Soil Science

Overview

Faculty in this Soil Science program at Pennsylvania State University are competent to prepare candidates in the subfields of Soil Science including:

• soil genesis
• soil classification
• soil morphology
• soil mapping
• soil physics
• soil chemistry
• soil mineralogy
• soil microbiology
• soil fertility
• soil conservation
• geographic information systems
• computer mapping
• watershed analysis
• soil hydrology
• soil and water management
• resource inventory and assessment
• remote sensing
• land evaluation
• land waste disposal

• land management

Learning outcomes

• Graduates in these three masters programs will have obtained knowledge of core theories and methods as demonstrated by courses completed and grades earned at the bachelor’s level. Graduates will exhibit breadth and depth of understanding in their respective disciplines in courses completed at the master’s level.  
• Graduates in these three masters programs will be able to clearly synthesize literature and theories in their disciplinary areas and/or in their specialized thesis topics.  Such synthesis will help generate new ideas or methods to develop unique solutions to the problems in the three disciplinary programs.
• Graduates in these three masters programs will effectively communicate ideas, arguments, and rationales in clear, concise, well-organized publications (abstracts, papers, proposals) and presentations (conferences, seminars, and research meetings) .
• Graduates in these three masters programs will be able to critically analyze the work of others in their field of specialty. Such analyses will help graduate students to demonstrate proficiency in designing a research strategy to answer important questions and to improve their own work.
• Graduates in these three masters programs will demonstrate the highest ethical standards and core values (including Penn State Core Values) within their discipline and other diverse scientific backgrounds.