Greg Wilburn - MA in Environment and Management

I’ve been working in the field of environmental policy for about 16 years. I’m a senior advisor in the Sustainability Policy Directorate at Environment Canada in Ottawa. Graduate work in environmental management seemed the best route to further my credentials for advancement.

I chose RRU because, in mid-career, it was hard to take a break for graduate education. RRU allowed me to upgrade my credentials, progress within my field, and maintain my standard of living. In addition, RRU faculty were doing research in areas relevant to my work. In fact, one of Canada’s foremost thinkers in sustainable development and public policy supervised my thesis.

The RRU model is very different from the traditional lecture approach. The class sizes are slightly smaller than in many universities. And the faculty and world-class lecturers are incredible. RRU brings in specialists for areas of particular interest to each cohort. We had professors from the U.K., Australia, and others who were former senior members of government and private sector organizations. It was a great way to learn.

The mix of online learning and residency was ideal – and challenging. The online portions were as demanding as a full time university program. We worked hard as a team to exchange ideas effectively and meet our deadlines. The three-week residencies were intense, too. We were in school from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., and then worked on assignments and team projects. We formed very intense relationships with our team-mates and gained an intimate knowledge of our faculty.

We learned as much from our residency colleagues as we did from faculty. You meet a broad range of people, work with them in a challenging environment, and stretch your abilities. In my year there were people from the federal and provincial governments, private industry and non-government organizations. I came out of the program aware of the great diversity of people working in this field and their different perspectives.

I’m not the most technically inclined person, but I found RRU’s online interface really straightforward. The online component was beyond comparison, and the structured exchange format was very easy to manage. With clear expectations, we received instruction and assignments and delivered our results online. Of course, you do have to be self-disciplined since you’re not showing up every week.

At work, I find I’m now challenging a lot of traditional beliefs because of my exploration of new ideas on the environment and sustainability. Our review of how sustainable development has been implemented internationally had an enormous impact on how I view my own role within the federal government. I’m now hoping to apply that knowledge in the creation of the first federal sustainable development strategy.

My RRU education has made a huge impact – and it was worth every minute of effort.