Motivations, goals and design of new interdisciplinary Computer Science and Geology degrees at the bachelor’s and master’s levels

Today’s geoscience challenges and opportunities, such as those associated with environmental health, energy production, mineral extraction, fresh water and natural hazards, demand that public employees, private sector workers and researchers have skills across the fields of geology, geophysics and computer science. In addition, the integration of computing methods into global culture underscores the need to train professionals that ask key questions and make informed decisions about their best uses. In the context of geosciences, it is critical that people with an understanding of the science manage how computing methods are used to select, store, analyze and organize data, create digital public interfaces, and run models. While challenging, this provides opportunities to expand and renew geoscience education in order to promote its relevance into the future. In light of this, San José State University (SJSU) in San José, California USA, is launching a new bachelor’s degree titled ‘Computer Science and Geology’ and a new master’s degree titled ‘Computational Geoscience’ aimed at training students in both geoscience topics and computer science skills. 

We have designed these programs to provide an integrated educational experience in quantitative methods, computer programming and the gathering, analysis, storage and sustainable management of large environmental, geological, and geophysical data sets. The degrees at both educational levels include an array of courses and broad faculty expertise in the separate departments of Computer Science and Geology at SJSU in data analysis, machine learning, artificial intelligence, geological and geophysical modeling across a range of geoscience topics, and natural hazards assessment. These degrees aim to equip students with applied skills to meet a growing workforce demand, and also ensure that this workforce recognizes the possibilities, limitations and dangers of computing tools and methods. The presence of SJSU in the heart of Silicon Valley, SJSU’s role in the U.S. university system as a primarily undergraduate serving institution, and the success of SJSU at transforming students’ lives through career advancement make this a positive place to launch these interdisciplinary degree programs. Through this presentation, we also hope to learn more about best practices and challenges of initiatives and programs at other universities to help guide the development of these degrees and best meet the needs of students and the future research, public service and private sector workforces.