One of the first of its kind in Canada, the Faculty of Environment is a national leader in environmental, geographic and planning-related research and education.
The Faculty consists of three academic departments and two professional schools. These are the Department of Environment and Resource Studies, the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, the Centre for Knowledge Integration, the School of Planning, and the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development. Master's programs are available in Environment and Resource Studies, Geography, Development Practice, Environment and Business, Local Economic Development, Social Innovation, Tourism Policy and Planning, and Planning. Students may also pursue PhD programs in Environment and Resource Studies, Geography, and Planning.
There is much interaction amongst the graduate programs and students can take courses outside of their discipline to complement their interests and goals. As well, depending on their areas of research, students can choose thesis supervisors from outside their department or school. This means that graduate students can take advantage of the wide range of research facilities in the Faculty and across the University of Waterloo, which is recognized as one of Canada's leading graduate schools.
In addition to these graduate programs, there are undergraduate programs in each of the four units of the Faculty. They include four-year Honours programs in Environment and Business, Environment and Resource Studies, Geography and Environmental Management, Geography and Aviation, Geomatics, International Development, Knowledge Integration, and Planning, the latter recognized by the Canadian Institute of Planners, and a three-year program in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management.