Critical for all life on Earth, sustainability is a complex issue that requires a broad and integrated approach to address its many facets, ranging from political and social issues to scientific study and technological solutions.
The interdisciplinary graduate degree in sustainability at UBC Okanagan transcends conventional approaches, bringing together diverse perspectives, insights, tools, and techniques to seek solutions to the challenges of sustainability.
Students will benefit from the knowledge and resources of four faculties and eight departments, and the collaborative opportunities resulting from the interdisciplinary nature of the program.
The MSc and MA interdisciplinary degrees in sustainability give graduate students access to the expertise of diverse, nationally and internationally recognized researchers from a variety of faculties and disciplines in a coherent, thematic framework.
Graduates of the program will come away with a nuanced understanding of contemporary sustainability issues, and be able to approach complex sustainability concerns from a holistic, systems perspective that integrates concepts from applied science, natural science, social science, and the humanities. Graduates will be prepared for positions in government, the private sector, and teaching and research institutions.
Program milestones
Establishing a faculty supervisory committee
Completing coursework
Preparing, presenting, and defending a thesis research proposal
Completing thesis research and writing, and defending the work
Coursework requirements
12 credits are required for the MSc degree, and 18 credits for the MA degree, including:
Proseminar in Interdisciplinary Studies (IGS 524)
Theme Seminar in Sustainability (IGS 584)
Theme Seminar in Knowledge Mobilization and Sustainability Policy (IGS 585)
One research methods course
Additional coursework, selected in consultation with the student’s supervisor (MA option)
The student’s academic and professional history will determine if the student undertakes a Master of Arts or Master of Science degree.
The PhD degree is centred on conducting original, cutting-edge research in sustainability. Graduates of the PhD program are prepared for careers requiring advanced independent research and teaching in academia, government, and industry.
Program milestones
Establishing a faculty supervisory committee
Selecting and completing coursework
Preparing, presenting, and defending a dissertation research proposal
Passing an oral candidacy exam
Completing dissertation research and writing, and defending the work
Coursework requirements
12 credits are required for the PhD degree, including:
Proseminar in Interdisciplinary Studies (IGS 524)
Theme Seminar in Sustainability (IGS 584)
Theme Seminar in Knowledge Mobilization and Sustainability Policy (IGS 585)
Methods coursework (3 credits, selected in consultation with the student’s supervisor)
Research Interests: Political ecology; governmentality; environmental governance; forest-based climate change mitigation; wildfires; nature conservation; global development; community engagement; Nigeria, Ghana, Canada (British Columbia and Alberta).
Courses & Teaching: GEOG 129 Human Geography: Resources, Development and Society
GEOG 233 Climate Change and Society
GEOG 280 Development Geography/ Geographies of the Global South
GEOG 445 /ANTH 445 Political Ecology
IGS 585 Knowledge Mobilization and Sustainability Policy
Jodey Castricano, PhD | Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies | Digital Arts and Humanities, English and Cultural Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas, Sustainability (IGS) | jodey.castricano@ubc.ca | 250.807.9196 | CCS 323E
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: 19th-century studies, including gothic studies and psychoanalysis (Freud/Jung); critical animal studies; ecofeminism; critical and literary theory, film and media studies; feminist and queer theory; ethics; social activism.
Courses & Teaching: English; Cultural Studies
Jon Corbett | Department Head, Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Geography, Institute for Community Engaged Research (ICER), Sustainability (IGS) | jon.corbett@ubc.ca | 250.807.9348 | ART 267
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Geography; ethnobiology; cartography; exploration, facilitation and promotion of community and ecosystem-based models of land and resource use in communities in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and British Columbia, Canada
Courses & Teaching: Resource management policy and practice; the history of environmental thought; cartography and society
Andrea Craig | Assistant Professor | Economics, Global Studies, Sustainability (IGS) | andrea.craig@ubc.ca | 250.807.9345 | ASC 265
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Urban Economics, Applied Microeconomics
Courses & Teaching: Principles of Microeconomics, Urban Economics
Aleksandra Dulic, PhD | Associate Professor | Creative Studies, Digital Arts and Humanities, Media Studies, Sustainability (IGS), Visual Arts | aleksandra.dulic@ubc.ca | 250.807.9771 | CCS 171
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Visual art, new media, video, drawing 2D; media for social change; climate change; interactive art; experience design.
