Students Gain Advantages from Hands-On, Real-World Scenarios in Environmental Geology Workshops at KU Edwards Campus

An experiential field workshop gave six environmental geology students at the KU Edwards Campus opportunities to practice real-world skills to augment their online learning. Mackenzie Cremeans, former assistant teaching professor, designed the hands-on workshop, which is a requirement for students pursuing their JCERT-supported Environmental Geology Professional Science Master’s (PSM) degrees.

Cremeans said the hands-on scenarios are immediately applicable in students’ professional development because they provide experience with industry-specific frameworks. The one-day workshop held this past spring focused on the process of vapor intrusion assessment –from screening-level assessment to remediation processes – with the goal of giving students opportunities to practice real-world skills in a low-stakes environment.

“This gives students in KU Edwards’ environmental geology PSM program, who typically would learn such processes on the job, additional confidence to perform well in their careers when the stakes are higher,” Cremeans said.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for environmental geologists is expected to grow 7% by 2030. The latest workshop centered on a fictitious field site designed to familiarize students with the Edwards Campus while exploring potential vapor intrusion pathways.

“Each student conducted the vapor intrusion assessment process according to Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Defense guidelines,” Cremeans said. 

After building walkthroughs, students collaborated to locate potential vapor entry points. In this process, they were provided with datasets mimicking a real-world scenario, allowing them to determine potential vapor fate and transport, as well as potential health-risk levels. Cremeans said each student had the opportunity to install a vapor pin, analyze and model data and, ultimately, come to a conclusion about the potential likelihood, magnitude and exposure risks of vapor intrusion at the site. 

The workshop’s timing was perfect for environmental geology student Chris Hilger.

“I will be managing some vapor intrusion work on a property that may have been affected by a former dry cleaner,” said Hilger. “What I learned in the workshop will help me understand processes I will be overseeing in my role as a project manager. I have been in my job six months, and the field experience I gained from the workshop improved my understanding of the full aspects of remediation.” 

The workshop aided Erica Thieleman, an environmental consultant for an engineering firm, in understanding the full picture on environmental data.

“I have done vapor intrusion sampling before, but I wasn’t involved in analyzing the results,” she said. “Now I can contribute to projects more by actually performing the data analysis.”

KU’s environmental geology program at the KU Edwards Campus is distinct in that it’s a professional science master’s rather than a traditional master’s program. While a traditional master’s program would focus solely on geology, PSM programs also include four professional skills courses that uniquely position graduates for careers in business, consulting and management.

Learn more about the supported Environmental Geology Professional Science Master’s at the KU Edwards Campus.