different environments, human impact on the environment, cultural constructions of the environment, management of common resources, and conflict over the use of resources.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Ruiz-Serna, Daniel (Winter)
Fall
-
ANTH 212 Anthropology of Development (3 credits)
Overview
Anthropology : Processes of developmental change, as they affect small communities in the Third World and in unindustrialized parts of developed countries. Problems of technological change, political integration, population growth, industrialization, urban growth, social services, infrastructure and economic dependency.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Ruiz-Serna, Daniel (Fall)
Winter
-
ANTH 339 Ecological Anthropology (3 credits)
Overview
Anthropology : Intensive study of theories and cases in ecological anthropology. Theories are examined and tested through comparative case-study analysis. Cultural constructions of "nature" and "environment" are compared and analyzed. Systems of resource management and conflicts over the use of resources are studied in depth.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Scott, Colin H (Winter)
-
ANTH 418 Environment and Development (3 credits)
Overview
Anthropology : Advanced study of the environmental crisis in developing and advanced industrial nations, with emphasis on the social and cultural dimensions of natural resource management and environmental change. Each year, the seminar will focus on a particular set of issues, delineated by type of resource, geographic region, or analytical problem.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Galaty, John (Winter)
-
ANTH 512 Political Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Anthropology : Historical, theoretical and methodological development of political ecology as a field of inquiry on the interactions between society and environment, in the context of conflicts over natural resources.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Winter
-
ECON 205 An Introduction to Political Economy (3 credits)
Overview
Economics (Arts) : A critical study of the insights to be gained through economic analysis of a number of problems of broad interest. The focus will be on the application of economics to issues of public policy.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ECON 205D.
Restriction: This course does not count for credit towards the Minor Concentration, Major Concentration, or Honours degree in Economics.
-
ECON 225 Economics of the Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Economics (Arts) : A study of the application of economic theory to questions of environmental policy. Particular attention will be given to the measurement and regulation of pollution, congestion and waste and other environmental aspects of specific economies.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Babcock, Michael (Fall)
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken 154-325 or 154-425
-
ECON 326 Ecological Economics (3 credits)
Overview
Economics (Arts) : Macroeconomic and structural aspects of the ecological crisis. A course in which subjects discussed include the conflict between economic growth and the laws of thermodynamics; the search for alternative economic indicators; the fossil fuels crisis; and "green'' fiscal policy.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Babcock, Michael (Fall) Babcock, Michael (Winter)
-
ECON 347 Economics of Climate Change (3 credits)
Overview
Economics (Arts) : The course focuses on the economic implications of, and problems posed by, predictions of global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Attention is given to economic policies such as carbon taxes and tradeable emission permits and to the problems of displacing fossil fuels with new energy technologies.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Cairns, Robert D (Winter)
-
ECON 405 Natural Resource Economics (3 credits)
Overview
Economics (Arts) : Topics include: Malthusian and Ricardian Scarcity; optimal depletion of renewable and non-renewable resources; exploration, risk and industry structure, and current resources, rent and taxation. Current public policies applied to the resource industries, particularly those of a regulatory nature.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Cairns, Robert D (Winter)
-
EDER 494 Human Rights and Ethics in Practice (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Explores contemporary issues in human rights from an educational perspective, focusing on implications for praxis; explores ethical notions, including rights and responsiblities, as applied to contemporary challenges.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
ENVB 437 Assessing Environmental Impact (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Principles and practice of Environmental Assessment (EA) in Canada and internationally. Exploration of issues surrounding impact assessment for sustainable development in different sectors, including their limitations.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Hickey, Gordon (Winter)
Open to U2 students and above.
-
ENVR 201 Society, Environment and Sustainability (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : This course deals with how scientific-technological, socio-economic, political-institutional and behavioural factors mediate society-environment interactions. Issues discussed include population and resources; consumption, impacts and institutions; integrating environmental values in societal decision-making; and the challenges associated with, and strategies for, promoting sustainability. Case studies in various sectors and contexts are used.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Manaugh, Kevin; Barrington-Leigh, Chris (Fall)
Fall
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
-
ENVR 203 Knowledge, Ethics and Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : Introduction to cultural perspectives on the environment: the influence of culture and cognition on perceptions of the natural world; conflicts in orders of knowledge (models, taxonomies, paradigms, theories, cosmologies), ethics (moral values, frameworks, dilemmas), and law (formal and customary, rights and obligations) regarding political dimensions of critical environments, resource use, and technologies.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Kosoy, Nicolas; Freeman, Julia (Fall) Hirose, Iwao; Garver, Geoffrey (Winter)
Fall - Macdonald Campus; Winter - Downtown
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
-
ENVR 400 Environmental Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : Students work in interdisciplinary seminar groups on challenging philosophical, ethical, scientific and practical issues. They will explore cutting-edge ideas and grapple with the reconciliation of environmental imperatives and social, political and economic pragmatics. Activities include meeting practitioners, attending guest lectures, following directed readings, and organizing, leading and participating in seminars.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Kosoy, Nicolas; Freeman, Julia (Fall) Freeman, Julia; Sieber, Renee; Janzwood, Amy (Winter)
Fall - Macdonald Campus; Winter - Downtown
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
Prerequisite: ENVR 203
Restriction: Open only to U3 students, or permission of instructor
-
ENVR 421 Montreal: Environmental History and Sustainability (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : This course will focus on the role of place and history in the cities in which we live and in our understanding of sustainability. Each year, students will work to develop a historical reconstruction of the natural environment of Montreal and of its links to the cultural landscape, building on the work of previous cohorts of students.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
GEOG 200 Geographical Perspectives: World Environmental Problems (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Introduction to geography as the study of nature and human beings in a spatial context. An integrated approach to environmental systems and the human organization of them from the viewpoint of spatial relationships and processes. Special attention to environmental problems as a constraint upon Third World development.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Meredith, Thomas C (Fall)
Fall
3 hours
-
GEOG 210 Global Places and Peoples (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Introduction to key themes in human geography. Maps and the making, interpretation and contestation of landscapes, 'place', and territory. Investigation of globalization and the spatial organization of human geo-politics, and urban and rural environments.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Winter
3 hours
-
GEOG 216 Geography of the World Economy (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : The course introduces the geography of the world economic system. It describes the spatial distribution of economic activities and examines the factors which influence their changing location. Case studies from both "developed" and "developing" countries will test the different geographical theories presented in lectures.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Coomes, Oliver T; Breau, Sébastien (Fall)
Fall
3 hours
-
GEOG 221 Environment and Health (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : This course introduced physical and social environments as factors in human health, with emphasis on the physical properties of the atmospheric environment as they interact with diverse human populations in urban settings.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
3 hours
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking NRSC 221.
