News

A neighbourhood’s stores and restaurants can significantly influence the health and lifespan of its residents. This is due to the area’s retail food environment, which affects how convenient and affordable it is to access nutritious food. Patrycia Menko, a recent Master of Environmental Studies graduate from the School of Planning, identified food deserts and food mirages in Toronto and the cross-sectional links between these areas and gentrification, broken down by dissemination area.

Small-scale fisheries supply about two-thirds of the global fish for direct human consumption, and are facing increased vulnerability to climate change, biodiversity loss, and livelihood security. Farah El-shayeb, a Master of Environmental Studies student in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, worked with Dr. Jeremy Pittman on an undergraduate research project to determine the role of family in adaptive capacity.

For her Master of Environment and Business capstone project, Anastasia MacDougall created a set of recommendations that support broad operationalization of sustainable development within healthcare organizations.

The Government of Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) recently announced the funding recipients of their Insight Grants and Insight Development Grants in which five Faculty of Environment researchers were awarded project funding. Congratulations to Jennifer Asanin Dean, Brian Doucet, Marta Berbés, Rosella Carè and Seth Wynes. Additionally, The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has named Peter Crank, Christine Dow and Richard Petrone as recipients of the 2025 NSERC Discovery Grants. 

PhD students Richard Adeleke and Satveer Dhillon have received the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. The award, valued at $150,000 over three years, is given to doctoral students across Canada in the health, natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities fields.

A project led by Dr. Steven B. Young receives $50,000 in funding from NSERC and the United Kingdom Research and Innovation that will bring researchers together to compare and connect Canadian and UK perspectives on critical-mineral governance.  

Corporations are major contributors to climate change and are under increasing pressure to disclose and reduce their carbon emissions. While many organizations claim to be decarbonizing their operations, it is difficult to differentiate between substantive effort and symbolic actions. This knowledge gap was the focus of Meijie Lin's research. 

Dr. Jennifer Clapp was recognized by the Canada Council for the Arts for her ongoing contributions to Canada’s cultural and intellectual heritage. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Dr. Dawn Cassandra Parker on being selected as the winner of the 2024 Influential Female Researcher in Land System Science Award.

Our heartfelt congratulations to our new alumni who had their accomplishments celebrated at this week’s convocation ceremony. With their degrees now in hand, these new alumni are ready to make meaningful contributions to the world’s most pressing challenges. From tackling climate change and shaping sustainable cities to safeguarding natural environments and forging unique partnerships, we are confident they are ready to take on the world — and make it better.