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Environmental Studies (MSc)

Effective environmental action and research require engagement – with the land and those who live on it. In our MSc program, you’ll conduct vital environmental research in partnership with international communities, First Nations, government agencies and more. This program is research-intensive and focused on the creation of a thesis. You’ll start the program with a three-day field camp.

You have the option of combining this program with the interdisciplinary Cultural, Social and Political Thought MA.

Expected length Project or thesis Course-based
2 years Yes No

Quick facts

Program options:
Master's
Study options:
Full-time study, Part-time study
Program delivery:
On-campus
Dynamic learning:
Co-op optional

Find a supervisor

All graduate students in this program must have a faculty member who serves as their academic supervisor. When you apply:

  • you must list a potential supervisor on your application
  • this faculty member must agree to be your supervisor and recommend your admission

To find a supervisor, review the faculty contacts. When you've found a faculty member whose research complements your own, contact them by email.

Brian Starzomski

Director & Ian McTaggart Cowan Professor Biodiversity, conservation biology, community ecology, ecological legacies, protected areas, community science, restoration ecology.

Darcy Mathews

Assistant Professor Northwest Coast archaeology, ethnoecology, historical ecology, community-based participatory research, heritage conservation of sacred sites and places.

Deborah Curran

Professor Environmental governance, watershed management, Indigenous rights, water governance, political ecology, natural resources law.

Eric Higgs

Professor Ecological novelty; Philosophy, Policy and Practice of Ecological Restoration; Mountains; Historical Ecology, including cultural and ecological change in mountainous regions; Repeat Photography; Nature and Technology.

Gerald Singh

Assistant Professor & Ocean Nexus Chair of Global Change and Sustainable Development Sustainable development, global change, coastal management, environmental impact assessment, risk, quantitative methods.

Ian Mauro

Professor, Executive Director Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) Climate communications, climate adaptation, risk assessment, knowledge mobilization, community-based participatory research, Indigenous and local knowledges.

James Rowe

Associate Professor Political ecology, embodied social change, climate finance and politics, social movement politics.

John Volpe

Professor Ecogastronomy, Food Identity, Geographic Indicators, Regenerative Agriculture, Sustainable Food and Wine, Wine Studies

Karena Shaw

Associate Professor Political Ecology; Energy Transitions; Environmental Politics; Global/Local Relations; Resistance

Loren McClenachan

Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair, Ocean History and Sustainability Ocean history, historical marine ecology, marine conservation.

Nancy Shackelford

RNS Director & Assistant Professor Community ecology, ecosystem restoration, plant systems.

Natalie Ban

Professor Marine conservation, marine protected areas, marine spatial planning, marine ethnoecology, fisheries, community-engaged research.

Sarah Hunt / Tłaliłila’ogwa

Assistant Professor & Canada Research Chair, Indigenous Political Ecology Indigenous political ecologies, Indigenous methodologies and methods, coastal ontologies and epistemologies, legal geographies of settler colonialism, Indigenous gender and sexuality, unsettling and decolonizing relations.

Sybil Seitzinger

Professor, American Geophysical Union Fellow

Trevor Lantz

Professor Landscape Ecology, Plant Ecology, Global Change Ecology, Permafrost Science, Remote Sensing, Community-based Monitoring.

Show me program details

Providing you accurate admission requirements, application deadlines, tuition fee estimates and scholarships depends on your situation. Tell us about yourself:

Ready to apply?

You can start your online application to UVic by creating a new profile or using an existing one.

Apply now    How to apply

Need help?

Contact Joy Beauchamp at esgradsec@uvic.ca or 250-472-5516.

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