Courses & Teaching: Visual Art; Media Studies; Digital Media
Research Interests: Ecocriticism; contemporary environmental writing; critical animal studies; culture and climate change; wildfire risk.
Courses & Teaching: English; Sustainability
Anita Girvan | Assistant Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, English and Cultural Studies, Sustainability (IGS) | anita.girvan@ubc.ca | CCS 347
Research Interests: Cultural Studies; Environmental Humanities; Political Ecology and Environmental Justice; Black and Indigenous Feminist Ecological Thought; Stories, Metaphor; Critical Canadian Studies
Courses & Teaching: CULT 101: Cultural Studies Practices; CULT 490: Identities and Power
John Graham | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Power, Conflict and Ideas, Social Work, Sustainability (IGS) | john.graham@ubc.ca | 250-807-8738
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: social policy, diversity and social work, spirituality and social work, multicultural social work, and employee well being/ subjective well being (happiness), homelessness prevention research
Courses & Teaching: social policy, international social work, homelessness, research.
Kevin Hanna | Associate Professor | Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences, Sustainability (IGS) | kevin.hanna@ubc.ca | 250.807.9265 | FIP 246
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Environmental impact assessment; natural resources management; energy and mining development.
Courses & Teaching: Environmental impact assessment; energy systems and resources.
Min Hu | Assistant Professor | Economics, Global Studies, Sustainability (IGS) | min.hu@ubc.ca | 250.807.8381 | ART 334
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Health Economics, Applied Microeonomics, Labour Economics, Social Policy
Courses & Teaching: ECON204 Intermediate Microeconomics; ECON295 Managerial Economics; ECON360 Labour Economics and ECON363 Health Economics.
Annamma Joy | Associate Dean, Research; Professor | Faculty of Management, Sustainability (IGS) | annamma.joy@ubc.ca | 250.807.8606 | EME 4129
Research Interests: Sustainability in Art, Fashion, and Wine; Wine Tourism, Artification Process; Luxury Brand Marketing and Management; Gender, Levinas and the Ethics of recognition.
Research Interests: SMARTer Growth; Sustainable community planning & design; Sustainable Transport & Safety; Hydrail powered, zero-emission regional passenger & freight rail; Affordable housing & CoHousing
Courses & Teaching: Engineering Economics and Social Cost Benefit Analysis - ENGR 305 / 505; Transportation Systems Design - ENGR 435; Go Global, study abroad of Sustainable Communities - ENGR 449; Sustainable Transport Safety Engineering - ENGR 534; Railways Systems Engineering - ENGR 437 / 537; Directed Studies Courses on various topics to supplement graduate researcher skill set preparation
Research Interests: Operations & Supply Chain Analytics; Blockchain-based Decision Support Systems; Life Cycle Assessment & Circular Economy; Intelligent Systems Design; Strategic Sustainable Development.
Courses & Teaching: Supply Chain Tactics and Strategies (MANF 460/560); Production Systems Management II (MANF/MANU 370); Life Cycle Assessment and Management (ENGR 544).
Research Interests: Urban cultural geography; urban planning; sustainability of cities; morphogenesis; geography of wine; the role of local culture in urban planning and sustainability in mid-size cities; changing landscapes of wine-producing regions in Canada
Courses & Teaching: Urban geography; urban planning; cultural geography. Specifically, GEOG 128 Human Geography: Space Place and Community; GEOG 250 Introduction to Urban Geography; GEOG 255 Space and Culture; GEOG 354 Urban Canada: Growth, Form and Structure; GEOG 451 Urban Planning; GEOG 491 Selected Topics in Geography: Interpreting Urban Landscapes
Susan Murch | Professor | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute (MMRI), Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystems Services (BRAES), Sustainability (IGS) | susan.murch@ubc.ca | 250.807.9566 | FIP 350
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: The Plant Secondary Metabolite Analytical Research Team (PlantSMART) researches chemistry of plants and how plant chemistry affects human health using analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry, biotechnology, metabolomics and hormonomics approaches.
