JENNIFER L. MACALADY, Program Coordinator
210 Deike Building
814-865-6330
jmacalad@geosc.psu.edu
Students electing this degree program through participating programs earn a degree with a dual title in the Ph.D., e.g., Ph.D. in (graduate program name) and Biogeochemistry.
The following graduate programs offer dual degrees in Biogeochemistry: Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology; Civil Engineering; Chemistry; Ecology; Environmental Engineering; Geosciences; Materials Science and Engineering; and Soil Science.
Michael A. Arthur, Ph.D. (Princeton) Professor of Geosciences
Elizabeth W. Boyer, Ph.D. (Virginia) Associate Professor of Water Resources
Susan L. Brantley, Ph.D. (Princeton) Professor of Geosciences
Jean E. Brenchley, Ph.D. (California, Davis) Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology
Rachel A. Brennan, Ph.D. (Urbana-Champaign) Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Mary Ann Bruns, Ph.D. (Michigan State) Associate Professor of Agronomy/Soil Microbiology
William Burgos, Ph.D. (Virginia Tech) Professor of Environmental Engineering
Hunter J. Carrick, Ph.D. (Michigan) Associate Professor of Aquatic Ecology
Brian A. Dempsey, Ph.D. (North Carolina) Professor of Environmental Engineering
Patrick Drohan, Ph.D. (Penn State) Assistant Professor of Pedology
David M. Eissenstat, Ph.D. (Utah State) Professor of Woody Plant Physiology
Matthew Fantle, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) Assistant Professor of Geosciences
James G. Ferry, Ph.D. (Illinois) Stanley Person Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Katherine H. Freeman, Ph.D. (Indiana) Professor of Geosciences
Michael Gooseff, Ph.D. (Colorado) Associate Professor of Civil Engineering
Peter Heaney, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins) Professor of Mineral Sciences
Christopher House, Ph.D. (California) Assistant Professor of Geosciences
Jason Kaye, Ph.D. (Colorado State) Assistant Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry
Armen Kemanian, Ph.D. (Washington) Assistant Professor of Production Systems and Modeling
Peter Kleinman, Ph.D. (Cornell) Adjunct Associate Professor of Soil Science
Roger Koide, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) Professor of Horticultural Ecology
James D. Kubicki, Ph.D. (Yale) Associate Professor of Geochemistry
Lee R. Kump, Ph.D. (South Florida) Professor of Geosciences
Bruce E. Logan, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering
Jennifer L. Macalady, Ph.D. (California, Davis) Assistant Professor of Geosciences
Carmen Enid Martinez, Ph.D. (Rutgers) Associate Professor of Environmental Soil Chemistry
Karl T. Mueller, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) Professor of Chemistry
Kwadwo Osseo-Asare, Ph.D. (California, Berkeley) Distinguished Professor of Metallurgy, and Energy and Geo-environmental Engineering
John M. Regan, Ph.D. (Wisconsin) Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering
Erica A. H. Smithwick, Ph.D. (Oregon State) Assistant Professor of Geography
Ming Tien, Ph.D. (Michigan State) Professor of Biochemistry
Denice H. Wardrop, Ph.D. (Penn State) Associate Professor of Geography and Ecology
The Biogeochemistry Dual-Title Degree Program will be administered by the Department of Geosciences for the participating graduate programs. A program committee with representatives from each participating department maintains program definition, identifies courses appropriate to the program, and recommends policy and procedures for the program's operation to the dean of the Graduate School and to the deans of the participating colleges.The dual-title degree program is offered through participating programs in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences, College of Engineering, Eberly College of Science, and the Intercollege Graduate Degree Programs.The program enables students from several graduate programs to gain the perspectives, techniques, and methodologies of Biogeochemistry, while maintaining a close association with major program areas of study. For admission to pursue a dual-title degree under this program, a student must apply to (1) the Graduate School and (2) one of the participating major graduate programs; and then subsequently to (3) the Biogeochemistry program committee. Students may only apply to the dual-title program once they have been accepted into a major program. Once a student has been accepted to a major program, application to the dual-title degree program can occur immediately or at a later time, such as upon matriculation. The application to the dual-title degree program, however, should be completed before the candidacy examination in the major program is scheduled.
Graduate students with research and educational interests in biogeochemistry may apply to the Biogeochemistry Dual-Title Degree Program. Candidates must submit transcripts of their undergraduate and graduate coursework, a written personal statement indicating their interests in the interdisciplinary arena of Biogeochemistry and their career goals they hope to serve by attaining a Biogeochemistry dual-title, and a statement of support from their dissertation advisor, if assigned. A strong undergraduate preparation in the basic sciences is expected, with evidence of an interest in multiple disciplines.
To qualify for a dual-title degree, students must satisfy the requirements of the major graduate program in which they are enrolled, in addition to the minimum requirements of the Biogeochemistry program. Students are required to have two advisors from separate disciplines: one individual serving as a primary advisor in their major degree program (i.e., Soil Science, BMMB, Material Science & Engineering, Chemistry, Ecology, Environmental Engineering or Geosciences) and a secondary advisor in an area within a field covered by the dual-title program and a member of the Biogeochemistry faculty. The major program advisor normally will also be a member of the Biogeochemistry faculty. The two faculty advisors can represent different academic programs, but this is not required, as faculty from a scientifically diverse department could represent very different areas of expertise.
To fulfill the course requirements for the dual-title in Biogeochemistry, students must complete a total of 15 graduate credits chosen in consultation with the advisor from an approved list of courses in the areas of biochemistry and microbiology, environmental chemistry, environmental engineering, geochemistry, materials science and engineering, and soil science.All students must pass a candidacy examination that includes an assessment of their potential in the field of biogeochemistry. In all cases, the result of a single candidacy exam for both entrance to the student's major Ph.D. program and this dual-title program will be reported to the graduate school. When possible, the candidacy exam will involve a single examination that includes biogeochemistry. However, in some cases, such as with the Chemistry Department, existing candidacy procedures preclude use for the Biogeochemistry dual-title program. In these instances that require a major program's existing candidacy procedure to be augmented by a biogeochemistry examination, the structure and timing of this exam will be determined jointly by the dual-title and major program. The student's doctoral committee should include faculty from the major program of study and also faculty with expertise within Biogeochemistry. The field of Biogeochemistry should be integrated into the comprehensive examination. A Ph.D. dissertation that contributes fundamentally to the field of Biogeochemistry is required. A public oral presentation of the dissertation is required, which may be part of the final defense within the major degree program.
Graduate assistantships and other forms of student aid are described in the Student Aid section of the Graduate Bulletin. A limited number of Research Assistantships are also available through the Biogeochemistry Dual-Title Degree Program.
Last Revised by the Department: Fall Semester 2008
Blue Sheet Item #: 36-06-185
Review Date: 4/15/08
Last updated by Publications: 8/1/12