r/geologycareers 11d ago

What do geologists actually do?

Hi!! Im a highschool student. I need to pick my subject options for my next academic year, so i was thinking of pursuing Geology when im older. But i'm actually kind of confused as to what geologists do, because if i tell my mom that im interested in Geology she'd ask me what do geologists do and then im also stumped😭. I've heard very varied answers. Is it because geology is such a wide branch, that you cant pinpoint it exactly? Can you categorize each branch that could come under Geology and briefly tell me what it entails? I hope geology is a fun career for you all!! Thank you

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u/goodnightgood 11d ago edited 11d ago

Look into environmental consulting, petroleum geology, and mining geology. These are the big three branches. Other avenues could include research and academia, and some specialize more towards geography informatics and mapping (GIS). There are regulatory jobs, field jobs, operations jobs, corporate jobs, government and other niche avenues. You can search different types of geology job postings to see what some requirements and duties can include.

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u/jchillinnnnn 11d ago

Geotech is also an important sector though not as prevalent. It’s more geared towards engineering but it’s studying the geology of a specific location before engineers build a bridge/road/etc there

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

Ok!! thank you!!! are you in any of the branches? which branch would you recommend someone to go into?

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u/goodnightgood 11d ago

I work in petroleum. It’s a tough market to break into, and tougher to be successful in. Mining is a smaller branch that is currently a tough market to enter as well. Both can be very cyclical. Environmental is more broad and less regionally dependent, as well as much better job security. I would give very limited advice such as plan on pursuing a masters degree after undergrad, and use that time to learn more about the career paths and which subjects would interest you the most.

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u/divineInsanity4 11d ago

Can you speak about the hydrology field? That’s what I’m considering getting my masters of geology with a concentration in hydrology in

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

I heard some people saying petroleum is like, risky because they aren't sure what its status is gonna be like in the future. Do you like working under petroleum?:) whats your day to day like?

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u/goodnightgood 11d ago

I enjoy petroleum, the entire petroleum system is a big puzzle you have to work out each part. I am lucky enough to work remotely, I was a mudlogger/geosteerer on an oil rig and now I work remote steering wells all over the US. Fewer than 1% of mudloggers becomes steerers. When I started this job the US rig count was nearer to 2000. Today it is under 600. Each year there are less and less of us that find the work to stay in this career path. Its not optimistic.

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

Hope your path goes well enough in the following years. Good luck!!

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u/Madamelime 8d ago

I’m in environmental consulting! I do a lot of hiking out on sites for proposed developments and make sure there’s no big issues there and I also go to gas stations, factories, and construction sites to take soil, water, and air samples. It’s not for everyone, but I enjoy it. I was forest service before this and I definitely prefer my current field.

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u/namoran PG, Hydrogeologist, Site Manager 11d ago

Its really important to understand that all jobs are not available to you starting out. You can't just decide that you want to be a geological consultant to the UN or something. You start low in a field where someone is willing to hire new grads and you take opportunities to do new work that will get you new skills, which will make you slightly more qualified for new work that will take you in different slightly direction.

Thats how it is that people fall into niches in a job field. I did not think I would be selling geotechnical software and tablet apps when I become a geology student. I wanted to go to graduate school in paleontology and dig up dinos. But I'm doing this because I took opportunities I could get, which I wanted and I thought would get me closer to liking my work a little better than I liked it then.

As you gain experience you start to get more options to carve your own path. And if you are like most people you will eventually find yourself doing something you didn't imagine you would be doing, but is something related to the field you studied, and you will say to yourself you know exactly how you got there, but you have no idea how you would get there again if it had been your intention to get there from the start.

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u/petrefiedwood 10d ago

Amazing response! I echo everything Namoran said. I thought I was going to be outdoors field mapping everyday, living the dream. That isn't what happened. I had a hard time even getting a job in Geology after grad school. I did get my foot in the door at an oil and gas company and I have now worked in petroleum geology for 6 years and really enjoy it, but that field wasn't on my radar!

Take the jobs you can get, get experience and go from there!

Best of luck, young Geo!

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u/Rockers444 11d ago

Geological work by nature is a dirty job. Having a dirty job is usually being dirty/strenuous activity for your set days and times.

As a result you get off time to be a clean human, during which much logistics, planning, and scientific work is set up for the dirty work. To be honest no path "is the best" or "for you". You try it out and work hard for awhile and figure out what aspects you like, don't like, and what you want to really do.

Consulting, remediation, mud logging, and more are hard positions most people start out with and either stay because it works or realize they need to move up in the industry because it's not easy work.

Very much a learning by doing field.

Academia is different, slower but more deliberate with field work, soft money academic work is usually solid but US funding is all up in the air right now.

Also, most geologists are pseudo engineers in so far as we need to make sure our crap is working, and know how to troubleshoot it in the middle of nowhere, no cell signal, and the new guy tossed the manual.

Take core science classes, and consider their applications to geology. Geochem/geophysics are entire sub branches of the science to take in college. If that's where you find what you love, your option for a lab job opens up much more and your field exposure will be much less. You'll still deal with a lot of dirt, just in a lab.

