Geoscience Careers

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August 28, 2012 - Fort Felker, Director, National Wind Technology Center at National Renewable Energy Laboratory talks to Congressional staff during a tour of the NWTC at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). (Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL)

Provenance: Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL - http://www.nrel.gov/data/pix/searchpix.php?getrec=22387&display_type=verbose&search_reverse=1
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Geoscientists in the Workforce: An Overview

People with geoscience expertise can be found in many parts of the workforce. This page lays out information about what geoscientists do, what kinds of preparation are necessary, and what the earning potential is in various parts of the geoscience workforce.

Career Pathways

There are a wide array of careers available to people with degrees in geoscience but they require different levels of preparation. Students can use the information on this page to plot their own route to a satisfying career in the geosciences.

Geoscience Employment Trends

The landscape of career opportunities in geoscience is constantly changing. To help your students prepare for their future careers, you need to know what their options will be. This page from the Building Strong Geoscience Departments site has predictions based on recent trends. The page also has links to salary data for professional geoscientists.

Professional Society Career Resources

There are many professional societies in the geosciences that offer guidance and resources for students interested in that particular field of work. There are also professional networks to support women and minorities in geoscience and in science careers in general.

Career Profiles

If students don't personally know someone with a geoscience background, it can be difficult for them to imagine themselves as a geoscientist. This collection of career profiles combines personal descriptions of the individual career paths of many geoscience professionals. From academia, to industry, to government, and beyond, there are many ways that a geoscience degree can set our students up for success.