In Fall 2019, GEOG 221 will be taught at Macdonald campus. This course is also offered as NRSC 221. Students enrolled in downtown campus programs register in GEOG 221; students enrolled in Macdonald campus programs register in NRSC 221.
-
GEOG 300 Human Ecology in Geography (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : The course will examine research approaches in human ecology since its inception early in this century. Emphasis will be placed on the theoretical shifts that have led to its emergence as an important social science perspective. The course will also involve case studies to evaluate the methodological utility of the approach.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
GEOG 301 Geography of Nunavut (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : An introduction to the physical and cultural geography of Canada's newest territory. The course will emphasize the bio-physical heterogeneity of the natural environment and the cultural and political ecology of the human population.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Fall
3 hours
-
GEOG 302 Environmental Management 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : An ecological analysis of the physical and biotic components of natural resource systems. Emphasis on scientific, technological and institutional aspects of environmental management. Study of the use of biological resources and of the impact of individual processes.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Meredith, Thomas C (Fall)
3 hours
Prerequisite: Any 200-level course in Geography or MSE or BIOL 308 or permission of instructor.
-
GEOG 303 Health Geography (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Discussion of the research questions and methods of health geography. Particular emphasis on health inequalities at multiple geographic scales and the theoretical links between characteristics of places and the health of people.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Riva, Mylene (Winter)
-
GEOG 310 Development and Livelihoods (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Geographical dimensions of rural/urban livelihoods in the face of socioeconomic and environmental change in developing regions. Emphasis on household natural resource use, survival strategies and vulnerability, decision-making, formal and informal institutions, migration, and development experience in contrasting global environments.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
GEOG 370 Protected Areas (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Discussion of the goals of protected areas, focusing on the potential conflict between biodiversity conservation and use for recreation, education and sustainable extraction of resources. Principles and current issues in protected area design and management are reviewed. Examples are taken from developed and developing countries.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
GEOG 403 Global Health and Environmental Change (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Major themes and contemporary case studies in global health and environmental change. Focus on understanding global trends in emerging infectious disease from social, biophysical, and geographical perspectives, and critically assessing the health implications of environmental change in different international contexts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
GEOG 408 Geography of Development (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Examines the geographical dimensions of development policy, specifically the relationships between the process of development and human-induced environmental change. Focuses on environmental sustainability, struggles over resource control, population and poverty, and levels of governance (the role of the state, non-governmental organizations, and local communities).
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Unruh, Jon (Fall)
-
GEOG 423 Dilemmas of Development (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Africa seems beset by development problems. Some of these appear to have no clear answer. Such dilemmas present significant barriers to moving forward with durable, effective development in Africa. This course will examine two primary and frequently interlocked dilemmas in East Africa with wide ranging impact - food security, and conflict.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Unruh, Jon (Winter)
-
GEOG 530 Global Land and Water Resources (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Linkage of physical processes (hydrology and ecosystems) with issues of societal and socio-economic relevance (land, food, and water use appropriation for human well-being). Application of a holistic perspective on land, food and water issues in an international setting, highlighting linkages, feedbacks and trade-offs in an Earth system context.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Lehner, Bernhard; MacDonald, Graham (Fall)
-
HIST 249 Health and the Healer in Western History (3 credits)
Overview
History : The natural history of health and disease and the development of the healing arts, from antiquity to the beginning of modern times. The rise of "western" medicine. Health and healing as gradually evolving aspects of society and culture.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Weisz, George; Kroupa, Sebestian (Fall)
Note: Also available to first-year medical students in their options program.
-
HIST 292 History and the Environment (3 credits)
Overview
History : Sketch of the history of the material aspects of human interaction with the rest of nature. Included will be a historian's view of the social, technical, and ecological implications of the great variety of activities devised by our species. Though global in outlook, this course will emphasize the relevant historiography of France, England and North America.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
NRSC 221 Environment and Health (3 credits)
Overview
Natural Resource Sciences : Introduction to physical and social environments as factors contributing to the production of human health, with emphasis on the physical properties of the atmospheric environment as they interact with diverse human populations in urban settings.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
PHIL 221 Introduction to History and Philosophy of Science 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Philosophy : A survey of the development of modern science since the Eighteenth Century.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Tal, Eran (Winter)
-
PHIL 230 Introduction to Moral Philosophy 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Philosophy : A survey of a number of historically important and influential theories. Philosophers to be discussed may include Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Bentham, Mill, and Moore.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Howard, Christopher (Fall)
-
PHIL 237 Contemporary Moral Issues (3 credits)
Overview
Philosophy : An introductory discussion of central ethical questions (the value of persons, or the relationship of rights and utilities, for example) through the investigation of currently disputed social and political issues. Specific issues to be discussed may include pornography and censorship, affirmative action, civil disobedience, punishment, abortion, and euthanasia.
Terms: Winter 2024, Summer 2024
Instructors: Carty, Alexander (Winter) Morin-Martel, Alexis (Summer)
-
PHIL 334 Ethical Theory (3 credits)
Overview
Philosophy : A course focusing on central questions in ethical theory such as the nature of the good and the right and the factors which determine moral rightness and wrongness.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Howard, Christopher (Winter)
-
PHIL 341 Philosophy of Science 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Philosophy : A discussion of philosophical problems as they arise in the context of scientific practice and enquiry. Such issues as the philosophical presuppositions of the physical and social sciences, the nature of scientific method and its epistemological implications will be addressed.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Magal, Oran (Fall)
-
PHIL 343 Biomedical Ethics (3 credits)
Overview
Philosophy : An investigation of ethical issues as they arise in the practice of medicine (informed consent, e.g.) or in the application of medical technology (in vitro fertilization, euthanasia, e.g.)
