Program Overview

Soil Science Graduate Major (MS, PhD)

The Soil Science Graduate Major (MS, PhD) is a program offered by the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University.

Overview

This program provides students with the opportunity to study soil science in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary manner. Faculty research specializations in soil science include ecosystem services, forest soils, management of soil nutrients, mineral-organic matter interactions, soil archeology, soil biogeochemistry, soil microbial ecology, sustainable cropping systems, soil geomorphology, soil genesis, and soil hydrology.

Graduate Areas of Concentration

The program offers several areas of concentration, including:

• Environmental soil science
• Forest soils
• Nutrient cycling
• Soil geochemistry
• Soil conservation and land use
• Soil fertility and plant nutrition
• Soil genesis and classification
• Soil microbiology
• Soil physics

Course List

The program requires a total of 32 credits, with the following courses: | Course List Code | Title | Credits | | --- | --- | --- | | SOIL 513 | (Terminated Summer 2019) | 4 | | SOIL 523 | PRINCIPLES OF STABLE ISOTOPES | 3 | | SOIL 525 | MINERAL-ORGANIC MATTER INTERACTIONS | 3 | | SOIL 535 | SOIL PHYSICS | 3 | | SOIL 536 | VADOSE ZONE HYDROLOGY LABORATORY | 1 | | SOIL 545 | ENVIRONMENTAL SOIL CHEMISTRY | 3 | | SOIL 555 | BIOLOGY OF SOIL ECOSYSTEMS | 4 | | SOIL 566 | SOIL MORPHOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION | 4 | | SOIL 568 | SOIL LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS | 4 | | SOIL 645 | SOIL MICROBIAL ECOLOGY | 3 |

Major Code

The Major Code for this program is 1600.

Research Opportunities

Amongst research institutions worldwide, Oregon State campus lands present the most soil diversity for the study of associated problems, providing students with unique research opportunities.