Master of Science (MSc)

Geography

Master of Science (MSc)

Thesis-based program

Program overview

Engage in deep scholarship on the relationships between spaces, people and places. Graduate students admitted into the Geography program join a community of internationally recognized scholars offering one-on-one supervision and small graduate seminars. The program offers a judicious mix of course work and investigation that is tailored to meet the needs of each student's research endeavour. Faculty have extensive experience with physical and human geography, as well as geographic methods. With a campus located in Alberta's open prairies at the foot of the stunning Rocky Mountains, the University of Calgary offers students an incomparable location to pursue advanced study in Geography.

Students are normally admitted to the Fall term. However, off-cycle admissions may also be considered on an individual basis but will require alternate funding arrangements. Program funding will only be distributed in the competition for Fall admissions. Please contact the program for details.

Completing this program

  • Core Course: History and Philosophy of Physical or Human Geography.
  • Conference: Students will participate in the annual department conference.
  • Additional Courses: Topics may include remote sensing, statistical methods, spatial analysis and modelling, fluvial geomorphology and others.
  • Thesis: Students will prepare and defend an original research thesis.

Outcomes

Cartographer, commercial/residential surveyor, environmental consultant, planning and development surveyor, teacher, planner, demographer, community developer, resource management specialist, municipal advisor, development officer.

A master’s degree in geography will give you the pre-requisite for a PhD.

Thesis-based program

Students are required to prepare a thesis and successfully defend in an open oral defense.

Courses

Four courses and four graduate research seminars

Learn more about program requirements in the Academic Calendar

Classroom delivery

Time commitment

Two years full-time; four years maximum

Supervisor

A supervisor is required, and must agree to oversee the student's research before the student applies for admission

Fees and funding

See the Graduate Calendar for information on fees and fee regulations, and for information on awards and financial assistance.

Virtual Tour

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Supervisors

Learn about faculty available to supervise this degree.
Please note: additional supervisors may be available. Please visit this page for more information.


  1. Shelley Alexander

    Shelley Alexander

    Accepting Inquiries
    Human-Animal Relationships, Conservation and Geospatial Science
  2. Darren Bender

    Darren Bender

    Unavailable
  3. Gwendolyn Blue

    Gwendolyn Blue

    Accepting Inquiries
    Public engagement with science and technology; Science-based controversies (climate change, genomics), Human-animal relations; More-than-human geographies
  4. Ryan Burns

    Ryan Burns

    Accepting Inquiries
    Urban GIS, Critical GIS, Digital Humanitarianism, Open Data, Smart Cities, Geovisualization and geovisual analytics, Geographical software studies, Geographic political economy
  5. Placeholder Profile Image

    Dianne Draper

    Unavailable
    Sustainability; resources and environmental management and planning, Sustainable tourism, Parks and protected areas, Experiential education
  6. Brent Else

    Brent Else

    Seeking Students
    Air-sea interactions in the Arctic, Arctic marine carbon cycles, Remote sensing of Arctic marine environments, Arctic marine ecosystems, Improved weather observations for Arctic operations
  7. Victoria Fast

    Victoria Fast

    Accepting Inquiries
    Urban GIS
  8. Andrea Freeman

    Andrea Freeman

    Accepting Inquiries
    Geoarcheology, Pedagogy in Geography and archaeology
  9. Geoffrey Hay

    Geoffrey Hay

    Accepting Inquiries
    GEOBIA - Geographic Object Based Image Analysis, Thermal Imaging: HEAT - Heat Energy Assessment Technologies, MyHEAT - Startup Company (www.myheat.ca), **Please visit these sites for more information:
  10. Dan Jacobson

    Dan Jacobson

    Unavailable
  11. Greg McDermid

    Greg McDermid

    Accepting Inquiries
    Remote Sensing and Geospatial Technologies, The Boreal Ecosystems Recovery and Assessment Project, Forestry and Ecological Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Characterizing the Effects of Linear Disturbances on Peatland Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Remote Sensing for Biodiversity Monitoring in Alberta, The Alberta-Bavaria Research Network (ABBY Net)
  12. Byron Miller

    Byron Miller

    Accepting Inquiries
    urban governance, politics of urban and regional sustainability, neighbourhood change and inequality, social movements, governance of smart cities
  13. Brian Moorman

    Brian Moorman

    Accepting Inquiries
    Physical Geography - permafrost and glacial hydrology, cold regions coastal dynamics
  14. Rizwan Shahid

    Rizwan Shahid

    Accepting Inquiries
    GIS (Geographic Information Systems), Health Geography, Urban Geography
  15. Eliot Tretter

    Eliot Tretter

    Seeking Students
    Critical Approaches to Contemporary Urbanization
  16. John Yackel

    John Yackel

    Accepting Inquiries
    Snow covered sea ice thermodynamic processes

Admission requirements


GPA

A minimum of 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 point system, over the past two years of full-time study (a minimum of 10 full-course equivalents or 60 units) of the undergraduate degree.

Minimum education

A four year baccalaureate degree, or equivalent from a recognized institution.

Work samples

None

Documents

  • A proposal describing applicant’s intended research area
  • A C.V

Reference letters

Two

Test scores

None


English language proficiency (ELP)

An applicant whose primary language is not English may fulfill the English language proficiency requirement in one of the following ways:

Deadlines

For admission on September 1:

  • Canadians and permanent residents - apply by January 5, submission of all supporting documents due at time of application.
    • Online reference submission required by January 15
  • International applicants – apply by January 5, submission of supporting documents due at time of application.
    • Online reference submission required by January 15

If you're not a Canadian or permanent resident, or if you have international credentials, make sure to learn about international requirements

Learn more about this program

Department of Geography

Earth Sciences Building, Room 356

2500 University Drive NW

Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4

Contact the Graduate Program Administrator

Visit the departmental website

Faculty of Arts

University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4

Visit the Faculty of Arts website