News

We are pleased to honour six deserving recipients whose impact can be witnessed in communities across the country and around the globe. Congratulations to our 2025 Alumni Award recipients: Rex Auyeung (BES ’77), Michael Brooks (BES ’75, PhD ’98), Jeff Willmer (BES ’86), Ashoke Mohanraj (BES ’21) and Co-operators and Farm Mutual Re.

Wondering what your classmates have been up to? Find out who's been promoted, launched a new project, published a book or started a family. Catch up, then submit an update of your own for the next issue of Class Notes. 

The Faculty of Environment celebrates 178 new graduates this fall, including the first class of the Master of Future Cities program and PhD Alumni Gold Medalist Dr. Michelle Anagnostou, whose groundbreaking research at Oxford is helping dismantle illegal wildlife trade networks.

Dr. Larry Swatuk, professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, has retired after 17 impactful years at the University of Waterloo. A globally recognized scholar in natural resource management and international development, Larry helped shape key academic programs and brought a spirit of energy and collaboration to the Faculty of Environment. His leadership and legacy will continue to influence generations of students and researchers.

We are honoured to welcome Sir Andrew Steer as the 2025 TD Walter Bean Professor in Environment. This fall, he will join the Faculty of Environment to deliver two compelling lectures exploring how leaders, innovators, and citizens can rise to meet the world’s most urgent environmental challenges — for nature, our cities and for our shared future. 

As part of their final capstone course, Environment and Business students, Lina Wilson, Cove Young, Sarah Fencott, and Megan Aucoin, developed a best practices final report to support the creation of a reconciliation action plan for the Faculty of Environment.

Dr. Simon Courtenay is retiring after a distinguished career advancing aquatic research, education, and environmental governance. His leadership, mentorship, and service have left a lasting impact on SERS, the Faculty of Environment, and beyond.

For International Women’s Day, Dr. Kelsey Leonard reflects on the solidarity and support she receives from the women in her Shinnecock community, why it’s important to uplift women in academia and what advancements she would like to see in the future.

For International Women’s Day, managing director at the Future Cities Institute founded by CAIVAN, Eryn Stewart, shares how the Haíɫzaqv womxn have strongly impacted her personal and professional career journey, and reflects on the ways women are forced to navigate leadership differently and why it’s so important to advocate for opportunities for others. 

For International Women’s Day, apparel engineer and Environment alumni, Sabine Weber (MES '15, PhD '22), reflects on the role of women in the fashion industry and the opportunities and barrier to creating positive change.