Toronto, January 30, 2015 - WWF-Canada and the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) at York University are pleased to announce a unique collaboration that will bring together academic research and on-the-ground conservation work.

The goal of the partnership is to create opportunities for students, at Canada’s largest environmental studies Faculty, to gain hands-on experience with one of the world’s best-known conservation organizations.

“WWF looks forward to working with one of Canada’s oldest and largest environmental Faculties, to allow greater environmental collaboration in our on-the-ground work,” said WWF-Canada CEO David Miller. “We look forward to working with the environmental leaders of the future. Together, we will identify opportunities to develop innovative research and joint outreach activities, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that people and nature live in harmony.”

Miller is now an adjunct faculty member at the FES and kicked off the partnership with lectures to two enthusiastic classes.

Miller’s first lecture for undergraduates focused on transit while his second lecture highlighted key research from WWF-Canada’s freshwater program, including the organization’s unique freshwater health assessment methodology and freshwater threats assessment tool. The WWF freshwater team will publish findings on the health of 50 per cent of Canada’s freshwater in June, and results for all freshwater in Canada by 2017. (Canada holds 20 per cent of the world’s freshwater.)

“WWF-Canada’s history of conservation work is well known,” said Dean Noël Sturgeon of the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. “The opportunity to connect our research to projects that have real-world implications and impact will be a significant benefit for our faculty and students.”

The Faculty graduates over 300 students each year and houses over 40 full-time faculty members.

“York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies is known to have a strong track record of applying innovative solutions to environmental problems,” said David Miller. “WWF-Canada believes we will be able to achieve an even greater impact in our conservation efforts by collaborating with FES’s established team of experts and students.”

The lectures marked the beginning of an important relationship that will foster meaningful collaborative opportunities for both FES students and WWF-Canada employees to demonstrate that healthy ecosystems drive community and economic well-being.

For more information contact
Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, wallsj@yorku.ca,  416 736 2100 x22101.
Rebecca Spring, WWF-Canada, rspring@wwfcanada.org, +1 416 489 4567 ext 7343.

About York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies
Established in 1968, the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) at York University is the first Environmental Studies Faculty in North America. Offering 3 innovative programs at the Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral levels, our mandate is to provide unsurpassed opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research about natural, built, social, cultural, and political-economic environments and the dynamic relationships between these. Dedicated to inspiring active-learners and engaged citizens, we are a community that respects and values insight, creativity, justice, and diversity and that works to promote significant social and environmental change toward the creation of a more equitable and sustainable world through imaginative and critical thought, and concerted action. Challenge what is. Imagine what could be. www.fes.yorku.ca
About WWF-Canada
WWF-Canada is part of WWF (World Wildlife Fund), the global conservation organization. With the active support of over 250,000 Canadians, WWF is Canada’s largest conservation organization. As the largest conservation organization in Canada, WWF-Canada brings (40-plus) years of history in implementing science-based knowledge and research into on-the-ground projects. WWF is creating solutions to the most serious conservation challenges facing our planet, helping people and nature thrive. www.wwf.ca