Requirements
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 centers on the completion of two geology certificate options, to be selected from Engineering Geology, Environmental Geology, and Hydrogeology. In addition, the program involves an experiential component that can include internships and/or research projects with county, state and federal agencies, and private geologic consulting firms; professional development courses focused on management and communication; and two courses that cover core skills.
Core Skills (8 credits):
Choose two of the following. They may be completed as part of certificates, below.
- EES 611 Introduction to Graduate Research Development
- G 651 Research Methods II - Writing
- G 523 Statistics and Data Analysis in the Geosciences
Two Graduate Certificates (32 credits):
Choose at least one graduate certificate from the following:
One of the two graduate certificates may be selected from the following:
Professional Development (5 credits chosen from the following):
- EMCR 567/Geog 567 Community Resilience in Coupled Socio-Ecological Systems (4 credits)
- EES 507 Seminar (1 credit)
- ESM 517 Applied Watershed Restoration (4 credits)
- ESM 534/Ec 534 Business Environmental Management Economics (4 credits)
- ESM 535 Natural Resource Policy and Management (4 credits)
- ESM 540/Geog 540 The Ecology and Management of Wildfire (4 credits)
- ESM 551 Project Management for Scientists (4 credits)
- ESM 552 Environmental Regulation and Non-regulatory Approaches (3 credits)
- ESM 555/EES 655 Science Communication (1 credit)
- ESM 556/EES 656 Advanced Science Communication Skills (1 credit)
- ESM 557/EES 657 Science, Media and the Public: Working with the Media to Create Effective Scientific Messages (1 credit)
- ESM 587 Environmental Justice (4 credits)
- ESM 588 Environmental Sustainability (4 credits)
- ESM 593 Advanced Environmental Science Lab and Field Methods (1-4 credits)
- ETM 522 Leveraging Human Capital (4 credits)
- ETM 545 Project Management (4 credits)
- Geog 512 Global Climate Change Science and Socio-environmental Impact Assessment (4 credits)
- Geog 513 Disturbance Biogeography of Pacific Northwest (4 credits)
- Geog 546 Water Resource Management (4 credits)
- G 507 Seminar
- PA 555 Program Evaluation and Management (3 credits)
- PA 564 Environmental Policy and Administration (3 credits)
- PA 565 Natural Resource Policy and Administration (3 credits)
- PA 566 Water Resources Policy and Administration (3 credits)
- PA 567 Energy Resources Policy and Administration (3 credits)
Experiential Component (8 credits):
This consists of a supervised internship or research project. Up to 4 credits of graduate level Field Geology may count towards this requirement.
- G 501 Research (4-8 credits)
- G 504 Cooperative Education/Internship (4-8 credits)
- G 581 Field Geology (4 credits)
The experiential component is supervised by a PSU faculty member and/or an external partner. 4 research or internship credits are the equivalent of ~120 hours of work, which may be distributed over one or multiple terms.
At the outset, an agreement shall be submitted to the student’s advisor that outlines the scope of the internship or project, responsibilities, time commitment, and whether it will be followed by a written report and/or presentation. This should be signed by the advisor, supervisor (if different), and student.
At the end of internship or project, the advisor or supervisor will provide a letter confirming the student has met expectations.
Students must register for G 504 or G 501 during the same term(s) that the internship or project is done.
Total Credit Hours: 44-53
Unless otherwise noted, courses must be taken as graded (A-F). The minimum passing grade is a B- and students must maintain a 3.0 GPA average to be in good academic standing.
No more than one-third of the student's degree program can consist of pre-admission credits.
All coursework applied to a master's degree must be completed within seven years prior to the awarding of the degree.