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Hirose, Iwao (Fall)
-
PHIL 348 Philosophy of Law 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Philosophy : A discussion of the nature of justice and law, and of the relationship between them.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Stoljar, Natalie (Fall)
Restriction: This course is intended for students with a non-professional interest in law, as well as for those considering law as a profession
-
POLI 212 Government and Politics - Developed World (3 credits)
Overview
Political Science : The nature of politics in a few selected nations of the industrialized world, applying the concepts introduced in POLI 211 to specific national contexts. Countries studied will be drawn principally from Europe and North America.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Popova, Maria (Fall)
Note: The area in the field of Comparative Politics is Developed Areas.
-
POLI 227 Developing Areas/Introduction (3 credits)
Overview
Political Science : An introduction to Third World politics. A comparative examination of the legacies of colonialism, the achievement of independence, and contemporary dynamics of political and socio-economic development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Topics include modernization, dependency, state-building and national integration, revolution, the role of the military, and democratization.
Terms: Winter 2024, Summer 2024
Instructors: Douek, Daniel (Winter) Shakir, Muhammad Bilal (Summer)
Note: The area in the field of Comparative Politics is Developing Areas.
-
POLI 345 International Organizations (3 credits)
Overview
Political Science : The politics and processes of global governance in the 21st century, with a special emphasis on the United Nations system.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Chia, Colin (Winter)
Prerequisite: A basic course in International Politics or written consent of instructor
Note: The field is International Politics.
-
POLI 350 Global Environmental Politics (3 credits)
Overview
Political Science : Environmental problems like climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and ocean acidification transcend national borders. Solving these problems will require global cooperation on an unprecedented level. This course will explore the challenges of contemporary global environmental governance and the innovative solutions being advanced at the community, municipal, provincial, national, and international levels.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Janzwood, Amy (Fall)
Prerequisite(s): A basic course in International Politics.
-
POLI 412 Canadian Voting/Public Opinion (3 credits)
Overview
Political Science : A critical examination of major debates within the literature on Canadian voting behaviour and public opinion.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Prerequisite: at least one course in Canadian politics, preferably at the 300 or 400 level, or permission of the instructor
Note: The field is Canadian Politics.
-
POLI 445 International Political Economy: Monetary Relations (3 credits)
Overview
Political Science : Advanced course in international political economy; the politics of international of monetary relations, such as international rules governing international finance, the reasons for and consequences of financial flows, and the functioning of international financial bodies such as the IMF and World Bank.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Chia, Colin (Winter)
Prerequisites: POLI 243 or permission of the instructor.
Note: The field is International Politics.
-
POLI 474 Inequality and Development (3 credits)
Overview
Political Science : The political structures and social forces underlying poverty and inequality in the developing world; the historical roots of inequality in different regions, varying manifestations of inequality (class, region, ethnicity, gender), and selected contemporary problems.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Prerequisite: A basic course in Comparative Politics or a course on the region or written permission of the instructor.
Note: The area in the field of Comparative Politics is Developing Areas.
-
PSYC 215 Social Psychology (3 credits)
Overview
Psychology : The course offers students an overview of the major topics in social psychology. Three levels of analysis are explored beginning with individual processes (e.g., attitudes, attribution), then interpersonal processes (e.g., attraction, communication, love) and finally social influence processes (e.g., conformity, norms, roles, reference groups).
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Lydon, John (Fall) Hehman, Eric (Winter)
-
RELG 270 Religious Ethics and the Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Environmental potential of various religious traditions and secular perspectives, including animal rights, ecofeminism, and deep ecology.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Farran, Andrea (Winter)
Fall: Macdonald Campus (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue). Winter: Downtown Campus.
-
RELG 370 Religion and Human Rights (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Social justice and human rights issues as key aspects of modem religious ethics. Topics include: the relationship of religion to the modem human rights movement; religious perspectives on the universality of human rights; the scope and limits of religious freedom; conflicts between religion and rights.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Cere, Daniel M (Fall)
Winter
-
SOCI 222 Urban Sociology (3 credits)
Overview
Sociology (Arts) : Comparative analysis of the process of urbanization in Europe, North America and the Third World; effects of urbanization upon social institutions and individuals; theories of urbanization and urbanism; the Canadian urban system; urban problems in comparative view.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Brocic, Milos (Fall)
-
SOCI 234 Population and Society (3 credits)
Overview
Sociology (Arts) : Introduction to the reciprocal linkages in the social world between population size, structure and dynamics on the one hand, social structure, action and change on the other. An examination of population processes and their relation to the social world.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Brauner-Otto, Sarah (Winter)
-
SOCI 235 Technology and Society (3 credits)
Overview
Sociology (Arts) : An examination of the extent to which technological developments impose constraints on ways of arranging social relationships in bureaucratic organizations and in the wider society: the compatibility of current social structures with the effective utilization of technology.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Drago, Alessandro (Fall)
-
SOCI 254 Development and Underdevelopment (3 credits)
Overview
Sociology (Arts) : Competing theories about the causes of underdevelopment in the poor countries. Topics include the impact of geography, the population explosion, culture and national character, economic and sexual inequalities, democracy and dictatorship. Western imperialism and multi-national corporations, reliance on the market, and development through local participation, cooperation, and appropriate technology.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Pike, Isabel (Winter)
Summer
-
SOCI 307 Globalization (3 credits)
Overview
Sociology (Arts) : Socio-economic, political and cultural dynamics related to processes of globalization. An examination of the following: key theoretical foundations of the globalization debate; the extent and implications of economic globalization; global governance and the continuing relevance of nation-states; instances of transnational activism; the diffusion of cultural practices; patterns and management of global migration and mobility.
