Faculty & staff

Faculty, staff, students, emeriti, sessional instructors, post-docs and adjuncts: we all work closely as a supportive and collaborative team to accomplish our goals in learning and teaching, research, and community service.

Office

Our office is located in the David Turpin Building, B-Wing, room B243. We are normally open from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday - Friday.

ES department directory ES SharePoint (faculty & staff only)

General inquiries:
Phone: 250-721-7354
Email: esoffice@uvic.ca

Undergraduate advising:
Ryan Hilperts, 250-472-5767, esadvise@uvic.ca

Graduate advising:
Dr. Natalie Ban, 250-853-3569, esgrad@uvic.ca

Mailing address:
School of Environmental Studies
University of Victoria
PO Box 1700 STN CSC
Victoria BC V8W 2Y2
Canada

Courier address:
School of Environmental Studies
University of Victoria
David Turpin Building, B-Wing, B243
3800 Finnerty Road (Ring Road)
Victoria, BC V8P 5C2

Faculty

Natalie Ban

Professor & President's Chair Environmental Studies

Accepting graduate students

Office: DTB B250 nban@uvic.ca 250-853-3569

Area(s) of expertise:: Marine conservation, marine protected areas, marine spatial planning, marine ethnoecology, fisheries, community-engaged research.

Deborah Curran

Professor & Director, School of Environmental Studies Environmental Studies and LAW

Accepting graduate students

Office: DTB B243b dlc@uvic.ca 250-853-3105

Area(s) of expertise:: Environmental law, water law, water governance, municipal and land use law, natural resources, regulatory design

Eric Higgs

Professor Environmental Studies

Office: DTB B162 ehiggs@uvic.ca 250.721.8228

Area(s) of expertise:: Ecological restoration; ecological novelty; historical ecology; repeat photography; nature and technology

Ryan Hilperts

Assistant teaching professor Environmental Studies

Office: DTB B262 ryzome@uvic.ca 250-472-5767

Area(s) of expertise:: My research and teaching lies at the intersections of environment, community engagement and education.

Sarah Hunt / Tłaliłila’ogwa

Status: On leave July 2024 - June 2025

Associate professor & Canada Research Chair, Indigenous political ecology Environmental Studies

Accepting graduate students

Office: DTB A133 sarah@uvic.ca 250-472-5828

Area(s) of expertise:: Indigenous feminisms, legal geographies, Indigenous geographies, Indigenous justice and law, coastal peoples, decolonial methodologies, community-based research.

Trevor Lantz

Professor Environmental Studies

Accepting graduate students

Office: DTB B254 tlantz@uvic.ca 250-853-3566

Area(s) of expertise:: Landscape ecology, plant ecology, global change ecology, permafrost science, remote sensing, community-based monitoring.

Darcy Mathews

Associate professor Environmental Studies

Office: DTB A141 dmathews@uvic.ca 250-472-4941

Area(s) of expertise:: Northwest Coast archaeology, ethnoecology, historical ecology, community-based participatory research, heritage conservation of sacred sites and places.

Ian Mauro

Professor & executive director Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) Environmental Studies

Office: UH1 picsdir@uvic.ca 250-853-3596

Area(s) of expertise:: Climate communications, climate adaptation, risk assessment, knowledge mobilization, community-based participatory research, Indigenous and local knowledges.

Loren McClenachan

Associate professor & Canada Research Chair, ocean history and sustainability Environmental Studies & History

Accepting graduate students

Office: CLE B216 / DTB B150 lorenm@uvic.ca

Area(s) of expertise:: Environmental history, historical marine ecology, fisheries and marine conservation, climate change.

James K. Rowe

Status: On leave July 2025 - Dec 2025

Associate professor Environmental Studies

Accepting graduate students

Office: DTB A143 jkrowe@uvic.ca 250-853-3574

Area(s) of expertise:: Political ecology, embodied social change, climate finance and politics, social movement politics

Nancy Shackelford

Associate professor & director Restoration of Natural Systems Environmental Studies

Accepting graduate students

Office: DTB A129 nshack@uvic.ca 250-472-4387

Area(s) of expertise:: Community ecology, ecosystem restoration, plant systems

Karena (Kara) Shaw

Professor & academic director Transformative Climate Action Certificate Environmental Studies

Office: DTB A131 shawk@uvic.ca 250-721-7353

Area(s) of expertise:: Political Ecology; Energy Transitions; Environmental Politics; Global/Local Relations; Climate Action; Resistance

Gerald Singh

Associate professor & Ocean Nexus Chair of Global Change and Sustainable Development Environmental Studies

Accepting graduate students

Office: DTB B224 singhg@uvic.ca 250-853-3558

Area(s) of expertise:: Sustainable development, global change, coastal management, environmental impact assessment, risk, quantitative methods.

Brian Starzomski

Ian McTaggart Cowan Professor Environmental Studies

Accepting graduate students

Office: B225 starzom@uvic.ca 250-853-3564

Area(s) of expertise:: Biodiversity, conservation biology, community ecology, ecological legacies, protected areas, community science, restoration ecology.

John Volpe

Professor Environmental Studies

Accepting graduate students

Office: DTB B156 jpv@uvic.ca 250-472-4298

Area(s) of expertise:: The Ecogastronomy Research Group uses data intensive approaches to uncover linkages between ecological, economic and social sustainability and the primacy of place in sustainable food and wine production systems.

Cross-listed & limited-term faculty

Ben Neal

Assistant teaching professor Environmental Studies and Biology

Office: PCH 009 benjaminpneal@uvic.ca 250-721-7142

Staff

Sarah Theophilus

Administrative officer Environmental Studies

Oversees the financial and administrative operations of the school. Contact Sarah for assistance with administration, financial accounting, endowment accounting, course scheduling, website updates, HR & payroll, faculty appointments, post-doctoral fellowships, sessional instructor positions and TA appointments.

Office: DTB B243a stheo@uvic.ca 250-472-4568

Elizabeth E

Receptionist, undergraduate program assistant Environmental Studies

This position provides front-line receptionist duties and undergraduate program administrative support. Contact Elizabeth for information about our School and for assistance with course registration, field school fees, keys sign-out, room bookings, events and faculty and sessional instructor support.

Office: DTB B243 esoffice@uvic.ca 250-721-7354

Margy Gamble

Graduate program and administrative assistant Environmental Studies

Provides administrative support for master’s and PhD students. Contact Margy for administrative support related to graduate programs, including admissions, awards and funding, thesis/dissertation defense and graduation.

Office: DTB B243 gamblem@uvic.ca 250-472-5516

Ryan L. Hilperts

Undergraduate adviser Environmental Studies

Ryan supports undergraduate students through academic advising including degree planning and course selection. She also supports the larger SOSC community through community engaged learning.

Office: DTB B262 esadvise@uvic.ca 250 472 5767

Alina Fisher

Research manager Environmental Studies

Contact Alina for grant application development, post-award grant management including budgeting, expenditures, purchasing and human resources, reporting to funders and as a first point for publicizing your research findings.

Office: DTB B239 alinaf@uvic.ca 250-472-5923

Loveleen Sharma

Administrative Assistant Environmental Studies

Office: DTB B243 esasst@uvic.ca

Laurel Currie

Program manager, climate & sustainability scholars Environmental Studies

Responsible for developing, implementing, managing and evaluating UVic’s Climate & Sustainability Scholars Program (CSSP).

Office: DTB B216 laurelc@uvic.ca 250-721-6125

Anaïs Holdaway

Social Sciences co-op coordinator Social Sciences

Office: COR B136 alenoir@uvic.ca 250-721-7358