Master of Science - Earth System Science - Thesis route
The thesis route of the MSc ESS program must represent the results of your independent work after admission to the program. The proposed topic for the thesis, together with a brief statement outlining the proposed method of treatment, and the arrangement made for faculty supervision must be identified at the beginning of the program study and be approved by the program director.
The thesis will be evaluated by the student's supervisor(s) and at least 2 examiners appointed by the graduate program director, 1 of whom shall be external to Athabasca University. The additional thesis examiners may be faculty members or industry resource members approved by the program director.
Note: MSc ESS students who elect the thesis route are required to complete the following courses:
Core (6 credits)
- Earth System Science (3)
- Research Methods (3)
3 Electives (9 credits)
- 3 courses from at least 2 of the spheres in the table below in consultation with the thesis supervisor.
| Elective courses* (3 courses/9 credits) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geosphere | Cryosphere | Hydrosphere | Biosphere | Atmosphere and Magnetosphere |
| GEOL501 - Quatemary Geology (3) | GEOG510 - Dynamic Cryospheric Systems: Understanding Frozen Environments (3) (opening 2026) | ENSC540 - Physical Hydrology (3) (opening 2026) | BIOL520 - Microbial Genomics (3) (opening 2026) | PHYS628 - Physics of the Space Environment (3) |
| GEOL610 - Quatemary Dating Methods (3) | GEOG620 - Remote Sensing Applications in Cryospheric Studies (3) (opening 2026) | ENSC550 - Hydrology and Human Impacts in Canadian Landscapes (3) (opening 2026) | BIOL530 - Microbial Diversity I (3) (opening 2026) | ENSC620 - Environmental Data Analysis |
| ENSC520 - Modelling Earth Systems (3) (opening 2026) | ENSC620 - Environmental Data Analysis (3) | BIOL620 - Animal Ecophysiology (3) (opening 2026) | BIOL630 - Microbial Diversity II (3) (opening 2026) | ENSC681 - Research Seminar: Current Topics in Environmental Science (3) |
| ENSC620 - Environmental Data Analysis (3) | ENSC681 - Research Seminar: Current Topics in Environmental Science (3) | ENSC620 - Environmental Data Analysis (3) | ENSC630 - Environmental Toxicology (3) (opening 2026) | GEOG621 - Geographic Information Science and Systems: An Environmental Science Approach (3) |
| ENSC681 - Research Seminar: Current Topics in Environmental Science (3) | GEOG621 - Geographic Information Science and Systems: An Environmental Science Approach (3) | ENSC681 - Research Seminar: Current Topics in Environmental Science (3) | BIOL610 - Principles of Bioremediation (3) (opening 2026) | COMP682 - Data Mining (3) |
| GEOG621 - Geographic Information Science and Systems: An Environmental Science Approach (3) | COMP682 - Data Mining (3) | GEOG621 - Geographic Information Science and Systems: An Environmental Science Approach (3) | BIOL641 - Applied Mycology (3) (opening 2026) | |
| COMP682 - Data Mining (3) | GEOG510 - Dynamic Cryospheric Systems: Understanding Frozen Environments (3) (opening 2026) | COMP625 - Algorithms for Bioinformatics (3) | ||
| GEOG620 - Remote Sensing Applications in Cryospheric Studies (3) (opening 2026) | BIOL625 - Bioinformatics and Genomics (3) | |||
| COMP682 - Data Mining (3) | ENSC620 - Environmental Data Analysis (3) | |||
| ENSC681 - Research Seminar: Current Topics in Environmental Science (3) | ||||
| ENSC610 - Biogeochemical Modelling (3) | ||||
| GEOG621 - Geographic Information Science and Systems: An Environmental Science Approach (3) | ||||
| COMP682 - Data Mining (3) | ||||
*Additionally, 500 and 600 level courses from the School of Computing and Information Systems will also be offered as electives in the program.
Thesis courses (15 credits)
- ESSC 675 - Thesis I (Proposal Writing) (3)
- ESSC 676 - Thesis II (Research Stage 1) (3)
- ESSC 677 - Thesis III (Research Stage 2) (3)
- ESSC 678 - Thesis IV (Research Stage 3) (3)
- ESSC 679 - Thesis V (Thesis Write-up and Defense) (3)
These elements are not conventional courses; however, they are treated similarly for administrative purposes.
For additional details of the thesis guidelines, please visit the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the handbook of MSc IS thesis route.
Updated July 02, 2025 by Digital & Web Operations (web_services@athabascau.ca)