Applied Geosciences Graduate Certificates

Prepare for your next professional move with specialized certificates

For those with a focused set of outcomes in mind who want to earn a credential more quickly than a degree or for those who do not need an advanced degree to achieve their professional goals, we have two new online certificates available:

Graduate Certificate in Engineering Geology

This certificate is ideal for geoscientists working in the geotechnical engineering field, giving you the skills to evaluate rock and soil slope stability, foundation-bearing capacities, geologic hazards, and other engineering geology challenges. Similarly, engineers may also wish to expand their knowledge of geologic conditions. Students take any four of the following courses to earn this certificate:

EESC 6770 Geocomputations
EESC 6720 Landslides
EESC 6810 Applied and Environmental Geophysics
EESC 6820 Geomechanics: Solids
EESC 6840 Engineering Geology: Rock Mechanics
EESC 6850 Engineering Geology: Surficial Materials

Graduate Certificate in Environmental Hydrogeology

The hydrogeology certificate is ideal for environmental scientists, geologists, and engineers who want additional expertise in groundwater, including water source protection and development, aquifer testing, fate and transport of contaminants, environmental remediation, and watershed management. Students take any four of the following courses to earn this certificate:

EESC 5200 Aqueous Geochemistry
EESC 5630 Hydrology
EESC 6606 Groundwater Flow and Transport Modeling
EESC 6620 Environmental Groundwater Hydrology
EESC 6711 Contaminated Site Investigation, Remediation, and Long-term Stewardship
EESC 6715 Water Resources for Geologists and Environmental Scientists

Students must apply and be accepted into a certificate program to earn the certificate. After completing a certificate, students can apply to the Master of Science in Applied Geosciences degree program and transfer all 4 c.u.* into the degree program. Please note that only the courses listed above are eligible for counting toward the completion of these certificates.

See applied geosciences courses

Admissions

See the Ap plication Deadlines and Requirements page for more details on what is needed to apply. Certificates are not Title IV eligible.

University and program resources

All students have access to Penn’s applied geosciences community and are assigned an academic advisor. Students can work in collaboration with many research institutions and groups on and off-campus and can also acquire writing and editing experience with the peer-reviewed academic journal, The International Journal for Water Equity and Justice (IJWEJ).

See program resources

Please confirm all computer technology is up to date and meets system requirements. Review current system requirements for all online students.

*Academic credit is defined by the University of Pennsylvania as a course unit (c.u.). A course unit (c.u.) is a general measure of academic work over a period of time, typically a term (semester or summer). A c.u. (or a fraction of a c.u.) represents different types of academic work across different types of academic programs and is the basic unit of progress toward a degree. One c.u. is usually converted to a four-semester-hour course.