Courses & Teaching: Analytical chemistry; plant biochemistry.
Micro-credential in Metabolomics
Astrida Neimanis, PhD | Associate Professor | English and Cultural Studies, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Indigenous Knowledges, Sustainability (IGS) | astrida.neimanis@ubc.ca | 250.807.9185 | CCS 370
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Feminist studies (with a focus on embodiment, ecofeminisms, material feminisms and intersectionality), environmental studies (with a focus on cultural studies of water, weather and climate change, and multispecies justice), everyday militarisms, interdisciplinarity, epistemologies and non-traditional research methodologies.
Research Interests: Oceanic and Archipelagic Studies; Indian Ocean and Caribbean Studies; Critical Race Studies Gender Studies; Contemporary literatures from the Global South, including Africa, South Asia and Latin America; Border Theory and Creolization; Theorising the relationship between History and Literature; Environmental Humanities; Medical Humanities. Research Languages:
French, Spanish, English, Hindi, Mauritian Creole.
Courses & Teaching: World Literatures, French
Lael Parrott | Dean Pro Tem, Professor | Biology, Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences, Sustainability (IGS) | lael.parrott@ubc.ca | 250.807.8122 | ASC 401
Research Interests: Understanding ecosystems and landscapes as complex systems in which human and biophysical processes are coupled across multiple scales of space and time; incorporating complexity into natural resource management approaches; regional-scale landscape modelling; social-ecological networks; agent and individual-based modelling approaches; landscape science and scenario building.
Courses & Teaching: Dynamic modelling of coupled human-environment systems.
Tim Paulson | Assistant Professor | History, Power, Conflict and Ideas, Sustainability (IGS) | tim.paulson@ubc.ca | 250.807.8588 | ART 245
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Canadian history; environmental history; economic history; history of capitalism.
Courses & Teaching: Environmental history; Canadian history; North American history; world history.
Research Interests: Sustainability measurement and management; life cycle thinking; environmental and social life cycle assessment of food, feed and biomass supply chains; resource efficiency; social license and market access; trade-based externalization of environmental and social risk.
Donna Senese | Associate Professor | Geography, Global Studies, Sustainability (IGS) | donna.senese@ubc.ca | 250.807.9372 | ASC 404
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: rural resilience, tourism and sustainability, landscapes of wine and food, international experiential education
Courses & Teaching: GEOG 129 Human Geography: Resources, Development and Society; GEOG/SUST 201 Research Methods in Geography and Sustainability, GEOG 318 Rural Geographies; GEOG 365 Parks and Protected Areas Management, GEOG 371 Research Strategies in Human Geography; GEOG 434 Tourism Geographies; GEOG 435 Wine Geographies; GEOG/SUST 491 Selected Topics in Geography and Sustainability: Rural Sustainability: Wine; Food and Tourism in Central Italy
Onyx Sloan Morgan | Assistant Professor | Community, Culture and Global Studies, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Indigenous Knowledges, Sustainability (IGS) | onyx.sloanmorgan@ubc.ca | ART 252
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Critical human geography; resource extraction; queer geographies; settler colonialism; youth-led research and social movements; modern treaties
Courses & Teaching: GEOG 217: Geographies of BC; GEOG 358: Gender, Place & Culture; GEOG 460: Critical Geographies of the Anthropocene; GEOG/GWST 426: Queer Geographies; IGS 550: Voice, Justice, Change
Research Interests: Mathematical biology and spatial ecology; mathematical models of ecological systems; the development and analysis of mathematical and computational models; cyclic predator-prey populations.
John Wagner | Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Power, Conflict and Ideas, Sustainability (IGS) | john.wagner@ubc.ca | 250.807.9318 | ART 262
Research Interests: Environmental anthropology; political ecology; water governance; food security and food sovereignty, local ecological knowledge, conservation and development, language documentation, Okanagan Valley, Columbia River Basin and the Columbia River Treaty, Papua New Guinea.
Courses & Teaching: ANTH 245 Culture and Environment; ANTH 401 Contemporary Theory in Anthropology; ANTH 345 Living in the Anthropocene; ANTH 445 Political Ecology; IGS 586 Community Engagement, Social Change, and Equity.
