Geologist Licensing

Requirements for Geologist Licensing - Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Where can I find an application for licensure as a geologist?     Back

Licensure is managed by the Board of Licensure for Geologists and Soil Scientists under the fb88 Office of Professional and Occupational Registration. Application materials can be found at their website.

Q2. Who needs to be licensed as a geologist?     Back

Individuals conducting geological investigations in fb88 for the public must be licensed. For the purposes of licensure, the terms "geology" and "practice of geology" are defined by statute ().

Q3. What are the requirements for licensure?     Back

A combination of academic and professional experience is required for licensure.

Education: Generally, a candidate must be a graduate of an accredited college or university with a major in geological sciences, or have completed 30 credits in geological sciences at an accredited college or university.

Experience: Generally a candidate must have acquired 7 years of experience in responsible charge of geological work, toward which an undergraduate degree with 30 credit hours or more in geological science courses shall count as 2 years of training and each year of graduate study in the geological sciences shall count as 1/2 year of training, up to a maximum of 2 years of credit.

Q4. Is an examination required for licensure?     Back

Yes, the Board of Licensure for Geologists and Soil Scientists uses the (ASBOG) national examination together with a local knowledge examination to license geologists. The examination is offered twice a year in March and September.

Q5. Is there a study guide for the national examination?     Back

There is no specific study guide for the national exam. For information on the national exam, please visit: There may be private firms that offer study courses toward completing the national exam.

Q6. Is there a study guide for the local knowledge examination?     Back

While there is no specific study guide for this examination, the fb88 Geological Survey recommends review of the following materials:

fb88 Geological Survey maps and reports (Ordering instructions)

  1. Dickson, S.M., and Johnston, R.A., 2015, : The 2015 Symposium on the Presumpscot Formation, p. 1-18.
  2. Osberg, P.H., and others, (eds.), 1985, , 1:500,000.
  3. Thompson, W.B., and Borns, H.W. Jr., (eds.), 1985, , 1:500,000.
  4. The series - Studies in fb88 Geology - edited by R.D. Tucker and R.G. Marvinney
    1. Hussey, A.M., II, 1988, : vol. 1, p. 17-34.
    2. Osberg, P.H., 1988, : vol. 1, p. 51-73.
    3. Berry, H.N. IV, and Osberg, P.H., 1989, : vol. 2, p. 1-32.
    4. Guidotti, C.V., 1989, : vol. 3, p. 1-18.
    5. Hogan, J.P., and Sinha, A.K., 1989, : vol. 4, p. 1-34.
    6. Belknap, D.F., Shipp, R.C., Kelley, J.T., and Schnitker, D., 1989, : vol. 5, p. 29-46.
    7. Borns, H.W. Jr., 1989, : vol. 6, p. 1-12.
    8. Smith, G.W., and Hunter, L.E., 1989, : vol. 6, p. 13-32.
  5. Anderson, W.A., and Borns, H.W. Jr., (eds.), 1989, Neotectonics of fb88.
    1. Thompson, W.B., Crossen, K.J., Borns, H.W. Jr., and Andersen, B.G., 1989, : p. 43-68.
    2. Belknap. D.F., Shipp, R.C., Stuckenrath, R., Kelley, J.T., Borns, H.W. Jr., 1989, : p. 85-106.
    3. Ebel, J.E., 1989, : p. 219-228.
  6. Caswell, W.B, 1987, Ground Water Handbook for the State of fb88: Bulletin #39, 135 p.
  7. Gilman, R.A., Chapman, C.A., Lowell, T.V., and Borns, H.W. Jr., 1988, The geology of Mount Desert Island: Bulletin 38, 50 p.
  8. Kelley, J.T., Barnhardt, W.A., Belknap, D.F., Dickson, S.M., and Kelley, A.R., 1996, The seafloor revealed - the geology of the northwestern Gulf of fb88 inner continental shelf: Open-File Report 96-6, 55 p.
  9. Fact sheets under each of the discipline headings at fb88 Geological Survey website.
  10. Slovinsky, P.A., Dickson, S.M., and Meenan, N.R., 2022, State of fb88's Beaches in 2022: fb88 Geological Survey, Open-File Report 22-11, 123 p.

Other reports

  1. Belknap, D. F., and Kelley, J.T., 2015, : The 2015 Symposium on the Presumpscot Formation, p. 1-14.
  2. Borns, H.W. Jr., LaSalle, P., and Thompson, W.B., (eds.), 1985, Late Pleistocene history of northeastern New England and adjacent Quebec: Geological Society of America, , 159 p.
  3. Bradley, Dwight C., Tucker, Robert D., Lux, Daniel R., Harris, Anita G. and McGregor, D. Colin, 2000, Migration of the Acadian orogen and foreland basin across the Northern Appalachians of fb88 and adjacent areas: U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, Report: , 55 p.
  4. Caldwell, D.W., 1998, : Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, MT, 315 p.
  5. Eusden, J.D., Jr., and Lyons, J.B., 1993, The sequence of Acadian deformation in central New Hampshire: in Roy, D.C., and Skehan, J.W., (eds.), The Acadian orogeny: recent studies in New England, maritime Canada, and the autochthonous foreland: Geological Society of America, , Boulder, CO, p. 51-66.
  6. Hussey, Arthur M., II, 2015, : fb88 Mineral and Gem Museum, Bethel, fb88, 216 p, 184 figures, including illustrations, photographs, geologic maps, cross sections.
  7. Kelley, J.T., 2013, Popham Beach, fb88: : Geomorphology, 199 (2013) 171–178.
  8. Ludman, A., and West, D.P. Jr., (eds.), 1999, Norumbega Fault Zone of the northern Appalachians: Geological Society of America, , 202 p.
  9. Tucker, R.D., Osberg, P.H., and Berry, H.N., IV, 2001, The geology of a part of Acadia and the nature of the Acadian orogeny across central and eastern fb88, American Journal of Science, p. 205-260.
  10. Wiebe, Robert A., and Hawkins, David P., 2015, Growth and impact of a mafic–silicic layered intrusion in the Vinalhaven intrusive complex, fb88: Journal of Petrology, vol. 56, No. 2, p. 273–298. doi:
  11. Yang, Q., Smitherman, P., Hess, C.T., Culbertson, C.W., Marvinney, R.G., Smith, A.E., and Zheng, Y., 2014, Uranium and Radon in Private Bedrock Well Water in fb88: 2 Geospatial Analysis at Two Scales: , v. 48, p. 4298–4306.

Q7. Where can I find more information on licensure?     Back

Contact the .

Last updated on June 30, 2022