a) Students seeking an expression of interest from me as a potential supervisor as part of their grad-school application or planning process: First off, just to be clear - if I receive an email that appears to be broadly disseminated and impersonal (it isn't specifically addressed to me or doesn't seem to match or align with my research interests in any way; or doesn't mention a specific program of interest at the University of Ottawa) I will most likely not answer it (I'm sorry, I'm reserving my time for students who are genuinely interested in exploring the possibility of working together).
In terms of genuinely interested students, most commonly I receive requests from those who are applying for a Master's or PhD in the School of Political Studies (the latter is my 'home department'), or for the Master's in Environmental Sustainability at the Institute of Environment (with which I am affiliated)[Note: the Institute now offers a PhD in Environmental Sustainability as well, and I'd be very happy to receive expressions of interest from those considering applying to this program).
It used to be the case that students at the Institute of Environment would first enter the program and then contact potential supervisors in the fall, once they had already started courses and began to develop their research topics more thoroughly (most MSc students in the Institute complete the 1-year program with Major Research Paper (MRP); however, the Institute offers a 2-year thesis option as well). However, the Institute recently changed the entry requirements and now ask students to secure a willing and interested supervisor as part of their application to the program. This means I'm often getting expressions of interest about 10 months before a student would even start the program they are applying for. So I understand that the following may seem like a lot, but you should know that before I officially sign-off on a 'willingness to supervise' statement, I will want to see:
- A clear statement about which specific program you are applying to (what do you expect to see on your diploma when you are done and when do you expect to complete your studies; and if doing a Master's - MRP or thesis option?***)
- A basic outline of your research project (see below);
- Some background information about your academic experience and current context (a CV helps, as does a clear statement about your grade; I don't need to see a transcript, rather a sense of what your recent GPA is);
- Any pertinent information about plans to apply for scholarships and/or access to adequate funding to carry out a degree.
This 'broad picture' is extremely helpful to me in enabling to determine whether I'd make a good fit as a supervisor. It is especially important to see this 'broader picture' for any students planning to write a thesis (Master's or PhD) - even though I am fully aware that things may change, your interests may evolve and travel in new directions once you start, and that's ok... but for the sake of the application, this 'big picture' is important, and the supervisor needs to 'fit' nicely in that big picture or else your application to grad school (or graduate scholarships) may not be as compelling.
Even for 1-year Master's students wanting to complete an MRP and no clear sense of what they want to write their MRP on, I will need to get a clear sense of the specific research topic you plan to examine.
Here is what I mean by a basic outline of your research project: Send me a one or two pager answering the following questions (in any format you like; though point form is actually helpful for this):
- What is the main research problem you hope to examine?
- How do you see this problem situated within the literature in that field? (Does it respond to ongoing debates in the field? Does it refute or defend a particular school of thought in the literature? Does it fill a gap in the field?)
- What specific program do you plan to apply for (what degree to you want to have, and do you plan to do an MRP or thesis* if you're a Master's student?
- Why is this the right program for you? What is about the program (and particular pathway within) that appeals?
- Have you started to think about how you're going to examine and answer the research problem? (Aka, have you considered what types of methods you will need to employ?)
- What is the contemporary relevance of this research project? Why does is 'matter'?
b) Students who have already started their programs: I will often receive requests from Master's students who have already started their programs at the UofO and are now moving on to the final MRP stage (usually these are students from the School of Political Studies or Graduate School of Public and International Affairs). I will certainly consider these requests, but please note I will want to see the same level of detail as laid out above. In an ideal world I will have heard from these students before they started their degrees, but I understand that many students enter their programs without having contacted a potential supervisor.
Thematic fit: While I do ultimately get to 'choose' whether I'd like to supervise your project (and you get to 'choose' whether you want me to supervise your project), I do NOT have a say on whether you get admitted to the program. The admissions committee will review your statement, check with me if it states that I've agreed to supervise, but they might be curious if the project you propose doesn't seem to 'jive' with their impression of my research. It's part of the overall storyline - does the proposed supervisor 'fit' with the proposed project themes? If not, the overall storyline isn't quite as compelling and your application may not be competitive. What does this mean? In your application you have to demonstrate a good balance between demonstrating that you will be carrying out independent research while also demonstrating how that research fits with the proposed program objectives and the supervisor's research program. As noted above, my research interests are listed here (but these days I'm working on three fairly distinct projects - i) one on discourses of the growth-environment debate; ii) another on the role of animal sourced foods in sustainable development, including related debates about protein and the environment; and iii) a third on how to mitigate climate change in the transport sector; focusing on a range of scales between individual action through to global governance.
