PREPARING GEOLOGY STUDENTS FOR A CAREER OUTSIDE OF ACADEMIA

Many geology departments today forget to prepare their students for potential jobs working as geologists. Our program at Portland State University for the past 30 years has stressed “applied geology” and has been very successful in placing many students in careers in geology outside of academia. As academics, we need to let students know about careers as consultants with state and federal agencies and consulting firms. We found that stressing registration for students (required in 31 states) was important, and we had a university foundation account to pay for registration for all students who took the ASBOG exam. We had numerous courses in case histories in engineering and environmental geology with lectures by local consultants on real world projects. We taught engineering geology and environmental geology (how to do phase I, 2 and 3 environmental assessments) courses that helped them get jobs. Our courses and student clubs took periodic field trips to drilling rigs and project sites. We had student chapters with students attending professional organizations such as AEG, OAEP, and AIPG. We had seminars with local geologists talking about their projects. We recommend that departments not forget the applied part of geology in their class curricula.