Terms: Winter 2024, Summer 2024
Instructors: Filkobski, Ina (Winter) Marshall, Zachary (Summer)
Prerequisite: SOCI 210 or Permission of Instructor
-
SOCI 365 Health and Development (3 credits)
Overview
Sociology (Arts) : Main concepts and controversies linking health to broader social and economic conditions in low income countries. Topics include the demographic and epidemiological transitions, the health and wealth conundrum, the social determinants of health, health as an economic development strategy, and the impact of the AIDS pandemic.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
SOCI 366 Neighborhoods and Inequality (3 credits)
Overview
Sociology (Arts) : The causes and consequences of neighbourhood-based social inequalities in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Forms of inequality covered include poverty, segregation, ethnic enclaves, unemployment, educational attainment, crime, and health. Methodological issues and social policy will also be examined.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
SOCI 386 Contemporary Social Movements (3 credits)
Overview
Sociology (Arts) : This course will focus on contemporary social movements in Canada, the U.S., and Western Europe, such as the civil rights movement, the women's movement, and the environmental movement. Empirical studies of movements will be used to explore such general issues as how social movements emerge, grow, and decline.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Eidlin, Barry (Fall)
-
URBP 201 Planning the 21st Century City (3 credits)
Overview
Urban Planning : The study of how urban planners respond to the challenges posed by contemporary cities world-wide. Urban problems related to the environment, shelter, transport, human health, livelihoods and governance are addressed; innovative plans to improve cities and city life are analyzed.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
(3-1-5)
-
URBP 504 Planning for Active Transportation (3 credits)
Overview
Urban Planning : The importance of transit, walking, and cycling as modes of transportation in sustainable urban environments. Planning, design, and operation of mass transit systems, bikeways, and footpaths.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Elgeneidy, Ahmed (Winter)
(3-0-6)
-
URBP 506 Environmental Policy and Planning (3 credits)
Overview
Urban Planning : Analytical and institutional approaches for understanding and addressing environmental issues at various scales; characteristics of environmental issues, science-policy-politics interactions relating to the environment, and implications for policy; sustainability, and the need for and challenges associated with interdisciplinary perspectives; externalities and their regulation; public goods; risk perception and implications; the political-institutional context and policy instruments; cost-benefit analysis; multiple-criteria decision-making approaches; multidimensional life-cycle analysis; policy implementation issues; conflict resolution; case studies.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Badami, Madhav Govind (Fall)
(3-0-6)
Restriction: This course is open to students in U3 and above
-
URBP 530 Urban Infrastructure and Services in International
Context
(3 credits)
Overview
Urban Planning : Issues of practical and theoretical importance in relation to urban infrastructure and services in the international context: science and technology, political economy, policy analysis, policy implementation, public finance, and institutions and governance.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Badami, Madhav Govind (Winter)
-
URBP 551 Urban Design and Planning (3 credits)
Overview
Urban Planning : Fundamentals of city-building in Canada relative to municipal, regional, and provincial actions used to guide urban growth and development. Contemporary urban design in major metropolitan centres as shaped by legal, political, and cultural realities. Current preoccupations in city-building: reurbanisation and adaptive reuse of infrastructure, collaborative multi-stakeholder projects, strategic initiatives, changing relationships between professional experts and grassroots actors. Introduction to specific aspects of practice: public participation and community engagement; land development and real estate; project feasibility and implementation; policy monitoring and evaluation; emergent city-building regimes.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
(3-0-6)
Restrictions: Not to be taken by undergraduates before U3. Not open to M.Arch. students.
-
WCOM 314 Communicating Science (3 credits)
Overview
WCOM : Production of written and oral assignments (in English) designed to communicate scientific problems and findings to varied audiences Analysis of the disciplinary conventions of scientific discourse in terms of audience, purpose, organization, and style; comparative rhetorical analysis of academic and popular genres, including abstracts, lab reports, research papers, print and online journalism.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: HARDIN, KATHERINE; Kubler, Kyle; Guesgen, Mirjam (Fall) Guesgen, Mirjam; Kubler, Kyle; HARDIN, KATHERINE (Winter)
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken CCOM 314.
Natural Sciences and Technology
** Note: you may take LSCI 230 or MIMM 211, but not both: you may take ENVB 529 or GEOG 201, but not both: you make take one of BREE 217, CIVE 323 or GEOG 322: you may take BIOL 308 or ENVB 305, but not both: you may take BIOL 465 or WILD 421, but not both: you may take COMP 202 or COMP 204, but not both: you may take EPSC 201 or EPSC 233, but not both.
-
AGRI 340 Principles of Ecological Agriculture (3 credits)
Overview
Agriculture : Focus on low-input, sustainable, and organic agriculture: the farm as an ecosystem; complex system theory; practical examples of soil management, pest control, integrated crop and livestock production, and marketing systems.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Begg, Caroline B (Winter)
3 lectures and one 2-hour seminar
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken AGRI 250
-
ANSC 326 Fundamentals of Population Genetics (3 credits)
Overview
Animal Science : Population genetics mechanisms in mammals, birds and plant. Factors influencing gene, genotype, and phenotypic frequencies. Effects of different types of selection, Hardy-Weinberg, linkage and recombination, polymorphisms and heterozygosity, population size, random drift and inbreeding on gene and genotype frequencies. Relationship between quantitative genetic parameters and gene frequencies.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Cue, Roger (Fall)
-
ANTH 311 Primate Behaviour and Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Anthropology : Critical evaluation of theories concerning primate behaviour with emphasis on the importance of ecological factors in framing behaviour, including mating behaviour, parent care, social structures, communication, as well as various forms of social interaction such as dominance, territoriality and aggressive expression.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: Any 200 level course in a social or biological science.
-
ATOC 214 Introduction: Physics of the Atmosphere (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : An introduction to physical meteorology designed for students in the physical sciences. Topics include: composition of the atmosphere; heat transfer; the upper atmosphere; atmospheric optics; formation of clouds and precipitation; instability; adiabatic charts.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Ioannidou, Evangelia (Fall)
-
ATOC 215 Oceans, Weather and Climate (3 credits)
Overview
Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences : Laws of motion, geostrophic wind, gradient wind. General circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, local circulation features. Air-sea interaction, including hurricanes and sea-ice formation, extra-tropical weather systems and fronts, role of the atmosphere and oceans in climate.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Dufour, Carolina (Winter)
-
BIOL 240 Monteregian Flora (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Field studies of ferns, fern allies, conifers and flowering plants; the use of keys for plant identification.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Prerequisite: BIOL 111 or permission
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken PLNT 358
Note: Taught at the Gault Nature Reserve. Contact instructor for specific dates, logistics: (virginie.millien [at] mcgill.ca).
