The right environment for learning

By Amyna Mamdani

A concern about the environment is what attracted Dan Woynillowicz, BSc'01, to the University of Calgary to study environmental science. Now a senior policy analyst at the Pembina Institute, he’s one of more than 250 graduates of the multidisciplinary undergraduate program who are making a difference in Alberta and beyond.

Woynillowicz was one of four alumni who were featured speakers at a special Environmental Science Symposium held on campus on Oct. 18 to mark the U of C’s 40th anniversary—and the environmental science program’s 10th birthday.

Program director Dr. Mary Reid, who spoke on “A Decade of Accomplishments,” says the program’s graduates are its greatest accomplishment.

“Environmental science is not just about collecting data. It’s about being able to interpret, analyze and make conclusions about the impact that data will have on the environment,” she says.

Succeeding in the program takes not only motivation and hard work, but a deeply rooted passion for the environment, says Woynillowicz, who graduated in 2001. He credits the program’s inter-disciplinary approach and, more specifically, its experiential learning opportunities to his success.

The environmental science program is well-known for its senior-level field projects, where students immerse themselves in real research questions and, working in multidisciplinary groups, come up with answers that will help the community deal with environmental issues such as flooding and water shortages.

Woynillowicz now uses those analytical skills daily. He describes his job as being able to take complex issues and distill them into policies and decisions that are simple and easy to understand.

“The program provided me with a greater breadth of knowledge in the sciences and, in turn, gave me the opportunity to apply to the real world what I was learning in the classroom,” Woynillowicz says. “I chose it because I felt it would give me a variety of career options and it did just that.”

So what do the next 10 years look like for the environmental science program? Reid sees it playing a larger role, as issues such as climate change and natural resource extraction in the north come to the fore. “Being in a city that is an industry forerunner in oil and natural resources, the university has the potential to have a big impact in this region.”