Research Interests: Analytical glycobiology: the use of modern instrumental techniques to study carbohydrates, their oligomers (glycans) and their metabolism; developing new methods to investigate carbohydrates; and using chemical and analytical tools to investigate the functions of protein-linked glycans in cells and animals.
The Sustainability theme currently includes students at the M.Sc., M.A. and Ph.D. levels. View our list of students and alumni profiles for you to discover more about them and their research.
Connect with your peers
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) cares about the experiential learning and well-being of our students, and about fostering their academic and research excellence. Follow our Faculty Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date on events and connect with our community on campus and beyond.
Theses and Dissertations
Find all UBC Okanagan student publications on the University’s digital repository for research and teaching materials. EXPLORE STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Careers and Outcomes
The interdisciplinary nature of the program will prepare students to continue their academic research in a wide range of fields, or for careers in diverse industries.
Environmental NGOs
Provincial, Federal and First Nations’ governments
Citizens’ advocacy groups
Environmental enterprises
Journalism
Conservation and land management
Consulting
Private sector sustainability and corporate social responsibility departments
Graduate student stipends are funded through a combination of internal and external funding awards, Teaching Assistantships, and Research Assistantships.
Although funding and stipend amounts are not guaranteed, UBC’s Okanagan campus has a number of assistantships available for qualified students. Talk to your potential supervisor about funding opportunities.
Students are expected whenever possible to apply for relevant scholarships and fellowships.
GRADUATE ENTRANCE AWARD
The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences offers a $15,000 merit-based entrance scholarship to three exceptional individuals entering their first year of thesis-based graduate studies under a supervisor from the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, or an Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program with a supervisor who is a member of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.
All applicants to Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences graduate programs who have submitted an application by January 31 will be automatically considered for the award. No additional application is required. Successful applicants will be notified by March 15.
Assistantships
Teaching Assistantships (TA)
Paid TA positions allow graduate students to develop skills in teaching, supervision, facilitation, and student assessment. Teaching assistants may lead seminars, help teach undergraduate courses, or assist in student evaluations and marking. Teaching assistants are mentored by their supervisor and via the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Research Assistantships (RA)
As paid research assistants, graduate students assist their supervisor or other researchers in conducting high-level research, which often contributes to the student’s thesis. RAs are typically funded by the supervisor’s external grants, contracts, and sometimes, other sources of funding.
SCHOLARSHIPS
UBC Awards
The College of Graduate Studies administers merit-based graduate awards at the Okanagan campus. The College manages a number of award competitions each year and administers payment of all internal awards and selected external awards.
External Awards
All prospective graduate students (Domestic and International) should explore and apply for external awards and fellowships, including awards offered by Canada’s three research councils: CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.
Graduate scholarships and awards may also be available from foundations, private companies or foreign governments (check with your country’s education authority).
Admission and Applying
Applicants are encouraged to contact potential supervisors before starting their application. Admission to the program requires the support of a faculty supervisor, as well as meeting program-specific criteria for admission requirements.
Admission Requirements
A complete application package will contain:
Online application and application fee
Official transcripts for all post-secondary institutions attended
Statement of Intent
English language test (for non-native speakers of English)
CV or resumé
Two reference forms or letters
How to Apply
Applying takes time. Students are advised to start the application process two months in advance of the application deadline.
For full consideration, students should submit all application materials by the following deadlines:
Intake
Application Deadline
Domestic applicants
September
January 15
International applicants
September
January 15
In some circumstances, at the request of a theme coordinator, the Dean or Dean designate in CoGS may approve an off-cycle admission for a student who would be significantly disadvantaged by having to begin their studies in September.
At UBC Okanagan, you gain all the benefits of attending a globally ranked, top 5%
university while studying in a close-knit learning community. 50% of graduates,
from all across the globe, choose to stay in the region.
A diverse natural region with sandy beaches, beautiful farms, vineyards,
orchards and
snow-capped mountains, the
Okanagan is an inspirational landscape perfect for those seeking leisure or
outdoor
adventure.
UBC's Okanagan campus borders the dynamic city of Kelowna, a hub of economic
development with a population of
more than 150,000 people— the fourth fastest-growing population in
Canada.