This course is offered in the summer.
This course, given at the University’s Gault Nature Reserve in Mont St. Hilaire, has an additional fee of $485.56 which includes a hand lens, a textbook, handouts, lodging and supper each day.
-
BIOL 305 Animal Diversity (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : The characteristics of the major groups of animals, their ancestry, history and relationship to one another. The processes of speciation, adaptive radiation and extinction responsible for diversity. Methods for constructing of phylogenies, for comparing phenotypes, and for estimating and analyzing diversity.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Turney, Shaun; Larsson, Hans Carl; Bell, Graham; Barrett, Rowan; Fussmann, Gregor (Winter)
-
BIOL 308 Ecological Dynamics (3 credits) **
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Principles of population, community, and ecosystem dynamics: population growth and regulation, species interactions, dynamics of competitive interactions and of predator/prey systems; evolutionary dynamics.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Guichard, Frederic (Fall)
-
BIOL 310 Biodiversity and Ecosystems (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Ecological bases of the natural causes and consequences of current global environmental changes, including how biodiversity and ecosystem processes are defined and measured, how they vary in space and time, how they are affected by physical and biological factors, and how they affect each other and human societies.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Pollock, Laura; Iversen, Lars Lonsmann (Winter)
-
BIOL 342 Global Change Biology of Aquatic Ecosystems (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : An introduction to freshwater and marine biology. Topics include the structure and functioning of the major aquatic ecosystems and how these aspects are affected by global change drivers.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
BIOL 418 Freshwater Invertebrate Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : The life history and ecology of freshwater invertebrates in lakes, rivers and wetlands; habitat requirements, functional ecology and food web interactions; the role of invertebrates in the functioning of aquatic ecosystems; threats to freshwater diversity.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
BIOL 432 Limnology (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : A study of the physical, chemical and biological properties of lakes and other inland waters, with emphasis on their functioning as systems.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Iversen, Lars Lonsmann; Gregory-Eaves, Irene (Fall)
Fall
3 hours lecture
Prerequisites: BIOL 206 and BIOL 215 or permission of instructor.
Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken or are taking ENVB 315.
This course, involving two field weekends, has an additional fee of $353.32, which includes room and board and transportation. The fee is refundable during the period where a student can drop the course with full refund. The Department of Biology subsidizes a portion of the cost for this activity.
-
BIOL 436 Evolution and Society (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Explores the impact that biological evolution and evolutionary thinking have on society. Topics include intelligence, language, race, gender, medicine, genetically modified organisms, politics, and creationism.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: BIOL 304 or permission of the instructor
Course instructors will introduce each topic and lead discussion, while an invited lecturer will focus on a particular aspect of that topic.
Enrolment limited to 25 students.
-
BIOL 465 Conservation Biology (3 credits) **
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Discussion of relevant theoretical and applied issues in conservation biology. Topics: biodiversity, population viability analysis, community dynamics, biology of rarity, extinction, habitat fragmentation, social issues.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Chapman, Lauren (Fall)
-
BREE 217 Hydrology and Water Resources (3 credits) **
Overview
Bioresource Engineering : Introduction to water resources and hydrologic cycle. Precipitation and hydrologic frequency analysis. Soil water processes, infiltration theory and modeling. Evapotranspiration estimation methods and crop water requirements. Surface runoff estimation as a function of land use modifications. Estimation of peak runoff rates. Unit hydrograph. Design of open channels and vegetated waterways.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Madramootoo, Chandra A; Qi, Zhiming (Winter)
Three lectures, one 2-hour lab per week.
This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
This course carries an additional course charge of $19.43 to cover transportation costs for two field trips, which may include a visit to a national weather station and a trip to gain hands-on experience on monitoring water flow in streams.
-
BREE 322 Organic Waste Management (3 credits)
Overview
Bioresource Engineering : An introduction to engineering aspects of handling, storage and treatment of all biological and food industry wastes. Design criteria will be elaborated and related to characteristics of wastes. Physical, chemical and biological treatment systems.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Clark, Grant (Fall)
2 lectures and one 2-hour lab
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ABEN 322.
A fee of $24.34 is charged to support a field trip to local waste management facilities for guided tour and information-gathering for a course assignment as well as some laboratory supplies for hands-on composting and/or anaerobic digestion lab.
-
BREE 327 Bio-Environmental Engineering (3 credits)
Overview
Bioresource Engineering : An introduction to how humans affect the earth's ecosystem and projections for the needs of food, water, air and energy to support the human population. Ecologically-reasonable coping strategies including biofuels, bioprocessing, waste management, and remediation methods.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Lefsrud, Mark; Sunjka, Predrag (Fall)
Open to U2 students and above.
This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
his course carries an additional course charge of $11.96 to cover transportation costs for field trips which may include a solar installation site and if registrations permit, a bio-ethanol plant. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period
-
BREE 518 Ecological Engineering (3 credits)
Overview
Bioresource Engineering : Concepts and practice of ecological engineering: the planned creation or management of a community of organisms, their nonliving surroundings, and technological components to provide services. Survey of applications such as constructed wetlands, aquatic production systems, green infrastructure for urban storm water management, environmental restoration. Taught cooperatively with a parallel course at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Online collaboration with an interdisciplinary, international team is an important component of the course.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Clark, Grant (Winter)
One 3-hour lecture per week.
-
CHEM 212 Introductory Organic Chemistry 1 (4 credits)
Overview
Chemistry : A survey of reactions of aliphatic and aromatic compounds including modern concepts of bonding, mechanisms, conformational analysis, and stereochemistry.
Terms: Fall 2023, Summer 2024
Instructors: Pavelka, Laura; Luedtke, Nathan; Vlaho, Danielle; Huot, Mitchell (Fall) Vlaho, Danielle; Gauthier, Jean-Marc; Huot, Mitchell; Denisova, Irina; Pavelka, Laura (Summer)
Fall, Winter, Summer
Prerequisite: CHEM 110 or equivalent.
