Working as a Geoscientist

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 30 April 2010

About The Author

EconomyWatch

The core Content Team our economy, industry, investing and personal finance reference articles.

EconomyWatch, Content Team

 

  • Dot Div
  •      

The geosciences industry not only offers a large number of and diverse job opportunities, but also offers lucrative starting salaries.

Geologists study rock formations in the exploration of oil. The geosciences industry offers a variety of career opportunities in gathering and interpreting data integral to the global oil and gas exploration sector. There are several job roles that geoscientists can explore, including geophysicists, petroleum geologists, oceanographers, volcanologists, engineering geologists and atmospheric scientists.

For projects relating to environmental protection, resource management and geologic hazard analysis, there are several job opportunities for US-based geoscientists. Nearly 125,000 geoscientists work in the US and a majority of them are employed by oil and gas related industries.

Opportunities provided by the government are varied. For example, geoscientists can work as teachers in high school and college or work as geological consultants. While some geoscientists are keen to work in field-oriented areas, there are others who wish to continue in the research segment to enable the development of policy formulation, regulatory enforcement and forecasting.

Some geoscientists opt to pursue research jobs in the US military or scientific agencies. For geoscientists, job opportunities are plenty in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Army Corps of Engineers, US Geological Survey (Department of the Interior), Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and US State Geological Surveys.

In February 2008, the Wall Street Journal quoted the American Geological Institute reported the average starting salary for a geologist recruited straight out of school had jumped 48 percent since 2003 to $81,300. Moreover, the US Department of Labor expects the number of job opportunities for geologists to rise 22 percent in the country till 2016.

For US students who have an associate degree in geology, it is possible to find job opportunities as geologic technicians as most local oil and gas exploration companies offer decent employment opportunities. Graduates find fine job openings as science technicians or science teachers.

In March 2008, a Bloomberg article quoted Ryan Montpellier, executive director of Canada’s Mining Industry Resources Council reporting 1,200 geology graduates have 9,000 job vacancies in the country’s mining industry that year.

In Australia and New Zealand, the current demand for metalliferous geology specialists is also very high and such professionals are expected to attract highly lucrative salaries in the upcoming years.


  • Dot Div
  •      

Most Popular in Renewable Energy Jobs

Related Links
blog comments powered by Disqus