The McGill-Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) Neotropical Environment Option (NEO) is a research-based concentration for M.Sc. or Ph.D. students in the departments of Anthropology, Biology, Bioresource Engineering, Geography, Natural Resource Sciences, Plant Science, and Political Science at McGill University. The NEO is aimed at students who wish to focus their graduate research on environmental issues relevant to the Neotropics and Latin American countries. The typical NEO student has a very strong interest in conservation because NEO courses focus on conservation issues. Students in the program have diverse backgrounds, including both Latin American and Canadian students, and must either speak Spanish or enrol in a Spanish course when they enter the program. NEO favours interdisciplinary approaches to research and learning through the participation of researchers from McGill and from STRI. Accordingly, each student will have two co-supervisors, one from McGill and one from STRI. Students will complete their research in Latin America, and the NEO’s core and complementary courses will be taught in Panama. Participation in the MSE-Panama Symposium presentation in Montreal is also required. Through this educational approach, NEO seeks to facilitate a broader understanding of tropical environmental issues and the development of skills relevant to working in the tropics.