Whether you have an original research idea and are looking for capstone courses, or you just want to learn more about the environment, there is something for every student within Trinity College and the wider U of T community. Use the blue menu items to explore what current students are up to in the classroom, in their communities and beyond, and have a scroll down this page to see featured student work.
As part of our goal to increase awareness and understanding of complex sustainability issues, we are developing additional opportunities for experiential and embodied learning. By visiting successful sustainability organizations, students witness first-hand the intersection of their classroom knowledge with real-life environmental sustainability challenges. Learn more about some of our initiatives:
Sustaining Conversations Series | Trinity One Program | Food Systems Lab | Ethics, Society & Law Program
Trinity’s Integrated Sustainability Initiative launched a new series – Sustaining Conversation. The first two guests were journalist and best-selling author Linda McQuaig and Archbishop Mark MacDonald. Through the Sustaining Conversations Series, students and faculty have the opportunity to engage with leaders in sustainability across a variety of spheres.
Taking classroom learning into the field – students in the Butterfield Environment & Sustainability stream of the Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program, accompanied by Trinity alumni George and Martha Butterfield, learn from regenerative agriculture experts at the New Farm in Creemore! Students were introduced to a real-life interdisciplinary case study on soil science, sustainable farming practices and political lobbying that led to the recent Sustainable Agriculture Strategy. This outdoor excursion is part of TRN140: Ethics, Humans & Nature and TRN141: Environmental Science & Pathways to Sustainability and taught by Emily Gilbert and Nicole Spiegelaar, respectively. Below: view a few photos from the New Farm excursion: October 17, 2023. Photos by Emily Gilbert.
Pictured below (left) are Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program students and graduates on a recent trip to The New Farm, a regenerative organic farm located in Creemore, Ontario. You can also read more about how Trinity One students took classroom learning into the field.
During a field trip to U of T’s Koffler Scientific Reserve (KSR), students in the Butterfield Environment & Sustainability Stream of the Margaret MacMillan Trinity One program had the opportunity to experience first-hand the work of a Conservation Biologist (see photos below: right).
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Students can also get involved with the Trinity Food Systems Lab (previously known as the Trinity Sustainable Food Systems Research Group or SFSRG) , which includes students and faculty who are focused on research, action, and learning to realize ecologically sound and socially just food systems. Learn more about the Food Systems Lab’s research and projects. Pictured below: raised garden beds at St. Hilda’s College, July 2022: fruits (tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, peppers) that have started to form and later growing stages of plants (peppers, peas, cucumbers, carrots). View more photos.
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Sustainability Speaker Series
As part of Trinity’s Integrated Sustainability Initiative, sustainability studies is being integrated into the College’s academic programs to help equip students with tools to address one of the globe’s most pressing challenges. Trinity’s Ethics, Society & Law Program hosted a new Sustainability Speaker Series focused on the ethics, socio-political context, and the legal environment of sustainability issues.
The Series is organized by the TRN312 “Sustainability Issues in Ethics, Society and Law” course, which is taught by Professor Nicole Spiegelaar, Associate Director of the Trinity’s Integrated Sustainability Initiative, and is co-sponsored by the Trinity’s Integrated Sustainability Initiative and the Ethics, Society & Law Students’ Association. Recent guest speakers included: Darcy Lindberg (Addressing Sustainability Issues with Indigenous Legal Orders); Spotting (and Communicating) a Fake: Debunking the Recycling Myth with Environmental Defence; and Dayna Scott (A Feminist Political Economy of Pollution: Advancing Analytics and Ethics on Toxics and Gender). Click poster on right to view or click here for more information.
Featured Student Work in TRN312: Communicating Knowledge Creatively
The addition of TRN312: Sustainability Issues in Ethics, Society & Law, marks a shift within the Ethics, Society & Law program and embodies the philosophies of the Integrated Sustainability Initiative. Taught by our Associate Director, Professor Nicole Spiegelaar, this course allows students to delve headfirst into issues of environmental justice. Students are encouraged to think creatively about communicating sustainability issues to the broader public by translating academic knowledge as well as political and legal discourse. See below for featured student work.
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