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Master of Environmental Toxicology
Discover a Career in Environmental Toxicology
Environmental toxicology is a rapidly expanding area of environmental science concerned with understanding the adverse effects of chemical, physical, and biological agents on living organisms. Organisms are continually exposed to and challenged by chemicals in our environment—and environmenal toxicologists are interested in finding scientifically sound answers to questions like:
- which chemicals are dangerous?
- what are the environmental and biological fates of these chemicals?
- how much exposure will cause harm?
- what are the deleterious effects of exposure to a particular chemical?
If you're ready to pursue an academically challenging program with strong career prospects and a focus on improving the wellbeing of humans and the environment, the Master of Environmental Toxicology could be the perfect fit for you. For more information on the MET program, please visit the MET current student page or our supplemental site.
Program Requirements
The MET is a professional Master's program and is primarily course-work based.
The program requires completion of 7 core courses, 3 electives and a thesis, for a minimum of 38 units.
The program is normally completed within 9 terms and requires successful completion and defence of an MET project based on original research.
Financial Support
Academia
Graduate students accepted into the MET graduate program are primarily supported as Research Assistants by their Faculty advisors during their project research. Continuation of assistantship support, regardless of source, is contingent upon satisfactory progress toward research and academic goals as determined by the student's annual progress evaluation. During coursework, students are generally funded through Teaching Assistantships (TAs) in the department, however, TAships are not always guaranteed. As TAs, students generally assist in the preparation and teaching of undergraduate or graduate courses, and obtain valuable experience in teaching that will help them in their future careers as toxicologists.
Government-Sponsored Programs
Numerous government agencies provide graduate training programs in toxicology at universities.
A time-honored graduate training route has been through investigator-initiated research grants and awards for graduate training, which focus the graduate student in the area of the mentor. Most researchers at academic institutions who receive federal research grants have the ability to sponsor graduate students for government agency awards (e.g. NSERC).
Industry-Sponsored Programs
Many companies that employ toxicologists (e.g. pharmaceutical, chemical, food and environmental consulting companies companies) can provide graduate training opportunities for individuals in toxicology or related disciplines. Another often-overlooked source of graduate training is the contract laboratory. The contract laboratory exposes the early career scientist to the broadest issues in general toxicology, especially testing and preparing documents for submission to regulatory agencies. In many respects, this type of experience represents the practice or art of toxicology, while the university experience represents the science of toxicology.
Program Faculty
Contact information and research areas for MET faculty members are linked below. Feel free to contact any of the MET faculty members for more information on the program:
- Dr. Chris Kennedy, Director of MET program
- Dr. Tim Beischlag
- Dr. Jane Fowler
- Dr. Frank Gobas
- Dr. Francis Law (Professor Emeritus)
- Dr. Vicki Marlatt
- Dr. Margo Moore (Professor Emerita)
- Dr. Miriam Rosin