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Convocation
When academic curiosity meets environmental purpose: new global environmental systems grad builds interdisciplinary foundation at 大象传媒
Global environmental systems major Joshua Doknjas graduates this October ready to tackle his next challenge with new skills in academic writing, geographic information science (GIS) and data analysis.
Doknjas is a FIDE chess master who has been playing the game since he was four years old. He enjoyed early success in local youth tournaments, which later extended to competitions across Canada and abroad, where he competed at the international level.
Though he stopped playing competitively in 2020, he continues to coach others in the game and has even written a book for chess players called the The AI Revolution in Chess.
The book 鈥渄escribes, through practical examples, how AI has impacted chess at the grandmaster level by introducing new opening ideas and strategies,鈥� Doknjas shares.
He came up with idea for the book while sitting in a cognitive science class at 大象传媒, where he鈥檇 been learning about AI and its applications in language learning and psychology.
In addition to his co-op work terms, being able to explore different subjects, like cognitive science, through his elective courses was one of the highlights of being a student at 大象传媒, he says.
In fact, those opportunities are how he discovered he wanted to study Global Environmental Systems and GIS.
Doknjas had been a software student when he took his first geography class, an introductory course in GIS, as an elective. The following year, he took the skills he learned in that class with him on co-op at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, where he saw their practical value and gained insight into potential career paths and research fields in environment.
That experience motivated him to switch his major to global environmental systems and pursue a certificate in GIS to gain skills he describes as essential for analyzing environmental data and mapping.
鈥淕IS skills are especially useful for those interested in government and research work, and it helped me quite a bit during my interviews and work terms.鈥�
What surprised him most throughout his studies was how connected and complementary his courses were 鈥� even when the subjects seemed unrelated.
鈥淔or example,鈥� he explains, 鈥渕y cognitive science and programming classes were helpful for my GES degree by improving my ability to critically read academic papers and by helping me to apply structured problem-solving to my GIS and climate-related coursework.鈥�
Doknjas wants to continue to pursue academic research now that he鈥檚 completed his first degree.
鈥淚 would like to apply my GIS and remote sensing skills to environmental challenges such as wildfires and climate impacts. The GES degree introduced me to many interesting areas of study, and I plan to refine my focus through graduate studies next year.鈥