Essays

The Geosciences and a Career in Business
Gerald FIne, Boston University
Gerald Fine, Boston University I write not as a member of a geoscience department, but as a geologist who leveraged his training into a long and varied career. I graduated from Amherst College in 1980 with a B.A. ...

An Earth Science Curriculum By Design
Dave Mogk, Montana State University-Bozeman
David Mogk, Dept. Earth Sciences, Montana State University The Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, recently implemented a top to bottom revision of its curriculum. We are a department that ...

Workforce Preparation of Geology and Environmental Science Majors at a Large Urban University
Edmond van Hees, Wayne State University
Edmond van Hees, Wayne State University Wayne State University is a large, multicultural, commuter university (29,000 students, 41% minorities, 10% in residence, respectively), located in mid-town Detroit, ...

Preparing the College of William & Mary's Geology Students for Careers
Heather Macdonald, College of William and Mary
Heather Macdonald, College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary is a public university with a strong undergraduate liberal arts tradition. Geology majors select one of two tracks: general geology ...

A Non-Traditional Geoscience Degree for Non-Traditional Students: Applied Environmental Geosciences at Weber State University
Rick Ford, Weber State University
Richard L. Ford, Weber State University Weber State University (Ogden, UT) is an open-enrollment, dual-mission institution within the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE). As a dual-mission institution, Weber ...

Geosciences program at Midwestern State University
Rebecca L. Dodge, Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU) is a small (~6,000 students) largely undergraduate institution (~90%) in north Texas; we are Texas' only state-funded liberal ...

Preparing Students for Careers in the Atmospheric Sciences
Deborah Bathke, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Deborah Bathke, University of Nebraska at Lincoln The University of Nebraska's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences offers a program leading to the Bachelor of Science degree in ...

Next Generation Career Competencies via Interdisciplinary Professional Projects
Phyllis Pouyat Thibodeau, World Learning/ Graduate Institute @ DC
Phyllis Pouyat Thibodeau, Chesapeake Career Consulting LLC Essential to any educational process is to clarify "learning objectives". Typically objectives are defined by educational institutions, based on ...

A growing major in Earth Science at UCSD
Geoffrey Cook, University of California-San Diego
Geoffrey Cook, University of California-San Diego We have a relatively new (since 2007) undergraduate program in Earth Science at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The program is unique in that it is ...

Workforce Preparation at Texas A&M's Geosciences Programs
Kate Miller, Texas A & M University
Kate Miller, Texas A & M University The College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University offers a comprehensive set of programs in the geosciences including a full suite of degrees from the bachelors through ...

Preparing Students for Careers in Geology at NWMSU
C. Renee Rohs, Northwest Missouri State University
C. Renee Rohs, Northwest Missouri State University The processes that we use to prepare students at Northwest for careers in geology and related fields are embedded in the coursework and field experiences from ...

85 years of Geosciences at Pasadena City College
David Douglass, Pasadena City College
David Douglass, Pasadena City College The Geoscience program at Pasadena City College began in 1927 primarily in response to a need for a greater number of trained geologists in the local workforce - namely the ...

Boise State University's Preparation of Undergraduates for Geoscience Careers
Karen Viskupic, Boise State University
Karen Viskupic, Boise State University The Department of Geosciences at Boise State University has approximately 150 undergraduate majors in two degree programs. The BS in geophysics is a small program with ...

Developing a Curriculum that Allows Students to Reach Career Objectives
Lynn Dudley, Florida State University
Lynn Dudley, Florida State University The environmental science bachelor's degree program at Florida State University housed in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science (EOAS) contains a B.S. ...

Geological Sciences at SUNY Geneseo and the Challenge of Balancing Breadth, Depth and Growing Enrollment
Ben Laabs, North Dakota State University-Main Campus
Ben Laabs, SUNY College at Geneseo "The primary mission of the Department of Geological Sciences at SUNY Geneseo is to prepare undergraduate students for a successful life after graduation by providing a high ...

Transitioning Undergraduates from Students to Geoscientists for Successful Employment
Megan Pickard, Brigham Young University-Idaho
Megan Pickard, Brigham Young University-Idaho The geology program at BYU-Idaho has been a 4-year program since 2001. We currently have 178 majors and 6 full-time, tenured faculty, and 2 temporary, full-time ...

Preparing the Next Generation Atmospheric Scientists
Sen Chiao, San Jose State University
Sen Chiao, San Jose State University Preparing students for the workforce: The department's undergraduate curriculum meets and exceeds the federal requirements for employment as a Meteorologist as well as the ...

Training the Future Geoscience Workforce at the 2YC
Shelley Jaye, Northern Virginia Community College
Shelley Jaye, Northern Virginia Community College The US Geological Survey (USGS) headquartered in Reston, VA, approached Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) in September, 2011 with a proposal to partner in ...

Preparing STEM Educators
Shelley Jaye, Northern Virginia Community College
Shelley Jaye, Northern Virginia Community College The Noyce Scholarship Program George Mason University (GMU) NSF Program Award Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) Research Subaward NOVA Annandale has ...

Career Preparation in the Earth Systems Undergraduate Program at Stanford University
Kathleen Phillips, Stanford University
Kathleen Phillips, Stanford University The Earth Systems Program is an interdisciplinary degree and our students are interested in a wide variety of careers ranging from academia to non-profits to finance. Given ...