Program Requirements
Food, water, air, the materials we use, and much of the diversity of life and recreation we enjoy are products of ecological systems. We manage ecosystems to provide these services and our use and mis-use often degrades the ability of ecosystems to provide the benefits and services we value. In the Applied Ecology specialization you will develop your ability to understand how ecosystems function. You will apply systems thinking to the challenge of managing ecosystems for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, protected areas and urban development. You will learn concepts and tools that help you to deal with the complexity that an ecosystem perspective brings. The goal of this specialization is to provide students with an opportunity to further develop their understanding of the ecosystem processes, ecology, and systems thinking necessary to understand, design and manage our interaction with the environment.
For information on academic advising, see: http://www.mcgill.ca/macdonald/studentinfo/advising
Required Courses (9 credits)
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ENVB 305 Population and Community Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Interactions between organisms and their environment; historical and current perspectives in applied and theoretical population and community ecology. Principles of population dynamics, feedback loops, and population regulation. Development and structure of communities; competition, predation and food web dynamics. Biodiversity science in theory and practice.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: McKinney, Melissa (Winter)
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ENVB 437 Assessing Environmental Impact (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Principles and practice of Environmental Assessment (EA) in Canada and internationally. Exploration of issues surrounding impact assessment for sustainable development in different sectors, including their limitations.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Hickey, Gordon (Winter)
Open to U2 students and above.
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ENVB 529 GIS for Natural Resource Management (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis techniques to the presentation and analysis of ecological information, including sources and capture of spatial data; characterizing, transforming, displaying spatial data; and spatial analysis to solve resource management problems.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Cardille, Jeffrey; Adamchuk, Viacheslav; Dhiman, Jaskaran (Fall)
Complementary Courses (15 credits)
15 credits selected from the following:
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AGRI 340 Principles of Ecological Agriculture (3 credits)
Overview
Agriculture : Focus on low-input, sustainable, and organic agriculture: the farm as an ecosystem; complex system theory; practical examples of soil management, pest control, integrated crop and livestock production, and marketing systems.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Begg, Caroline B (Winter)
3 lectures and one 2-hour seminar
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken AGRI 250
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AGRI 435 Soil and Water Quality Management (3 credits)
Overview
Agriculture : Management of soil and water systems for sustainability. Cause of soil degradation, surface and groundwater contamination by agricultural chemicals and toxic pollutants. Human health and safety concerns. Water-table management. Soil and water conservation techniques will be examined with an emphasis on methods of prediction and best management practices.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
This course carries an additional charge of $37.68 to cover the cost of transportation with respect to a field trip. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period.
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BREE 327 Bio-Environmental Engineering (3 credits)
Overview
Bioresource Engineering : An introduction to how humans affect the earth's ecosystem and projections for the needs of food, water, air and energy to support the human population. Ecologically-reasonable coping strategies including biofuels, bioprocessing, waste management, and remediation methods.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Sunjka, Predrag (Fall)
Open to U2 students and above.
This course carries an additional course charge for field trips.
his course carries an additional course charge of $11.96 to cover transportation costs for field trips which may include a solar installation site and if registrations permit, a bio-ethanol plant. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period
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ENTO 330 Insect Biology (3 credits)
Overview
Entomology : Introduction to entomology, including the the importance and diversity of insects; insect morphology, anatomy and physiology; insect sensory systems; reproduction; metamorphosis; insect classification and survey of the orders and common families.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Boucher, Stephanie (Fall)
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ENTO 340 Field Entomology (3 credits)
Overview
Entomology : A field course and project about arthropod taxonomy, field methods and experimental design in entomology. Includes natural history observation, and experimental approaches to arthropod population and community ecology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Summer
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ENVB 301 Meteorology (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : The physical processes underlying weather. Topics include: the atmosphere - its properties (structure and motion), and thermodynamics (stability, heat and moisture); clouds and precipitation; air masses and fronts; mid-latitude weather systems and severe weather.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restrictions: none
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ENVB 313 Phylogeny and Biogeography (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Topics in the interface of evolution, phylogenetics, and biogeography, including tree thinking, phylogeny estimation, and the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity. The major scientific discoveries that demonstrated how Earth’s history affects the evolution of organisms, including the unheard voices of evolutionary biology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: AEBI 212
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ENVB 415 Ecosystem Management (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Through the examination of cases studies presented in a modular format, students will be exposed to a variety of ecosystem processes. Choice of components, interactions and type of management to achieve desired endpoints will be discussed.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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ENVB 500 Advanced Topics in Ecotoxicology (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : Exploring the impact of environmental chemicals on biological organisms in an ecological context. Basic topics in ecotoxicology, such as source and fate, routes of exposure, bioavailability, dose-response, biomarkers, and risk assessment will be covered from both theoretical and applied perspectives. The processes by which pollutants are tested, regulated, and monitored will be critically examined.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Head, Jessica (Fall)
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ENVB 506 Quantitative Methods: Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : The process of formulating models of natural systems and confronting them with data, along with the necessary statistical computing skills. Emphasis on hands-on experience with current approaches for building, fitting, and comparing models.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Roy, Denis (Winter)
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ENVB 530 Advanced GIS for Natural Resource Management (3 credits)
Overview
Environmental Biology : An advanced spatial analysis course that uses rapidly developing techniques in GIS and remote sensing to solve problems in natural resource management. Focuses on controlling spatial operations through programming.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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MICR 331 Microbial Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Microbiology (Agric&Envir Sc) : The ecology of microorganisms, primarily bacteria and archaea, and their roles in biogeochemical cycles. Microbial interactions with the environment, plants, animals and other microbes emphasizing the underlying genetics and physiology. Diversity, evolution (microbial phylogenetics) and the application of molecular biology in microbial ecology.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Driscoll, Brian T (Winter)
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MICR 450 Environmental Microbiology (3 credits)
Overview
Microbiology (Agric&Envir Sc) : Focus on microbes in the environment. Topics include extreme environments, polar microbiology, biotechnology and bioremediation. Emphasis will be on population studies based upon molecular biological methods.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Whyte, Lyle (Winter)
Prerequisites: LSCI 230
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PLNT 304 Biology of Fungi (3 credits)
Overview
Plant Science : This course describes the various groups of fungi and explores in depth their biology and physiology, their ecological niches and the role in various ecosystems and their benefits and uses in industry and biotechnology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
Restriction: U2 or above, or permission of instructor.
