School of the Environment, University of Toronto

📖 Teaching Food Studies by co-edited, Assistant Professor Michael Classens and Professor Jennifer Sumner, is now available!
https://buff.ly/gBlUvHz

This innovative book explores how teaching food studies can contribute to an equitable and sustainable world. Amid climate collapse and geopolitical instability, leading experts emphasise how teaching food studies from a critical perspective has never been more important, nor more at risk.

The book features a lively and diverse range of perspectives on critical food pedagogy from field-leading senior academics through to emerging researchers. Each chapter focuses on an essential concept within food studies – from food agency and de-meatification, to food politics and food justice, among many others. The chapters offer guidance on teaching by providing a summary of the concept, highlighting its importance to food studies, outlining the key scholarly debates and including further reading suggestions.

Teaching Food Studies is an essential resource for students and academics in food studies across disciplines. It is also a key read for educators in higher education institutions as well as practitioners and policymakers involved in food insecurity, food justice, food policy and food sovereignty work.

Assistant Professor Ranaivo Rasolofoson has led and conducted independent research that transcends disciplines and systems (e.g., terrestrial and marine). His research addresses global challenges related to human health, development, and environmental sustainability. Ranaivo currently examines the roles of environmental resources in resilience to the health impacts of extreme weather events. He also explores how to integrate community conservation and nutrition programs to deliver benefits to nutritional health and the environment in low-income countries. He is the recipient of a 2024-25 Connaught New Researcher Award. Find out more about what inspires his research.

🔗 https://buff.ly/jpsgnfm

📢 Second-year students! Applications are officially open for the School of the Environment Second-Year Learning Communities! Build friendships, become more confident academically and gain insight into future academic and career opportunities.

Apply here by July 1st➡ uoft.me/slc

🎉 Professor John Robinson is set to retire on July 1, 2026 leaving a legacy of optimism in sustainability. His teaching career ends where it first began – at U of T, where he earned both his BA and PhD. In 2016, Robinson returned to U of T where he was appointed presidential advisor on the environment, climate change, and sustainability. The inaugural role included co-chairing the President’s Advisory Committee on the Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability (CECCS) Robinson served as co-chair until earlier this year.
🔗 https://buff.ly/lJVrzkS

Assistant Professor Ranaivo Rasolofoson published "Distributional effects of marine conservation on coastal livelihoods in Eastern Indonesia" in Nature Communications.
🔗 https://buff.ly/rY0Ap2Y

The study investigates socioeconomic inequality linked to marine protected areas in eastern Indonesia using a quasi-experimental design and multi-round household surveys of over 10,000 households across 180 coastal settlements in 10 MPAs (2010–2017).

Associate Professor Kate Neville, as part of a research team, published the open-access research paper "Toward inclusive energy futures: Reflections on the collective authorship of a multi-institutional, interdisciplinary, and community-engaged equity, diversity, and inclusion terms of reference".
https://buff.ly/9QXyzJL

Abstract

This reflection outlines the development of a Terms of Reference (ToR) for equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in a 6-year energy transitions research project spanning 11 institutions and involving 100 researchers across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), social science, and humanities disciplines. This multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional project involves partnerships with industry and civil society organizations, attempts to center justice-oriented research, and includes communities and users in knowledge co-production in a field of research and practice known for exclusion and marginalization. An EDI ToR is a guiding document that outlines the shared understandings and practices necessary to foster a safe, equitable, and inclusive research environment.

Associate Professor Franklin published "Characterizing spatiotemporal trends in PM2.5 component exposures across the western United States using daily 1-km estimates from multi-source data and deep learning" in the Journal of Environmental Management.
https://buff.ly/hACRs09

🔦 Faculty Spotlight: Michael Classens

Assistant Professor Michael Classens is the undergraduate associate director at the School of the Environment. His research focuses on food systems transformation, social and environmental justice, and critical food systems pedagogy. In his courses, he specializes in community-based learning, informal learning outside the classroom, and integrating multiple sources of knowledge, including community-based knowledge. In 2024 he received the Faculty of Arts & Science Outstanding Teaching Award – Early Career.
https://buff.ly/eVBU30i

Assistant Professor Simon Appolloni published "What are we doing? Advancing a discussion of how instructors teaching courses on the environment at universities are addressing eco-anxiety among their students" in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.
https://buff.ly/Ya92M8z

Associate Professor Meredith Franklin published "Modeling community hydrogen sulfide exposure in an urban industrial area during routine and extreme events" in Environmental Pollution.
https://buff.ly/c2E6X4P