Description:

High quality, integrative research plays a critical role in identifying pathways towards sustainability. The Integrative Methods in Environment and Society minor focuses on fundamental research understandings and skills necessary to develop research projects that effectively address complex problems of environment and sustainable development. It focuses on a core set of research skills- and design-based courses, with key choices in areas of quantitative, qualitative and spatial approaches. This is a `hands-on' minor, with opportunities to conduct small-scale research built into its components. It is intended to complement more topic- or discipline-related majors and minors (e.g. Human Ecology, Climate Science & Policy) by strengthening broad-based research skills and embedding them in a broad understanding of the role of research in addressing complex sustainability issues.

Students considering Honours should take the Integrative Methods in Environment and Society minor if they have not chosen the Sustainability Science Major (see the Honours section of the ENVS entry in the Undergraduate Handbook). The Integrative Methods in Environment and Society minor is recommended for students considering a future career in sustainability-related research, who have not met the first year requirements for the Sustainability Science Major.

Learning Goals:

On completion of the Integrative Methods in Environment and Society minor students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Build an understanding of the role of research in sustainability, both within and beyond academic domains.
2. Learn and apply the fundamental skills and processes of research design, as they apply to sustainability-related challenges.
3. Learn and apply a range of research methods from different disciplines.
4. Integrate different forms of disciplinary research into more complex, problem-oriented approaches.
5. Apply a range of written, oral and visual communication skills to communicate research outcomes effectively.