News

Adam Clark (BAS ’06, MArch ’09) has created a bridge between Waterloo classrooms and real-world city building. Through years of collaboration as a project client, guest lecturer, critic and mentor, the City of Kitchener urban designer has given students opportunities to tackle active planning challenges while bringing their research and ideas into municipal decision-making. That relationship has contributed to projects including Growing Together, Kitchener’s award-winning framework for growth around its ION light rail stations.  

Dr. Kate Linden (PhD ’18) is an ecological economist, educator and community-engaged researcher challenging conventional ideas about how we define progress. Now an associate professor at Cape Breton University, she works alongside communities on issues ranging from rural aging to ecological footprints. Across her work, she returns to the same idea: lasting change depends less on speed and optimization than on care, relationships and the communities that sustain them. 

Jo Fitzgibbons (MES ’19) is a planner and researcher turning environmental research into practical change in Canadian cities. She currently works in urban ecology with the City of Vancouver where she demonstrates how research, community knowledge and municipal practice can work together to create more room for nature in growing cities. 

KEEN Footwear is a long-standing partner of the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Environment, helping students turn environmental knowledge into action through scholarships, internships and experiential learning. 

From changing how children learn about the world around them to rethinking how cities grow, strengthening connections between research and practice and investing in the next generation of environmental leaders, the 2026 Faculty of Environment Alumni Award recipients demonstrate the many ways knowledge can create change when put into action.

Big moves. New chapters. Familiar names. Explore the latest updates from your classmates, then submit your own news to be featured in a future issue of Class Notes. 

Homecoming 2026 brought Environment alumni together for milestone reunions, class gatherings, Faculty events and plenty of opportunities to reconnect.

What became of Canada's very first generation of University of Waterloo trained community planners? Terry Crowe (BES ’72) discovered the answer. 

A warm welcome to our 600+ new undergraduate and graduate students! Whether you are a new or returning student, we want to support you in your transition to campus. Start by reviewing campus resources. 

Tracy Tran, an Honours Planning student, reflects on her friendships and how they are one of the lasting benefits of an Orientation experience that helped turn a new campus into a community.