Corequisite: CHEM 120 or equivalent.
Restriction: Not open to students who are taking or have taken CHEM 211 or equivalent
Each lab section is limited enrolment
Note: Some CEGEP programs provide equivalency for this course. For more information, please see the Department of Chemistry's Web page ().
**Due to the intensive nature of this course, the standard add/drop and withdrawal deadlines do not apply. Add/drop is the second lecture day and withdrawal is the fourth lecture day.
-
CHEM 281 Inorganic Chemistry 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Chemistry : Basic concepts of electronic structure and molecular bonding will be developed and applied to the understanding of common materials. Acid-base chemistry. Survey of the chemistry of the main group elements. Introduction to coordination and organometallic chemistry.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Légaré, Marc-Andre; Sewall, Samuel Lewis; Kakkar, Ashok K; Bohle, Scott (Winter)
-
CIVE 225 Environmental Engineering (4 credits)
Overview
Civil Engineering : Introduction to environmental chemistry; mass balance analyses in engineered and natural systems; water, soil and air pollution characterization and control; water quality parameters; drinking water and wastewater treatment technologies; global climate change: possible causes and effects; risk assessment for pollutant exposure; solid- and hazardous-waste management.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Ozcer, Pinar (Winter)
-
CIVE 323 Hydrology and Water Resources (3 credits) **
Overview
Civil Engineering : Precipitation, evaporation and transpiration. Streamflow, storage reservoirs, flood routing. Groundwater hydrology. Ecohydrology. Statistical analysis in hydrology, stochastic modelling. Simulations using hydrologic models. Case studies in flood damage mitigation, surface and ground water management, and water-energy-food nexus.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Kang, Mary (Fall)
(3-2-4)
Prerequisite: CIVE 302
-
CIVE 550 Water Resources Management (3 credits)
Overview
Civil Engineering : State-of-the-art water resources management techniques; case studies of their application to Canadian situations; identification of major issues and problem areas; interprovincial and international river basins; implications of development alternatives; institutional arrangements for planning and development of water resources; and, legal and economic aspects.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Nguyen, Van-Thanh-Van (Winter)
(3-0-6)
Prerequisite (Undergraduate): CIVE 323 or equivalent
-
COMP 202 Foundations of Programming (3 credits) **
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Introduction to computer programming in a high level language: variables, expressions, primitive types, methods, conditionals, loops. Introduction to algorithms, data structures (arrays, strings), modular software design, libraries, file input/output, debugging, exception handling. Selected topics.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Summer 2024
Instructors: M'hiri, Faten (Fall) M'hiri, Faten (Winter) Parekh, Deven (Summer)
3 hours
Prerequisite: a CEGEP level mathematics course
Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken or are taking COMP 204, COMP 208, or GEOG 333; not open to students who have taken or are taking COMP 206 or COMP 250.
COMP 202 is intended as a general introductory course, while COMP 204 is intended for students in life sciences, and COMP 208 is intended for students in physical sciences and engineering.
-
COMP 204 Computer Programming for Life Sciences (3 credits) **
Overview
Computer Science (Sci) : Computer Science (Sci): Computer programming in a high level language: variables, expressions, types, functions, conditionals, loops, objects and classes. Introduction to algorithms, modular software design, libraries, file input/output, debugging. Emphasis on applications in the life sciences.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Becerra, David; Blanchette, Mathieu (Fall) Becerra, David (Winter)
-
ENVB 210 The Biophysical Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : With reference to the ecosystems in the St Lawrence lowlands, the principles and processes governing climate-landform-water-soil-vegetation systems and their interactions will be examined in lecture and laboratory. Emphasis on the natural environment as an integrated system.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Kallenbach, Cynthia (Fall)
-
ENVB 301 Meteorology (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : The physical processes underlying weather. Topics include: the atmosphere - its properties (structure and motion), and thermodynamics (stability, heat and moisture); clouds and precipitation; air masses and fronts; mid-latitude weather systems and severe weather.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Restrictions: none
-
ENVB 305 Population and Community Ecology (3 credits) **
Overview
Environmental Biology : Interactions between organisms and their environment; historical and current perspectives in applied and theoretical population and community ecology. Principles of population dynamics, feedback loops, and population regulation. Development and structure of communities; competition, predation and food web dynamics. Biodiversity science in theory and practice.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Favret, Karen; Driscoll, Brian T (Winter)
-
ENVB 410 Ecosystem Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Biotic and abiotic processes that control the flows of energy, nutrients and water through ecosystems; emergent system properties; approaches to analyzing complex systems. Labs include collection and multivariate analysis of field data.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Favret, Karen (Fall)
-
ENVB 415 Ecosystem Management (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Through the examination of cases studies presented in a modular format, students will be exposed to a variety of ecosystem processes. Choice of components, interactions and type of management to achieve desired endpoints will be discussed.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
ENVB 529 GIS for Natural Resource Management (3 credits) **
Overview
Environmental Biology : Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis techniques to the presentation and analysis of ecological information, including sources and capture of spatial data; characterizing, transforming, displaying spatial data; and spatial analysis to solve resource management problems.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Adamchuk, Viacheslav; Saifuzzaman, Md (Fall)
-
ENVR 200 The Global Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : A systems approach to study the different components of the environment involved in global climate change: the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. The interactions among these components. Their role in global climate change. The human dimension to global change.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Ricciardi, Anthony; Fabry, Frederic (Fall) Lovat, Christie; Bennett, Elena (Winter)
Fall
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
-
ENVR 202 The Evolving Earth (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : Formation of the Earth and the evolution of life. How geological and biological change are the consequence of history, chance, and necessity acting over different scales of space and time. General principles governing the formation of modern landscapes and biotas. Effects of human activities on natural systems.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Leung, Brian; Soper, Fiona; Lovat, Christie (Winter)
Winter
Section 001: Downtown Campus
Section 051: Macdonald Campus
-
ENVR 422 Montreal Urban Sustainability Analysis (3 credits)
Overview
Environment : Applied and experience-based learning opportunities are employed to critically assess Montreal as a sustainable city through research, discussion, and field trips. The urban environment is considered through various specific dimensions, ranging from: waste, energy, urban agriculture, green spaces and design, or transportation.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
EPSC 201 Understanding Planet Earth (3 credits) **
Overview
Earth & Planetary Sciences : Learn about Earth's origin, its place in the solar system, its internal structure, rocks and minerals, the formation of metal and fossil fuel deposits, and the extinction of dinosaurs. Discover the impact of the volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and mountain chains on Earth's past, present and future. Explore 125 million-year-old Mount Royal.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Jensen, Olivia; Paquette, Jeanne (Fall) Rempel, Kirsten (Winter)
Fall or Winter
3 hours lectures; afternoon field trips
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking EPSC 233.
