The licensed practice of geology incorporates those aspects of geology that are applied to the protection of the health, safety and well-being of the public and that include careers in environmental geology, hydrogeology and engineering geology. Anyone desiring to follow a career in “Public Geology” and to practice before the public should obtain a broad academic background in geology, including quantitative physical geology, aqueous and low-temperature geochemistry, hydrogeology and contaminate transport, geomorphology and landform processes and most importantly, a sound background in field geology and geophysics.

Licensure of professionals who practice before the public is mandatory in those states that require professional geoscientists/ geologists to hold a license as a “Professional Geologist” before they can hold themselves out to the public as professionals. The National Association of State Boards of Geology (ASBOG®), an organization of State Boards of Licensing for Professional Geologists in the United States, prepares and administers the national geologist licensure examinations. ASBOG offers two examinations, the Fundamentals of Geology and the Practice of Geology, that are designed to measure minimum competency of a graduate immediately after graduation (Fundamentals) and after five years of practice (Practice). The examinations are developed by the Council of Examiners, with guidance from professional psychometricians, who provide critical guidance to the Council. The examinations are based upon a nationwide task analysis, in which licensed professional geologists are asked:

• to assess the importance of a specific task to the protection of the public and
• to estimate the amount of time that they spend on the specific task.

The 2005 Task Analysis had a nationwide reliability coefficient of 0.998 between states. These results indicate that the practice of geology before the public is uniform throughout the United States, thus validating the concept of one national examination.

The results of the Task Analysis are used to develop questions for the licensure examinations and to define the knowledge base required for a candidate wishing to practice professional geology before the public. Tasks are subdivided into domains that are then assigned examination weights based upon the results from the task analysis. The best coursework guide for a student wishing to practice environmental or engineering geology or hydrogeology is to review the ASBOG® Task Analysis and the associated recommended knowledge base related to each content domain. The results of the 2005 Task Analysis and Knowledge Base evaluation will be presented and discussed.

End_of_Record - Last_Page 28---------------