Stylistic fit: What kind of supervisor do you need to help you get the degree done? If you're looking for someone who will meet on a weekly basis throughout your degree I'm probably not your guy! Unless my students are in one of my classes I may not see or hear much from them for a significant portion of their degrees (especially while they are completing course work). That does change once they start getting ready to work on a proposal. With previous Master's students I'd say we've met on average about once per month once the student has turned their attention to MRP or thesis work. I try to strike a balance so I'm not too overbearing while also not being totally absent. I do aim to support you, but my expectation is this is a partnership in terms of you leading on the administrative side of things (I need you to keep track - and remind me - of the specific requirements for your program) while I will help guide with the content and facilitate strategic thinking about your program of study. (I don't think I'm overbearing or absent, but I'd be happy to put prospective students in touch with current students so they could hear the straight goods from them! If you're doing a PhD I highly recommend talking with students currently enrolled in the program).
Oh, I should also mention that I am quite a stickler for clarity in academic writing. I loathe overly-complex writing, academic jargon, and lengthy sentences. You can have the best ideas in the world, but they don't count for much if you can't express them clearly. Just be forewarned that I will often challenge my students to write more clearly, and that I get annoyed when writing is too dense to understand.
EPE Lab: In 2020 I started up a 'lab' for my students. At this early stage it is merely a 'network' of students who share my interests in Ecological Political Economy. For now the idea is to meet as a group once or twice per semester and more importantly connect students of mine who are at similar stages and places in terms of their academic programs. Inevitably I will likely ask most of my students who help review another student's draft proposal or outline or chapter, etc., and the expectation is they will receive this support in turn down the road. So signing up as one of my students does come along with the expectation you will join my lab, though you should know it's not very onerous and comes with the benefit of collegial support.
Financial Fit: I sometimes receive emails from prospective students asking if they can be part of my 'lab', and the sense I get is that there's a presumption that I have funding for all my students. Unfortunately I do not have funding to support all my students (luckily there are lots of other funding arrangements for grad students, from TAships to internal and external scholarships, and so on...). What I do have - sometimes - is minor funds to support a Research Assistanceship here or there for some of my students. It takes time and effort to supervise RAs, and so I will rarely offer more than 1 or 2 of these per semester (again, it assumes I have funds available, which is not always the case). When I do have funds I will often prioritize my current PhD students or Master's thesis students for RAships. This means that if you are applying to do a Master's with MRP it is unlikely that I will be able to offer you a paid RAship; and even if you're a thesis student I'm sorry to say I can't guarantee an RAship (this is not personal; just an issue of supply vs demand). Just FYI, many of the RA and TAships at UOttawa are posted here (though there are some exceptions).
In short, I may be a good potential supervisor for you in some respects, but I may not in others - and that's fine; I respect that you may want to "shop around" (and in fact I recommend it). And there's always the possibility of switching supervisors even after I've agreed to supervise your project (that's ok, it happens; no hard feelings). You should think carefully about a supervisor beyond just the factor of "he's the guy who does environmental politics at uOttawa" - so let's make sure that I'm the right fit so we both have a fruitful collaborative relationship.
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OK, there's a lot here so I will leave it at that. The final thing I will say is that it's good to arrange a time to chat once the basic details have been shared. So if you're getting in touch with all the documents above and are short on time, feel free to propose a time to meet so we can discuss. Best of luck with your applications, and thanks again for considering me as a potential supervisor.
*** An MRP is usually a shorter document of around 60-80 pages and while you are conducting independent research there is not an expectation of conducing primary research; a Master's thesis is usually around 150 pages and seeks to make a contribution to the literature through primary research and analysis; the MRP is usually graded by the supervisor, sometimes with a 'Second Reader'; the thesis has to be 'defended' and passed by a committee and examiners].
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