-
EPSC 233 Earth and Life History (3 credits) **
Overview
Earth & Planetary Sciences : Interpretation of stratified rocks; history of Earth with special emphasis on the regions of North America; outline of the history of life recorded in fossils.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Minarik, William (Fall)
Fall
3 hours lectures
-
EPSC 549 Hydrogeology (3 credits)
Overview
Earth & Planetary Sciences : Introduction to groundwater flow through porous media. Notions of fluid potential and hydraulic head. Darcy flux and Darcy's Law. Physical properties of porous media and their measurement. Equation of groundwater flow. Flow systems. Hydraulics of pumping and recharging wells. Notions of hydrology. Groundwater quality and contamination. Physical processes of contaminant transport.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: URycki, Dawn (Winter)
Winter
3 hours lectures
Prerequisite: permission of the instructor
-
ESYS 301 Earth System Modelling (3 credits)
Overview
Earth System Science : Principal concepts of systems modelling related to earth system science and environmental science. Students explore the ideas of state, stability, equilibria, feedbacks, and complexity using simple models.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Tremblay, Bruno (Winter)
-
FDSC 230 Organic Chemistry (4 credits)
Overview
Food Science : Atomic and molecular structure, modern concepts of bonding, overview of functional groups, conformational analysis, stereochemistry, mechanisms and reactions of aliphatic compounds.
Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Instructors: Cherestes, Alice (Fall) Cherestes, Alice (Winter)
-
GEOG 200 Geographical Perspectives: World Environmental Problems (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Introduction to geography as the study of nature and human beings in a spatial context. An integrated approach to environmental systems and the human organization of them from the viewpoint of spatial relationships and processes. Special attention to environmental problems as a constraint upon Third World development.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Meredith, Thomas C (Fall)
Fall
3 hours
-
GEOG 201 Introductory Geo-Information Science (3 credits) **
Overview
Geography : An introduction to Geographic Information Systems. The systematic management of spatial data. The use and construction of maps. The use of microcomputers and software for mapping and statistical work. Air photo and topographic map analyses.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Elrick, Tim (Fall)
Fall
3 hours and lab
-
GEOG 205 Global Change: Past, Present and Future (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : An examination of global change, from the Quaternary Period to the present day involving changes in the physical geography of specific areas. Issues such as climatic change and land degradation will be discussed, with speculations on future environments.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Chmura, Gail L (Winter)
Winter
3 hours
-
GEOG 272 Earth's Changing Surface (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Introduction to the study of landforms as products of geomorphic and geologic systems acting at and near the Earth's surface. The process geomorphology approach will be used to demonstrate how landforms of different geomorphic settings represent a dynamic balance between forces acting in the environment and the physical properties of materials present.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Bendixen, Mette (Winter)
Fall
3 hours
-
GEOG 308 Remote Sensing for Earth Observation (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : A conceptual view of remote sensing and the underlying physical principles. Covers ground-based, aerial, satellite systems, and the electromagnetic spectrum, from visible to microwave. Emphasis on application of remotely sensed data in geography including land cover change and ecological processes.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Kalacska, Margaret (Fall)
Fall
3 hours and laboratory periods
Corequisite: GEOG 201 or permission of instructor
-
GEOG 321 Climatic Environments (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : The earth-atmosphere system, radiation and energy balances. Surface-atmosphere exchange of energy, mass and momentum and related atmospheric processes on a local and regional scale. Introduction to measurement theory and practice in micrometeorology.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Knox, Sara (Winter)
-
GEOG 322 Environmental Hydrology (3 credits) **
Overview
Geography : Quantitative, experimental study of the principles governing the movement of water at or near the Earth's surface and how the research relates to the chemistry and biology of ecosystems.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Lehner, Bernhard; Ali, Genevieve (Fall)
Winter
3 hours
Prerequisite: GEOG 203 or equivalent
-
GEOG 372 Running Water Environments (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : The course focuses on the physical habitat conditions found in streams, rivers, estuaries and deltas. Based on the laws governing flow of water and sediment transport, it emphasizes differences among these environments, in terms of channel form, flow patterns, substrate composition and mode of evolution. Flooding, damming, channelisation, forestry impacts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
GEOG 470 Wetlands (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : An examination of the structure, function and utility of wetlands. Topics include the fluxes of energy and water, wetland biogeochemistry, plant ecology in freshwater and coastal wetlands and wetlands use, conservation and restoration. Field trip(s) are envisaged to illustrate issues covered in class.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Chmura, Gail L (Fall)
Fall
3 hours
Restriction: Permission of instructor.
