Alternative to a future of cubicle-dwelling?

February 10, 2009 2:24 AM

Would it be a terrible idea to go into earth science?

So here's the deal. I'm currently working on a BS in computer science at UC Santa Barbara--not particularly enamored with it, but I've figured that it'll get me a job. Well, unfortunately for my complacency with CS, I stumbled into a geology GE last quarter which had the unusual effect of instilling in me a great love for rocks and earth science in general (read: I've become a geol-dork).

End result is, I'm seriously considering switching to a geology major.

Now, I've googled the heck out of geology-as-a-career, and...I have a couple of questions for anyone with geologyish experience. (A visit to the Geol dept would be a start, but I have the feeling I'd suddenly walk out of there with a shiny new geol major declared...)

The questions!
1. Job availability! I seem to have been turning up quite a few geologists bittering about a lack of jobs (esp. ones that don't suck). Any input on how impossible it'd be to grab one?

2. Types of jobs! Do actual steady jobs exist in reasonable numbers, as opposed to monthly basis things? Also, anything *slightly* less hardcore than all of these "heavy weights, extreme weather, Alaska" listings I've been seeing?

Also, the idea of Academialand is appealing, but I'm very much aware of my Very High Chance of Failure with all that, so I'm making sure that I'm okay with the Real World part of it all too. Fond of teaching and writing, but as a wee undergrad I've not a clue about how I feel about research. So any thoughts on that would be helpful, too.

So basically, would this whole major-changing business be a terrible idea? Misc other thoughts/things I should know/dream-crushings would be awesome too!

posted by kerfuffles to work & money (19 comments total)

There are absolutely jobs in earth science. Outside of academia, my feeling is that geology is largely for the "extraction industries" (petroleum, mining, etc), so you have to decide if you're cool with that. Other earth sciences (physical geography, geomorphology, hydrology, soil science) have a lot of other jobs in environmental consulting, agriculture, and government, as well as academia.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:23 AM on February 10

My sister's a seismologist working for the U.S. Geological Survey. She loves it and my strong sense--from what's she's said and my observations--is that her colleagues feel the same way. She has related that it is a tough row to hoe, but far from impossible. From her experiences, some of my professional experiences, agreed that (for good or ill or neither), much of the geology/seismology work is in the above-mentioned extraction industries. To that it can be added, FWIW, those jobs tend to pay well.
posted by ambient2 at 3:45 AM on February 10

1- You could shift to materials engineering with a minor in geology. I would think there would be plenty of jobs in the building industries. Bridges, roads, big buildings. How to attach them to the ground in newer, safer, cooler ways.

2- Continue with the CS, but add geology with one subject as a minor to the other. After graduation, there's probably opportunity to use the two subjects synergisticly? Developing software for analysis, building a better well-driller or core extractor, software for mapping rock deposits.

3- Use CS to pay the bills, and make your love of geology a hobby/intellectual pursuit. Teach geology at a community college on weekends or evenings and use your passion for the subject to inspire scores of students to consider it as a career.
posted by gjc at 4:07 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]

These days cs won't pay the bills anyway - remember all those smart cs people in india? Do geology/agriculture major - due to the crunch in resources there will be a huge need for people who can figure out where to grow biomass and food crops.
posted by vacapinta at 4:10 AM on February 10

Major in what you enjoy. Geology is a big field. While some people are never going to be able to do anything remotely related to their major, natural science is a field where you can always do something related to your major.

If you do change your major, welcome to the natural sciences; it's a big world out there and we study it
posted by kldickson at 4:44 AM on February 10

I used to work for a geophysical surveying company. We flew airplanes over remote areas of the Earth (Northern Africa, Central Africa, Middle East, Papua New Guinea, Deepest, Darkest Peru, etc.) taking magnetic, gravimetric and radiometric measurements. The survey contracts last anywhere from a few weeks to a few years (with people rotated out after three months typically) and it's a great way to see the world--you work 6-7 days a week for a month, racking up gobs of vacation time, and then when the job is done you can just take off for a month or two on travel (and you're already near your destination) before returning to the office.

Geophysicists are hired preferably with a degree in geophysics, but they'd take someone with a geology degree most likely, and possibly anyone with a good science background (one guy had an M.Sc in astronomy). The work is a combination of data processing, equipment/software troubleshooting, and navigating foreign bureaucracies. The industry is subject to booms and busts dependent on commodity prices, but in 11 years there, we only went into layoffs (or actually a reduced work week) once.
posted by cardboard at 4:58 AM on February 10

Look into studying Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I've heard it is a hot commodity.
posted by collocation at 6:03 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]

Advice unrelated to what you should do with your life after college: if I were you, I would try my mightiest to continue to be a student in Santa Barbara for as long as possible.
posted by billysumday at 6:07 AM on February 10 [1 favorite]

Yes, change majors if you feel like it. Science majors normally find jobs. Geologists & geophysics definitely find well paying jobs if they'll work for extraction industries. UCSB has several variations on geology, including geophysics and a 5 year bachelors+masters.

