The Professional Science Master (PSM) in Applied Geoscience provides practicing geologists and post-baccalaureate students an opportunity to obtain skills relevant to professional geoscientists.
The coursework foundation centers on the completion of two Geology Certificate options, to be selected among Engineering Geology, Environmental Geology, and Hydrogeology. In addition, the program involves a) an experiential component that can include internships and/or research projects with county, state and federal agencies, and private geologic consulting firms; b) professional development courses focused on management and communication; and c) two courses that cover core skills (G 651 and G 523).
BA or BS in a physical science (e.g., Chemistry, Physics) with 5 years of experience in a geoscience related industry. Taking G 434 and G 318 OR G 435 may substitute for industry experience.
Core Skills
These courses should be completed as a requirement within the Certificates, below.
| G 651 | Research Methods II - Writing | 4 |
| G 523 | Statistics and Data Analysis in the Geosciences | 4 |
Certificates (36 credits)
Complete two graduate certificates from the following list (see certificate listings for details):
Engineering Geology
Environmental Geology
Hydrogeology
And an 4 additional credits from the certificate elective lists.
Professional Development (4 credits)
Selected from the following list of courses:
| EMCR 567/Geog 567 | Community Resilience in Coupled Socio-Ecological Systems | 4 |
| ESM 517 | Applied Watershed Restoration | 4 |
| ESM 534/Ec 534 | Business Environmental Management Economics | 4 |
| ESM 535 | Natural Resource Policy and Management | 4 |
| ESM 540/Geog 540 | The Ecology and Management of Wildfire | 4 |
| ESM 551 | Project Management for Scientists | 4 |
| ESM 552 | Environmental Regulation and Non-regulatory Approaches | 3 |
| ESM 555/ESR 655 | Science Communication | 1 |
| ESM 556/ESR 656 | Advanced Science Communication Skills | 1 |
| ESM 557/ESR 657 | Science, Media and the Public: Working with the Media to Create Effective Scientific Messages | 1 |
| ESM 587 | Environmental Justice | 4 |
| ESM 588 | Environmental Sustainability | 4 |
| ESM 593 | Advanced Environmental Science Lab and Field Methods | 2 |
| ETM 522 | Communication and Team Building | 4 |
| ETM 545 | Project Management | 4 |
| Geog 512 | Global Climate Change Science and Socio-environmental Impact Assessment | 4 |
| Geog 513 | Disturbance Biogeography of Pacific Northwest | 4 |
| Geog 545 | Resource Management Topics | 4 |
| Geog 546 | Water Resource Management | 4 |
| PA 555 | Program Evaluation and Management | 3 |
| PA 564 | Environmental Policy and Administration | 3 |
| PA 565 | Natural Resource Policy and Administration | 3 |
| PA 566 | Water Resources Policy and Administration | 3 |
| PA 567 | Energy Resources Policy and Administration | 3 |
Experiential Component (8 credits)
Students may complete 8 credits of an internship or project, or 4 credits of an internship or project and 4 credits of graduate level Field Geology.
Field Geology (4 credits)
Internship or Project (4-8 credits)
a. One to two terms of internship or project (4–8 credits).
b. At the beginning of the internship the student must meet with their employer or internship/project adviser to outline internship responsibilities and identify 2 to 3 major milestones. At the halfway point of the internship the student will complete a self-assessment based on the agreed upon milestones. At this time the internship/project adviser will complete a progress report to the PSU PSM faculty.
c. For a two-term internship or project, a second self-assessment and internship/project adviser progress report is required by the end of the first term.
d. An end of internship or project product is determined by employer or internship/project adviser (i.e. report, presentation).
e. The student’s internship/project adviser will provide a final evaluation of the student’s internship/project experience.
f. The PSU PSM faculty committee will complete a pass/no pass assessment based upon the following: 1) Original internship responsibilities and milestones, 2) Mid-internship student self-assessment and internship/project adviser progress report. 3) End of internship product, 4) Final evaluation of the student’s internship/project experience by the internship/project adviser.
Additional Details for the Experiential Component
Internship or Project (4-8 credits):
Students may complete either an 8 credit internship (equivalent to either two terms of 4 credit hours/week internship experience, or an accelerated 8 credit hours/week internship experience in one term), or students may complete a 4 credit internship (equivalent to one term of 4 credit hours/week internship experience), or students may complete two separate 4 credit internships with an 8 credit total. The faculty also encourage students with unique internship opportunities such as rapid hazard response (e.g. landslide, debris flow, fire, earthquake, tsunami, volcanic events) to arrange to enroll in the appropriate average weekly credit hours for the term. Rapid response to geologic hazards will require different time allocation in the days and weeks after an event, as a result the internship could be a concentrated effort in a period of weeks instead of over a full quarter. The internship project adviser and the PSU PSM faculty committee will advise the student on the average weekly credit hours for a rapid response hazards internship opportunity. Students employed as professional geologists may complete the internship component with their current employer, however the student must engage in new technical experiential activities and take on new responsibilities that meet guidelines for fulfillment of the internship.
When an internship begins the student must meet with their employer or internship/project adviser to outline the responsibilities of the intern, identify 2 to 3 major milestones to gauge the intern’s progress. PSU PSM faculty will review and sign off on the outlined internship expectations. At the half-way mark the student will review agreed upon milestones and provide a self-assessment with a short explanation of progress toward those milestones. The internship adviser will review this self-assessment document and complete a progress report for the PSU PSM faculty. Both the self-assessment and the progress report will be reviewed by the PSU PSM faculty to gauge satisfactory progress.
For a two-term internship or project, a second self-assessment and internship/project adviser progress report is required by the end of the first term. See details provided in part b. above.
An end of internship product includes either a report or presentation. Presentations may be held at the internship granting agency, or at the Department of Geology at PSU. PSU PSM faculty will attend either in person or remotely, arrangements will be made by the student in coordination with the internship adviser and PSU PSM faculty. At the conclusion of an internship products will be made publicly available as either recorded presentations and/or reports.
The student’s internship/project adviser will provide a final evaluation of the student’s internship/project experience. The adviser may reach out directly to the PSU PSM faculty at any point during the internship to communicate about the student’s performance, or changes to the direction of the internship milestones and anticipated deliverables.
Field Geology (4 credits):
G 581 may be replaced with an equivalent graduate level field course from another institution pending faculty approval. For this approval the student must provide the faculty with the following information: 1) A paragraph describing the proposed course replacement including the type of work to be completed in the proposed field, an explanation of why this replacement is necessary (e.g. time & logistics, or the field course offers a section in the student’s sub-discipline). 2) The graduate field course description for the other institution, and the web-address for this description. 3) A web address, flyer or email from the other institution that demonstrates suitable content covered in the course.