School of the Environment-University of Toronto training

The focus of this course is the human health dimensions of contemporary global environmental change. Course content has an emphasis on processes of change related to natural systems as opposed to the built environment. The main goal of the course is to examine the range of health impacts, direct and indirect, connected with global environmental change and, secondarily, to explore management and policy aspects. Students study the natural science underlying the various global environmental issues, examine links between different aspects of environmental change, particularly health outcomes, and explore the causal pathways.

This course explores the science underlying environmental issues that affect human health. Course content examines the scientific nature of the linkages between environment and health, determinants of health, and how various paradigms and sets of values affect the strategies employed in negating environmental health issues. A number of case studies are examined including air pollution, endocrine disrupters, children’s environmental health, climate change, urban sprawl, and cancer.