GEOLOGISTS AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

A wide variety of Federal agencies incorporate geologists (or one of the subdisciplines such as geochemistry, geophysics, geohydrology) as a necessary a part of the workforce needed to accomplish their respective missions. These agencies range from the expected, such as the United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management to the unexpected, such as the National Park Service, the Nuclear Regulator Commission and National Aeronautics and Space Administration..

Job opportunities for the recent graduate usually begin at the field level, and can include areas such as geotechnical work, collecting and describing soils and materials for structural foundations, field mapping and remote data acquisition and processing. From there, opportunities move into the project level and can include conducting special studies and evaluating and interpreting data in areas of hydrologic and riparian systems, water resource management, seismic data and earthquake hazards, as well as many other geophysical techniques, geochemical data, geodetic and GIS systems.

The environmental remediation field also provides a variety of job opportunities that cross many federal agencies. Geologist may find work in this area with the Environmental Protection Agency, The Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the Air Force and Navy. Opportunities in this area include site investigations, remediation, and project management. Geologists also have future opportunities to advance to supervisory or programmatic roles.