I'd say the trick to being good in science is knowing your field cold while also knowing more than your field. So, if you have time, you might consider minoring in physics, physical chemistry, computer science, or statistics since any science major will use those fields.

p.s. I agree that a CS degree is kinda a commodity item these days.
posted by jeffburdges at 6:17 AM on February 10

I work for an environmental consulting firm and there are always jobs for geologists and related folks (hydrologists, etc). And I'll second looking into GIS. I do that as well, and it is used in everything we do. Experience in GIS and a degree in some other earth science field makes you a valuable commodity.
posted by elendil71 at 6:21 AM on February 10

My brother is a geologist and runs a lab at a university in Germany. In his specialty, sedimentology and radiometric dating, there are typically maybe 6 jobs a year around the world and 150-200 applicants. He has a PhD and a habilitation (German degree beyond a PhD). If you don't want to work for an oil company or mining company and are aiming for academia it is a very competitive world out there. My father-in-law was a geophysicist and worked in an era where there were more job options. Both of them found their fields provided lots of opportunities to travel to really interesting places - my father-in-law sailed more than a million miles on various research vessels. So it can be a way to do really exciting, adventurous stuff but is very competitive - and yes, to work in academia you will of course need a PhD.
posted by leslies at 6:45 AM on February 10

My mom has a geology degree and works in environmental consulting, primarily hydrology, so I can try and relate what it's like. Around here in the NYC metro area, the job primarily involves working on old industrial properties and gas stations that people want to clean up in order to sell. The daily job seems to be split between sitting in an office writing reports, and going out in the field to supervise workers like drilling crews. The fieldwork tends to be dawn to dusk, and can be pretty rough in the winter. You deal a lot with the federal and state DEP, which can be frustrating.
posted by smackfu at 7:01 AM on February 10

Plenty of geology jobs working for engineers and consultants. Anyone doing large scale construction, utility work etc has to do a geological survey to determine the difficulty of excavation, methods, etc. However, a geology B.S. is not a professional degree. You'll either need an advanced degree, or think about specializing in geotechnical engineering.
posted by electroboy at 7:40 AM on February 10

My uncle and aunt have degrees in geology. (His masters project involved getting helicoptered into places and collecting rock samples for a week at a time, then getting picked up again; awesome no?) Eventually, after working for others for many years, they started their own consulting company that manages the cleanup of polluted properties (underground oil drums leaking into the groundwater table, that sort of thing).

If you major in geology, you don't have to become a Geologist. Since geology works as a generic "environmental studies" undergrad degree, I can see wide range of jobs that you could use that degree for (and I don't know about the most geology-related ones since that's a bit separate from my world). For a sense of this wider universe, check out local, state, and federal park districts; the Bureau of Land Management; county planning departments; Public Utilities Commissions; local or state water districts; consulting firms that write Environmental Impact Reports; the Regional Water Quality Control Boards; the Department of Toxic Substances Control (those last two are what these government agencies are called in California). Particularly if you round it out with a 2-3 year masters as you get closer to knowing what you want to do (engineering? planning? energy & resources management? toxicology?), particularly if you pick up useful skills like GIS along the way, particularly if you find internships that get you some job experience, you will be as employable as anybody is these days.
posted by salvia at 8:19 AM on February 10

Nthing GIS and Remote Sensing as possibilities for you. They may be in the geography dept. but the applications that you learn are easily applicable to Geological studies. There are several geology graduate students in my GIS and remote sensing classes. That you are comfortable with coding will make it easier for you to write analysis scripts in GIS and the model building/comfort with computers will not be a problem. I say go for it!
posted by schyler523 at 10:24 AM on February 10

Geophysics is (as cardboard mentions above) a good option. This is just my impression, but it seems that geologists do tend to end up in those heavy lifting, camp out in the woods with a billion mosquito jobs, which don't pay all that well. A good geophysics job, on the other hand, probably pays better and lets you travel to all kinds of neat places. Depending on how much CS you've studied, your knowledge in that field could also be an asset.
posted by ssg at 11:23 AM on February 10

I'm a 4th year student in geological engineering, and everyone I know who has graduated from the geo/geo eng program had a job right away. There are a lot fewer postings this year though.

I took a year off and did an internship with an engineering consulting firm, ...and they sent me to Nunavut. If I had asked to stay in the office I could have, but helicopters and hiking is way more awesome. And you can make tons and tons of money. I paid off 3 years of loans in a summer.

Next year I'm doing my masters, it really wasn't that hard to get in, my department's so small I had great references. In geo (in Canada at least) they also pay you to go to grad school, so look into that.

Keep in mind, I am very very biased! Msg me if you have any other questions!
posted by piper4 at 2:28 PM on February 10

I'm a geologist who graduated in a slump and went back to school to get my GIS. I've found the two in conjunction to be ENORMOUSLY helpful.

Geologists are a great bunch (on the whole) and the need to have someone with advanced computer skills in combination with geological knowledge is pretty huge. Even if you don't work as a geologist, knowing the (extensive) vocabulary and having a firm grasp of the fundamental concepts will open doors for you.

Take a few classes - see how you like it! Be aware that the industry does have its ups and downs (as most industries do), but with a computer skills (GIS or otherwise), you should be fairly well cushioned.

As to job conditions - it's really up to you. Apply for the field stuff or not. As to upper level academia - again, your call. My experience with academics is that their computer skills, again, are pretty all over the map.
posted by ollyoop at 2:45 PM on February 10

This is (for the most part) sounding increasingly awesome, going to look into all of these ideas--still on the fence, but that grass is looking significantly greener.
posted by kerfuffles at 3:34 PM on February 11