The graduate Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences offers opportunities for graduate research in Environmental Science leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Environmental Science. Research and teaching within the department is focused on the interfaces between traditional disciplines in dealing with fundamental scientific environmental issues.
The Department has a dynamic professorial staff with outstanding international reputations. Faculty in the department and links to their personal research pages can be found here
Students with a strong background in the basic sciences and with interests in the any of the concentrations below are encouraged to apply.
The study of contaminant flux and biogeochemical cycles examines how various environmentally-important elements and molecules (including nutrients, metals, and various pollutants) are distributed within Earth's various spheres (eg. atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere), how they move between spheres, and how they move within them. This field of study also looks at various reactions and transformations that occur as a result of interactions within these spheres with other molecules and with biological organisms, such as plants and microbes. Field work, laboratory, and/or modeling approaches to understanding the transport and reactivity of various contaminants (eg. metals, organic compounds) through the atmosphere, within surface waters, and into groundwater systems are used to study contaminant flux and biogeochemical cycles.
Urban geoscience is a branch of geoscience that has recently emerged in response to rapid global population growth and a concern that most developing cities are no longer sustainable. Urban geoscience recognizes that the fundamental challenges faced in urban areas - water supply, sanitation, pollution, waste management, efficient transportation etc. require a sound understanding of the subsurface and the hydrological, geochemical, geomorphological and geo-engineering processes that exert considerable control over urban environmental conditions. It utilizes basic geoscience principles combined with state-of-the art GIS modeling and visualization techniques to provide urban planners and decision-makers with the geoscience knowledge and broad array of georeferenced database material that are key to sustainable urban development and the protection of the peri-urban environment.
Soil and water systems that have been contaminated by both organic and inorganic pollutant can be restored to health with the help of beneficial microbes that are able to transform, sequester or fully degrade toxic elements. The study of the genetics, evolution and ecology of these microbes contributes to our understanding of the conditions and ecosystem parameters that stimulate these critical functions. Restoration studies include the understanding of plant communities and their microbial associations. In addition to toxins, some ecosystems are damaged by the proliferation of invasive species that interrupt critical food webs, or by excess levels of nutrients that alter community compositions. The study of the factors that control species populations and nutrient dynamics are key to developing strategies to restoring ecosystem balance and key services.
North America is endowed with eight of the twelve largest fresh-water lakes in the world. The study of the Great Lakes Ecosystems involves research related to the hydrodynamic and ecosystem structure of the lakes. Specific areas of interest include: temperature structure, seasonal circulation, heat budgets, Langmuir circulation, seiches, waves and water levels, food web dynamics, eutrophication, impact of climate change on ecosystem phenology, and characterization of the interplay between ecology and key geochemical processes. Research activities include laboratory, fieldwork, and modeling based projects that aim to evaluate the resilience of the Great Lakes ecosystem to a wide range of external perturbations (e.g., invasive species, land-use changes, and global warming).
Climate change is a vibrant research area the physical, life and social sciences. Although detection of climate change in the environment remains an active and important research area, the research has expanded to include consideration of mitigation (emission reduction) and adaptation to changes that result from legacy greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These aspects of research tend to be more interdisciplinary in nature to fully understand the complexity of the issues facing society and the nuanced approaches to finding solutions. This concentration within the program is based in the physical sciences but embraces the requisite fields in the life and social sciences. Current areas of research include (but not limited to) the impact of climate change on air quality, soil processes, indigenous communities, water resources, and climate extremes in urban settings.
Environmental issues in developing and transitional economies may require a distinctive approach. With rapid globalization, countries in transition to a market economy present unique environmental concerns. This subfield of the environmental science program provides a platform to investigate aspects of environmental science (climate change, restoration, contaminant flux) under emerging political and economic forces.