How to apply

Application Deadline 

Each year, the School strongly encourages applications to be filed by January 31 - early applications will receive priority consideration. Admission is for September intake only.

Supervision 

Master of Environmental Studies (MES) applicants must have an approved supervisor or co-supervisor at Dalhousie. Applicants should reach out to faculty members with similar areas of interest to begin a conversation about alignment with the School and to establish a potential supervisor relationship.

SRES has several collaborators in other departments, universities and organizations who are open to being approached by MES applications for the purposes of discussing supervision and/or co-supervision. They are marked on our adjunct and cross-appointment pages with an asterix.

If your intended supervisor is based outside of SRES, there must also be a contact of one or more core SRES professor(s) on your thesis committee. These individuals should ideally be identified prior to applying. 

Reaching out for potential supervision should be done in advance of submitting an application, as most professors only accept a few students a year and those places can fill up early. Please download our prepared document How to express interest in working with a SRES Professor [PDF - 81kb] for guidance. If you have difficulty accessing or reading this document, please reach out to sres@dal.ca for assistance.

Funding Information

Applicants who are eligible for Tri-Agency Scholarships (NSERC, SSHERC, CIHR) must contact SRES well before the agency deadlines of December 1.

The Harmonized Scholarship Process (HSP) is an application process for several scholarship competitions, including the Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship and Killam.  Questions about eligibility should be addressed to sres@dal.ca.  A supervisory relationship should be established in advance of this deadline as they can help with proposal preparation.

Applicants who list SRES on their scholarship applications but have not been in touch with any of our faculty will not have their applications supported at the Departmental level.

See Funding & Support for information on these and other department specific opportunities.

Submission Instructions

Please read the below submission instructions in detail as they will provide you with instruction and advice on the application process. 

The supporting documents listed below can be sent directly to the School for Resource and Environmental Studies email at sres@dal.ca or by mail or courier. 

Mailing address
School for Resource and Environmental Studies
Faculty of Management
6100 University Avenue
Dalhousie University
P.O. Box 15000
Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4R2

Courier address
School for Resource and Environmental Studies
Dalhousie University
Kenneth C. Rowe Management Bldg 
6100 University Avenue, Suite 5010 
Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4R2

Application

The Application for Admission form can be submitted online.

Transcripts

We require transcripts from all post- secondary education institutions you have attended. This includes exchange programs, or any courses taken outside your home university.

Transcripts must come directly from the issuing university and must include your first and last name, degree and program type and name of degree issuing university.

Transcripts will be accepted in the following ways:

  • Two (2) copies of sealed, official transcripts issued directly from all institutions attended sent to SRES’ mail or courier address.
  • Electronic file transfer from the issuing institution and from services such as Parchment, National Student Clearing House, eScript-Safe, or TranscriptNetwork. 
  • PDF's sent by email directly from the issuing institution.

If the transcript you submit upon applying is not final, your final transcripts are due 90 days after the start of term. Your final transcripts must include your first and last name, your degree and program and your degree conferral date. If the date is not on the transcripts, a degree certificate from the university stating the date of conferral is required. 

If ongoing covid restrictions wil impact your ability to submit official documents please indicate this when submitting other documents to discuss with the admissions secretary, Taylor McCuaig. 

Academic Reference Letters

Please submit two letters of reference through Dalhousie's electronic reference system. You will be asked to input your reference's contact information on your application. Once you have paid your application fee, please allow 5 business days for your referee(s) to be contacted by our system. If you have made an error in submission of an email address, please contact eref@dal.ca.

If your referee does not have a valid University or government email address, they must fill out the Confidential Reference Letter [PDF - 526kb] and email it to sres@dal.ca. They may include a separate letter, but this is not required. They should NOT include you on the email when submitting. 

  • Applicants who have completed their undergraduate degree within the last three years must submit two academic references. An academic reference is one written by someone who has taught you in a post-secondary course or supervised a significant independent research activity like an Honours or independent project. Applicants should be advised that when assessing reference letters, the committee weighs heavily the opinion of experienced academic referees, i.e. those who have had the opportunity to work with many students at comparable levels. 
  • Applicants who have completed their undergraduate degrees more than 5 years ago may instead provide one academic reference and one relevant professional reference. Applicants who have been out of school for a duration significantly longer than 5 years and who feel they would be disadvantaged by having to identify an academic referee should get in touch.

CV

A full curriculum vitae (résumé) highlighting personal academics and work history, publications, awards, fellowships, extra-curricular interests and research and volunteer experience.

Statement of Interest

In a statement not exceeding two pages, single-spaced, applicants must explain their research interests and one or more possible thesis topics. A potential supervisor can provide advice on possible research topics and guide an applicant through the process of creating a strong research-interest statement. Your Statement of Interest should not simply provide a summary of the information already detailed in your CV, but instead should give the Admission Committee a sense of what your goals are for your MES experience. For example, what makes you a good fit for this program and how the MES may further your career goals, in addition to explaining your potential thesis topic and work or academic experiences.

Confirmation of Supervision Form

The Confirmation of Supervision form [PDF - 98kb] should be completed by the applicant and the faculty member who has agreed to supervise the applicants work should they be admitted to the School. Ensuring this form is completed and submitted is the responsibility of the applicant as it is a necessary component of the MES application. Applicants are expected to request assistance with completing the form with their agreed supervisors.  

If the agreed supervisor is not a core SRES faculty member, one will need to be included in the committee and co-sign the form. If there is an agreement of co-supervision both supervisors should be included and co-sign the form.

Forms should be sent directly to sres@dal.ca with other supporting documents.

Applicants with English as a Second Language

Proof of competence in English: Students must provide satisfactory results from a standard language test, such as TOEFL (minimum score of 100 for the internet-based test); IELTS (7.5 minimum score) CCE (A). Waiver of this regulation in exceptional cases may be considered only after evaluation of the application is complete.

Additional Information for International Applicants 

International Students must clearly indicate their source of funding on their application. Applicants may be contacted to provide further documents to show available financial support.

International students should see the International students page for more information.