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PLNT 426 Plant Ecophysiology (3 credits)
Overview
Plant Science : This course investigates the complex interactions between plants and their environment, focusing on the mechanisms underlying plant physiological processes. Plasticity of plants to their ecological environment; topics include phytoremediation, plant stress responses, plant-symbiosis and plant-insect interactions.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Bede, Jacqueline (Winter)
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PLNT 460 Plant Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Plant Science : Theory and practice of plant ecology with an emphasis on the interaction between patterns and ecological processes and the dynamics, conservation and management of plant populations and communities over a range of temporal and spatial scales.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
Prerequisite: AEMA 310 or permission of instructor.
This course carries an additional charge of $170.00 to cover the cost of transportation (bus rental) for local field trips. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period.
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SOIL 300 Geosystems (3 credits)
Overview
Soil Science : Interactions between Earth's various geologic systems and how these interactions lead to mineral and rock formation. Geomorphic processes and how various landforms are created by the interactions at the Earth's surface between the various geologic systems.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken SOIL 200. Restricted to U2 students and above.
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SOIL 326 Soils in a Changing Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Soil Science : Soil processes responsible for soil formation will be studied and the impact of changes to the physical and chemical environment will be discussed.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
3 lectures and one 3-hour lab
Prerequisite: A previous course in soil science, geography, geology or permission of instructor.
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SOIL 535 Soil Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Soil Science : Exploration of the unique soil habitat for organisms with a focus on the variables that affect the abundance, diversity and interactions of soil biota and, in turn, their influence on soil physicochemical properties, biogeochemical cycles and other factors impacting ecosystem sustainability. Topics include survey of soil fauna, soil food webs, microbial ecology, biological carbon and nitrogen cycling, plant-soil interactions, and the effects of human activities and management on soil ecology, including synthesizing concepts and a critical analysis and interpretation of primary scientific literature in soil ecology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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WILD 302 Fish Ecology (3 credits)
Overview
Resource Development : Introduction to the biology and ecology of freshwater and marine fishes. Topics include taxonomy, physiology, biogeography, competition, predation, fishing, and conservation. Lab exercises and field trips emphasize familiarity with local fishes and their ecological interactions.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Roy, Denis (Fall)
Prerequisite: AEBI 211 or permission of instructor
This course carries an additional charge of $39.87 to cover the cost of transportation (bus rental) for local field trips. The fee is only refundable prior to the deadline to withdraw with full refund
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WILD 307 Natural History of Vertebrates (3 credits)
Overview
Resource Development : The diversity and natural history of Canadian vertebrates illustrated with trophic, phylogenetic, and macroecological approaches.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Humphries, Murray Mitchell (Fall)
This course carries an additional charge of 19.94 to cover the cost of transportation (bus rental) for local field trips. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period.
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WILD 350 Mammalogy (3 credits)
Overview
Resource Development : This course focuses on the evolution, classification, ecology and behaviour of mammals and relations between humans and mammals. Also structure, systematics and identification of local and world mammals, as well as field methods will be emphasized.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Humphries, Murray Mitchell (Winter)
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WILD 420 Ornithology (3 credits)
Overview
Resource Development : Taxonomic relationships and evolution of birds. Examination of the physiology, migration, identification and ecological processes of North American birds.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Elliott, Kyle (Fall)
Prerequisite: WILD 307 or permission of instructor
This course carries an additional charge of 19.94 to cover the cost of transportation (bus rental) for local field trips. The fee is refundable only during the withdrawal with full refund period.
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WILD 421 Wildlife Conservation (3 credits)
Overview
Resource Development : Study of current controversial issues focusing on wildlife conservation. Topics include: animal rights, exotic species, ecotourism, urban wildlife, multi-use of national parks, harvesting of wildlife, biological controls, and endangered species.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Elliott, Kyle (Winter)
Winter
3 lectures
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken NRSC 421.
