College of Science

Environmental Science MS

CWSP Alumnus currently serving as a Postdoctoral Scholar at NASA

February 1, 2019

Dr. AJ Purdy, an alumnus of the Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy master's program (CWSP; now known as ENSCI), is currently serving as a Postdoctoral Scholar at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Group.

Since graduating from the CWSP program at CSUMB, Dr. Purdy went on to pursue a PhD in Earth System Science at University of California, Irvine. As a doctoral candidate, he was awarded a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship to fund his research on satellite-driven models of evapotranspiration.

His continued research on this topic was recently published in Remote Sensing of the Environment; which applied observations from the Soil Moisture Active Passive mission (SMAP) to model evapotranspiration on a global scale.

While pursing his master's at CSUMB, Dr. Purdy enjoyed the Remote Sensing and Environmental Modeling courses, where he obtained skills that were necessary to advancing as a scientist. As a Professional Science Master's (PSM) student, he served as a research assistant for NASA. This experience exposed him to the power of science as an outreach mechanism to improve on-farm water management.

Dr. Purdy provided some valuable insight to current CSUMB students in regards to collaborating with their peers:

Hard work and a positive attitude go a long way to becoming a successful scientist. Many scientists may see peers as competition early on in their careers. However, I think the most successful people separate themselves from the perceived competition to collaborate and celebrate each others accomplishments.

Keep up the excellent work, Dr. Purdy!