TEACHING AS A CAREER: SECONDARY AND POST-SECONDARY GEOSCIENCE INSTRUCTION

Given the current STEM push in the United States, qualified science and mathematics teachers are needed, and in some places, desperately. Trained geologists and recent geology graduates may consider a career in geoscience education at either the secondary level (middle and high school, usually as Earth Science teachers) or post-secondary level (two- and four-year colleges and universities, as geology instructors or professors). A teaching degree, while useful, is not always immediately necessary for middle and high school science education; many states are finding they need science teachers in public schools and so waivers are being granted to enable non-teachers to seek and receive conditional or alternative teaching licenses. Community colleges and universities are always looking for exceptional instructors, and an advanced degree may lead recent geology graduates to pursue a career in higher education. Graduates with great interest in the academic or applied nature of geology may find a university career combining teaching and research very rewarding. Teaching is a noble profession and individuals with passion and interest in geology are needed in our K-12 and college classrooms to pass on their enthusiasm and excitement to the next generation of geologists in the United States and around the world.