Stipends will be provided for MES students enrolled in either the research stream or the course stream at a minimum of $16,000 per year, pro-rated to the number of semesters spent in full time study each year. Financial support is guaranteed for only 6 semesters for research students and 5 semesters for course-based students.  Resources for stipends are derived from Queen’s Graduate Awards, Reaching Higher funding, teaching assistantships in the School’s undergraduate courses, contributions from research grants and contracts, internal scholarships and awards, and external scholarships and awards. Where research grants permit, or when students earn a Scholarship from outside the School, some students may receive a higher stipend. he funding policy for each academic year is posted on the School's website.

Students are automatically considered for QGA Awards, Growth Funding and Teaching Assistantships when accepted each year.  Students are only accepted when a potential supervisor or advisor has agreed to work with them. Students must take the initiative for Scholarships awarded by either Queen's University or some outside agency (e.g. NSERC, SSHRC, OGS), and the School will endeavour to keep all students informed of opportunities.

Stipends are typically paid in equal monthly instalments throughout the year, but at the start of each year, each student must complete a Financial and Supervisory Statement detailing their financial support and the semesters they intend to be in residence at Queen’s.

Financial support is guaranteed for only 6 semesters for research students and 5 semesters for course-based students.

The School of Environmental Studies provides opportunities for advanced interdisciplinary graduate level studies and research in the field of environmental sustainability. The program will provide an appreciation of the breadth of environmental issues, and the ability to interact with professionals outside a single discipline. In this context, sustainability is the study of the natural world and human activities within it, seeking ways that the desirable features of these can be maintained or even enhanced locally, throughout the world, and over time. We think of sustainability in terms of a tripod of issues, environmental, economic, and social, all of which will be examined in detail individually and in their interconnectedness. Sustainability studies, therefore, are interdisciplinary and focused on many situations including resource and land management, industrial and agricultural sustainability, and development of nations.

Within the School, the different perspectives and foci are reflected in the experience of the various faculty members. Current research is related to the three elements of sustainability indicated above, including the natural sciences, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities. A variety of projects are relevant to water quality and quantity, as it relates to human and ecological health, provision of municipal and agricultural water supplies, social justice, and the detection and mitigation of water-related problems. Other projects focus on broad issues of human and ecosystem health within urban and agricultural settings in various locations around the world.

Thesis and project research will fall in these areas, but always within the wider context of sustainability, which will be upheld through interdisciplinary supervision (among departments, between Queen’s and the Royal Military College, and in collaboration with outside agencies), course work and a broad-based seminar series.

Applicants are accepted under the general regulations of the School of Graduate Studies.

MASTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES (MES)

The programs offered conform to the Research masters pattern I (Thesis), and the Project (Course-based) pattern II, the general requirements for which are indicated in the general regulations.

The Thesis-based Pattern I master's program follows the traditional sequence of graduate training with advanced courses (four half-credit courses, including ENSC-801* and ENSC-802*) and the challenge of undertaking extensive original research. This research will result in the submission of a thesis that will be subject to a formal defense and the presentation of a public seminar if possible. The written thesis, based on a student's original research, will include aspects of at least two disciplines, such as ecology and economics, or toxicology and policy. The typical time to completion would be about six semesters.

The Course-based Pattern II master's program will also ensure the development of conceptual thinking, and analytical and interpretive skills. However, this program does not demand intensive research resulting in a thesis. Instead, the candidates will complete six half-credit courses, including ENSC-801* and ENSC-802* and a library-based research project dealing with a specific interdisciplinary problem directly relevant to environmental studies. The study will result in the preparation of a major, formal paper (approximately 60 pages or 15,000 words) and the presentation of a seminar. This program could be completed in three semesters, and should be completed in five.

All students will be required to complete two core courses offered by the School, ENSC-801* and ENSC-802*.

Students in the thesis-based option will take another two half courses, for a total of four plus a thesis.

Students in the course-based option will take a total of six half courses including the two core courses, four other graduate electives and a major paper.

All students may include a maximum of one 400- or 500-level undergraduate course as an elective with permission.

Elective graduate courses may be selected from those offered by a variety of departments.  Permission of the department and instructor are required.

Students must choose their remaining required courses from those offered by the School of Environmental Studies and relevant departments (for a complete listing of suggested courses, see the Environmental Studies web site Course List at http://www.queensu.ca/ensc/graduate/courses/courselist.html)  A primary focus is to expose students with a science background to social science courses such as environmental economics, environmental geography, philosophy, and sociology, and vice versa for students with a social science background.  The selection of appropriate courses will be guided by the supervisory faculty, and by the course instructor, and the course selected must have a clear connection to sustainability.