-
GEOG 550 Historical Ecology Techniques (3 credits)
Overview
Geography : Principles and methods of Quaternary paleoecology and vegetation reconstruction. Examination of ecosystem response to human disturbance and environmental change.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
-
LSCI 230 Introductory Microbiology (3 credits) **
Overview
Life Sciences : The occurrence and importance of microorganisms in the biosphere. Principles governing growth, death and metabolic activities of microorganisms. An introduction to the microbiology of soil, water, plants, food, humans and animals.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Faucher, Sebastien (Winter)
-
MICR 331 Microbial Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Microbiology (Agric&Envir Sc) : The ecology of microorganisms, primarily bacteria and archaea, and their roles in biogeochemical cycles. Microbial interactions with the environment, plants, animals and other microbes emphasizing the underlying genetics and physiology. Diversity, evolution (microbial phylogenetics) and the application of molecular biology in microbial ecology.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Driscoll, Brian T (Winter)
-
MIME 320 Extraction of Energy Resources (3 credits)
Overview
Mining & Materials Engineering : The extraction of energy resources, i.e. coal, gas, oil and tar sands. After a brief geological review, different extraction techniques for these substances will be discussed. Emphasis on problems such as northern mining and offshore oil extraction with reference to Canadian operations. Transportation and marketing.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Hassani, Ferri (Fall)
(3-0-6)
-
MIMM 211 Introductory Microbiology (3 credits) **
Overview
Microbiology and Immun (Sci) : A general treatment of microbiology bearing specifically on the biological properties of microorganisms. Emphasis will be on procaryotic cells. Basic principles of microbial genetics are also introduced.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Cousineau, Benoit (Fall)
Fall
3 hours of lecture
Corequisite: BIOL 200
-
MIMM 214 Introductory Immunology: Elements of Immunity (3 credits)
Overview
Microbiology and Immun (Sci) : Basic immunology, organs and cells, elements of innate immunity, phagocytes, complement, elements of adaptive immunity, B-cells, T-cells, antigen presenting cells, MHC genes and molecules, antigen processing and presentation, cytokines and chemokines. Emphasis on anatomy and the molecular and cellular players working together as a physiological system to maintain human health.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Chahal, Jasmin; Gruenheid, Samantha; Fritz, Jörg (Winter)
-
MIMM 323 Microbial Physiology (3 credits)
Overview
Microbiology and Immun (Sci) : An introduction to the composition and structure of microbial cells, the biochemical activities associated with cellular metabolism and how these activities are regulated and coordinated. The course will have a molecular and genetic approach to the study of microbial physiology.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Marczynski, Gregory T; Turcotte, Bernard (Fall)
Fall
3 hours of lecture
Prerequisite: MIMM 211
-
NRSC 333 Pollution and Bioremediation (3 credits)
Overview
Natural Resource Sciences : The environmental contaminants which cause pollution; sources, amounts and transport of pollutants in water, air and soil; waste management.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Whyte, Lyle; Head, Jessica (Fall)
Fall
3 lectures
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken WILD 333
-
PARA 410 Environment and Infection (3 credits)
Overview
Parasitology : Infectious pathogens of humans and animals and their impact on the global environment are considered. The central tenet is that infectious pathogens are environmental risk factors. The course considers their impact on the human condition and juxtaposes the impact of control and treatment measures and environmental change.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Agyapong, Jeffrey (Winter)
-
PARA 515 Water, Health and Sanitation (3 credits)
Overview
Parasitology : The origin and types of water contaminants including live organisms, infectious agents and chemicals of agricultural and industrial origins. Conventional and new technological developments to eliminate water pollutants. Comparisons of water, health and sanitation between industrialized and developing countries.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Basu, Niladri (Winter)
-
PHYS 228 Energy and the Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Physics : Energy fundamentals, generation of electricity, heat engines, fossil fuel production and consumption, local and global effects, economic impact, transportation, and pollution and environmental impact of energy use. Non-renewable energy sources (fossil fuels, nuclear) and renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal).
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Lovejoy, Shaun MacDonald (Winter)
-
PLNT 304 Biology of Fungi (3 credits)
Overview
Plant Science : This course describes the various groups of fungi and explores in depth their biology and physiology, their ecological niches and the role in various ecosystems and their benefits and uses in industry and biotechnology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
Restriction: U2 or above, or permission of instructor.
-
PLNT 305 Plant Pathology (3 credits)
Overview
Plant Science : The theory and concepts of plant pathology, including the disease cycle, infection, symptoms, resistance, epidemiology and control. The biology and taxonomy of pathogens will be studied, including fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes. Techniques of inoculation, isolation of pathogens from diseased plants, disease diagnosis and pathogen identification will be demonstrated.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
-
PLNT 358 Flowering Plant Diversity (3 credits)
Overview
Plant Science : Principles of classification and identification of flowering plants and ferns, with emphasis on 35 major families of flowering plants and the habitats in which they grow.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Beauregard, Frieda (Fall)
A 4-day field week is held the week preceding the start of classes
Prerequisite: AEBI 210 or ENVR 202 or permission of instructor
A $92.68 fee is charged to all students registered in this course, which has a fieldwork component prior to the beginning of classes in August. This fee is used to support the cost of excursions, a hand lens, instructional handouts and identification aids. Students who have already received a hand lens may request a reimbursement of a portion of this charge through their department.
-
PLNT 460 Plant Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Plant Science : Theory and practice of plant ecology with an emphasis on the interaction between patterns and ecological processes and the dynamics, conservation and management of plant populations and communities over a range of temporal and spatial scales.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
Prerequisite: AEMA 310 or permission of instructor.
This course carries an additional charge of $170.00 to cover the cost of transportation (bus rental) for local field trips. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period.
-
SOIL 300 Geosystems (3 credits)
Overview
Soil Science : Interactions between Earth's various geologic systems and how these interactions lead to mineral and rock formation. Geomorphic processes and how various landforms are created by the interactions at the Earth's surface between the various geologic systems.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Winter
Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken SOIL 200. Restricted to U2 students and above.
-
WILD 302 Fish Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Resource Development : Introduction to the biology and ecology of freshwater and marine fishes. Topics include taxonomy, physiology, biogeography, competition, predation, fishing, and conservation. Lab exercises and field trips emphasize familiarity with local fishes and their ecological interactions.
Terms: Fall 2023
Instructors: Roy, Denis (Fall)
Prerequisite: AEBI 211 or permission of instructor
This course carries an additional charge of $39.87 to cover the cost of transportation (bus rental) for local field trips. The fee is only refundable prior to the deadline to withdraw with full refund
-
WILD 421 Wildlife Conservation (3 credits) **
Overview
Resource Development : Study of current controversial issues focusing on wildlife conservation. Topics include: animal rights, exotic species, ecotourism, urban wildlife, multi-use of national parks, harvesting of wildlife, biological controls, and endangered species.
Terms: Winter 2024
Instructors: Elliott, Kyle (Winter)
Winter
3 lectures
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken NRSC 421.
Faculty of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences—2023-2024 (last updated Sep. 12, 2023) (disclaimer)
