Every Day is Earth Day at Trent University
Trent celebrates long-standing reputation as leading green campus
In honour of Earth Day on April 22, Trent University is recognizing and celebrating its history as a champion of environmental education and sustainability.
For more than 50 years Trent University has been a leader in environmental stewardship, establishing itself as one of Canada’s top postsecondary environmental institutions, and the University of choice for future environmental leaders. Whether it be through Trent’s School of the Environment, or the continuous investment in state-of-the-art facilities, top teaching and research expertise, or through its stewardship of the second-to-none natural assets of its beautiful 1400-acre Peterborough campus, Trent continues to challenge the way we think about environmental programs and sustainability initiatives.
Trent School of the Environment
In 2015, Trent University launched the Trent School of the Environment (TSE), which brings together all the environmental expertise at Trent allowing students to explore the full range of how we experience the environment: through water, air, soil, climate, food and our interactions with all living things. The Trent School of the Environment offers a rich learning environment at every level of study.
Cutting-Edge Environmental and Sustainability Programs
Within the TSE, Trent’s innovative and dynamic environmental programs and hands-on experience prepare students for success in future careers in such wide-ranging fields as water pollution, climate change, environmental law and policy, natural resource stewardship, or sourcing renewable energy alternatives. Programs include:
- Environmental Geoscience B.Sc. – Trent’s newest degree program offers students the opportunity to study the interaction between human activities and earth systems and grants students specialized, hands-on training in environmental geoscience, including techniques used in geotechnical investigations.
- Water Sciences B.Sc. – this program ensures future environmental leaders and scientists will be equipped with the expertise to solve problems related to the quantity and the quality of our world's most precious resource.
- Environmental and Resource Science/Studies B.Sc./B.A. (ERS) – one of the first environmental programs to be launched at a Canadian university, and become the first program to be officially accredited to the National Standard of Environmental Programs in Canada by ECO Canada.
- B.A. / B.Sc. in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems offers students the opportunity to understand issues in organic food, farming, fair trade and many other aspects of food and agriculture from a scientific, political and social perspective.
- Indigenous Environmental Studies/Science B.A./B.Sc. – Trent is the only university in Canada to offer this unique program, which brings together principles of both Indigenous knowledge and western science in a unique and collaborative approach to learning.
- Ecological Restoration - a unique partnership program with Fleming College offering students both a college diploma and university degree in four years.
Renowned Environmental Researchers & Global Experts
Research excellence at Trent helps to solve complex problems and contribute to high-calibre research across a diverse range of fields. Trent’s faculty include many leading-edge environmental researchers, including:
- Dr. Céline Guéguen, Canada research chair (CRC) in Aquatic Sciences and Biogeochemistry, is researching how growing concentrations of water-borne pollutants, especially those from melting permafrost, will affect plants and animals in the Canadian Arctic.
- Dr. Dennis Murray, CRC in Integrative Wildlife Conservation, is researching the causes and consequences of declines in animal populations, range loss, and extinction.
- Dr. Paul Szpak, CRC in Environmental Archaeology, is working to create a record of how humans have impacted the environment and, how humans have been influenced by the environment throughout time, allowing for a better assessment of the many changes seen today such as those caused by climate change or human impact on marine ecosystems and fisheries.
- Dr. Julian Aherne, Canada research chair (CRC) in Environmental Modelling, is working to improve understanding of what pollutants will do in the future.
Student Engagement
Committed to environmental sustainability, Trent University equips students at all levels of study with the diverse knowledge they need to take leadership roles in shaping their own learning experiences. Some recent student initiatives in the area of the environment include:
- The Seasoned Spoon Café – Located in Trent University’s Champlain College, The Seasoned Spoon Café is a non-profit, vegetarian, cooperative café that utilizes organically and locally sourced food grown at the Trent Vegetable Gardens to promote small-scale production and revitalize Peterborough’s regional agricultural system. Don’t forget your Tupperware! This sustainable field-to-table campus food system furthers its environmental leadership by offering glass dishes and cloth napkins, eliminating paper and plastic take away containers.
Environmental Events and Green Initiatives at Trent
Below are just a few examples of how Trent champions sustainable initiatives:
- Green Convocation – At water bottle-free convocation ceremonies, graduates take the green pledge of social and environmental sustainability.
- Sustainable Business: Trent continues to divert tonnes of waste from landfill through composting on campus, has replaced all cleaning supplies to Green Seal or certified EcoLogo, has reduced GHG emissions by 220eCO2 tonnes (2012), and will save between $50,000 and $75,000 in energy costs per year through Bata Library lighting and exterior lighting retrofits.
For more examples of how Trent is living up to its reputation as a leader in sustainability and the environment, visit the Sustainability Office website.