Dean's Welcome
Our leadership quest is best summarized in the immortal words of Gandhi that, “We must become the change we seek in the world.”
In the Faculty of Environment we are committed to being student-centred, creating learning environments that are challenging, collaborative, experiential, interdisciplinary, skill-based and ethically-informed. Ultimately, our goal is to educate and train the next generation of environmental leaders.
In the face of rapid global environmental change, solutions to environment and development issues require new models and approaches in meeting the needs of learners. We must prepare our students, both undergraduates and graduates, for new and emerging environmental challenges that have properties of complexity, uncertainty, interactivity and rapid change across space and time.
We must be strategic, cross cutting, creative, integrative and forward-looking. Such an approach builds upon high quality evidenced-based research and teaching that integrates natural, social and policy sciences and pure and applied research.
Careers in environment-related fields of planning, analysis, evaluation, modeling, assessment, measurement/detection, management and policy formulation are an integral component of a student’s preparation. Please check out the web sites for member units including Geography, Resource and Environmental Management, Environmental Science, Centre for Sustainable Community Development and the Development Group.
I invite you to explore with us the many exciting opportunities in environmental education that we are currently offering and are planning to offer in the very near future. I very much look forward to welcoming you to our community and would be happy to answer any questions you may have at: fenv-info@sfu.ca. Together my staff and I can assist you in blending learning and career paths.
Dr. John T. Pierce
Dean, Faculty of Environment
B.A. (Hons. Geography), 1971
University of Toronto
M.A. (Geography), 1972
University of Waterloo
Ph.D., 1976
London School of Economics and Political Science
University of London
Research Interests
Food/agricultural systems; resource management/policy; land use allocation, modelling; structural change in resource dependent communities; best practice in community economic development; theory and praxis of sustainable development; universities and their role in innovation.
