Education/training
Environmental concerns drive new degree programIt's breaking new territory as the only degree of its kind in Canada, but that's not the territory it's focused on; rather, it's concerned with contaminated land and water and undoing damage caused by industry and urbanization. LINDA WHITE |
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 [ 2006-02-01 ] |
"There are no open tracts of land left in many cities. This is really a career path that will become part of every development opportunity forthcoming," says Wendy Meininger-Dyk of Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology.
The Toronto college created an Integrated Environmental Site Remediation degree program in response to growing environmental concerns. It had been teaching a remediation course in another program, but instructors saw the potential to do more.
"We realized we were just scratching the surface. We took a look at this area and it turned out to be huge, growing and poorly equipped," says Meininger-Dyk, academic co-ordinator, Bachelor of Applied Technology.
At the time, the provincial government began allowing community colleges to offer applied degrees. "It wanted degrees that were substantially different than those offered at universities. We presented our idea to an industry panel and asked them very pointedly what they wanted to see in employees and if (graduates) would be employable," Meininger-Dyk says.
"They very clearly told us they had enough engineers and geo scientists, but not people who could break through those educational silos and address the issues. Remediation is a question of land valuation, a question of community, a question of urban planning and environmental planning, and a question of technology."
The program integrates science, law, planning, communications, engineering and computer applications. "Our law courses are taught by lawyers, our planning courses are taught by planners," Meininger-Dyk says. "These are people who work as experts in their fields but also work with brownfield and land remediation."
The program is attracting students passionate about science and the environment. Its first class is in its third of four years.
"Enrollment has been consistent, but consistently small," Meininger-Dyk says. "Many high school students don't understand the complexity of the program and the potential in the workforce. About 90% of our student body is mature learners."
Students take part in several week-long field trips, co-op placements and specialized health and safety training. "We're looking for a person who has the ability to do the science. It's the core of what we're doing, so they should excel in chemistry and mathematics. In addition, we need people who are good communicators and critical thinkers," Meininger-Dyk says.
"People tend to have abilities greater in one area than another and I think they will naturally gravitate to one or the other. There is enough breadth in this program that you can pick the career direction you feel most comfortable with."
The remediation industry is growing and needs an estimated 25,000 people to fill jobs in North America, reports Bill Humber, chair of Seneca's Centre for the Built Environment.
Graduates can expect to work with consulting engineers, municipal decision makers, urban planning consortiums, international development agencies, property management and private developers.
Some development efforts will be focused on brownfield -- vacant land that may or may not be contaminated. "Brownfield has the potential to be redeveloped, but no one is sure what's in the ground. It's recognized there's a real economic potential for the redevelopment of that site," Meininger-Dyk says.
Damaged waterfront lands illustrate another need for remediation. "It made sense for economic development to begin at the lake," she says. "Our economic realities have changed, but the land use needs to keep up with that and it hasn't. That's the helpfulness of this program. It's taking land that's not part of our community and returning it to the community."
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QUICK FACTS
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology launched an Integrated Environmental Site Remediation degree program in response to growing environmental challenges.
Remediation is the cleanup and redevelopment of polluted or contaminated land, water and air. It is a way of undoing some of the damage industry and urbanization have caused to the natural environment and a means of re-thinking how we live on the land.
To learn more about the program, visit www.senecac.on.ca/cbe/iesr or contact Wendy Meininger-Dyk, academic co-ordinator, at iesr.technology@senecac.on.ca or 416-491-5050, ext. 2521.
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