For more than 15 years, Penn’s Master of Science in Applied Geosciences (MSAG) program has been preparing students to advance in the geosciences. Now, students starting this professional degree in fall 2022 can complete the program asynchronously and fully online, without relocating to Philadelphia or interrupting their careers.
“This virtual world is not new in our field. This is our normal,” says Dr. Yvette Bordeaux, Director of Professional Master’s Programs in Earth and Environmental Science. Particularly for environmental consultants, project managers, and scientists who work for national and international organizations, much of any project’s groundwork (so to speak) takes place out of the field: plans and maps can be created and analyzed using satellite technology, meetings and collaborations take place remotely, and decisions are made offsite.
According to Bordeaux, a professional master’s degree is ideal for working professionals who have a few years of field experience and are ready to advance into a leadership role. “Project managers typically have master’s degrees,” she explains. “So early- to mid-career professionals need to demonstrate skills such as project management, decision-making, analysis, and modeling and mapping.” The online MSAG curriculum includes coursework in geocomputations as well as geology and hydrology, and the culminating requirement is a year-long project where students design a protocol to assess, clarify, and potentially resolve a pressing geologic issue. In addition to the online requirements, the online MSAG program will offer one week of optional geologic field methods training on campus in the summer, which can help students meet professional licensure requirements in Pennsylvania and other states with similar guidelines. (See your state’s specific requirements.)
Established in 2005, the MSAG program has always been accessible to established geoscientists working in the field, with part-time as well as full-time options and flexible course schedules—and the University of Pennsylvania has decades of experience delivering high-quality online education. Now that the MSAG degree is asynchronous and fully online, the program’s world-class resources and professional insights are available to highly qualified professionals anywhere in the world.
Want to learn more? Meet with the online Master of Science in Applied Geosciences program team and get your questions answered in a Virtual Information Session on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, from 12 - 1 p.m. ET—or drop in to chat in a Virtual Drop-in Hour on the first Thursday of every month from 12 - 1 p.m. ET.