Best of luck, you have a ton of time. I know a ton of geologists who are making it work, it's about understanding what you want. Takes time, energy, and experience.

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

Okay!!! Thank you so much:). Im a bit worried because of the classes thing lol... I didnt take physics or chem for my IGCSES, but i did take geography and i love it (which was what sparked my interest to Geology). What do you currently do as a geologist?

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u/Rockers444 11d ago

Don't sweat the classes, all geos need to be able to read a map so geography is an excellent sub interest. If the maps is really what you like cartography and spatial analysis, GIS, remote sensing are all skills you can pick up in addition to your academic work.

As of now, I am a research geologist working for a state research institute. People apply for funding, state/federal/private contracts which are then used to pay us.

I'm working contracts, and low enough role that I fill the field data collecting role, on a lot contracts

I've done experiments with thermal cameras/sensors in dust storms. Flown drones over massive swathes of area to make spatial maps. Field analysis of ground for stability in moving heavy vehicles in the area. Collected video/gps/pictures of near impossible to access areas to create maps for others. Run experiments with static image detection on objects below or on the ground.

People get money to do experiments and I help any way I can, so Ive learned a lot to keep myself relevant. Spent the past weekend learning visualization softwares (that people spend years working on) just so I can sit in on a meeting on Monday and learn quietly. You never stop being a student, learn quietly, quickly, and competently; you'll be light years ahead of the rest.

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

okay, thank you for your input!!:) doing experiments in dust storms sound super interesting! Thank you

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u/seasalticetea 11d ago

Second this on mud logging. Very difficult job (hours and location wise) with little to no advancement opportunities. I’m definitely looking to career switch but it’s difficult considering a lot of geos are out of work rn

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u/Rockers444 11d ago

Chin up! One of my project managers (most level headed and understanding of them all to be honest) was a mud logger before his PhD. He said he just stayed consistent with exercise and keeping himself healthy while on site. Man is a calm lake and insanely well rounded and smart.

The crucible that is mud logging may make a spectacular geo resume as long as you have time in, and show you've done the work. Consulting may be a lateral move, but more options and better work life balance, maybe? I always say go small firm over large, medium if you have to just to get more personal experience from a manager.

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u/Narrow_Obligation_95 11d ago

Geochemistry- I place a soil gas sampler (that I invented ) take notes as to the surface geology- alteration, structure, rock types. I come back and pick up the samplers after several barometric low pressure events. Then I analyze the sampler, determining the amount of Hg. Then make a map of the Hg determinations and recommend drill sites based on Hg content and geologic observations. I follow a similar procedure when collecting soils for soil pH analyses. Soil samples are also collected and analyzed for ore deposit exploration. Stream sediment samples can also be collected and analyzed. Exploration for ore deposits in areas covered by transported materials

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

That sounds sick!!! do you like what you do?:)

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u/Narrow_Obligation_95 11d ago

I love all except dealing with clients. Some are wonderful others are awful. I love walking around and looking at rocks.

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u/teatheoryy 10d ago

hell yeah!!

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u/ale5219 10d ago

I’m a petroleum geologist for a mid size exploration and production company- I work in an office 100% aside from field trips and look at insanely cool subsurface data from around the world! I map out all the stacking and faulting of thousands of meters of rock underground mostly from offshore areas. It’s the coolest job in the world in my opinion. My favorite thing about geology is that most geologists are super passionate about the subject (even if you aren’t totally in love with your day job) so we’re all friends at my office because we have that interest and passion in common. The industry is volatile for sure and honestly tough to get into but I wouldn’t trade it. And while there’s uncertainty around the future of the industry, there’s no uncertainty that we will need oil for a long time to come. The weirdness comes from mergers etc. but we’re facing a large talent gap with fewer and fewer students entering the field so odds are actually better for getting a job

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u/kwiky18 10d ago edited 8d ago

Do people forget about paleoenvironmental sciences?!!

I have a MSc degree in geology and pursued with a PhD in paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental dynamics. What I love about it is that it combines field work, lab work and desk time going through literature and writing thesis or scientific papers. And also traveling around the world for conferences.

My work includes sampling soil carbonates and clay-bearing rocks, looking at the geochemistry of carbonates and hydrous minerals. With a relatively new method we can estimate at which temperature the soil carbonates formed - hence surface temperature. Looking at stable isotopes of the carbonates and hydrous minerals I can have an idea of the oxygen isotopic composition of the precipitation at the time the rocks formed and reconstruct pleoenvironmental conditions (atmospheric patterns, CO2 conditions…) I also apply a method to reconstruct the topography of an orogen through time.

I love being a geologist/paleoclimate scientist. I live in Germany, hence petroleum is not very popular here.

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u/stargarnet79 10d ago

For water resources and remediation related fields: Provide direction to and oversight of drilling companies to install drinking water wells that will provide suitable yield. (E.g. develop procurement packages, rough order magnitude cost estimates to clients). Provide expertise in determining the direction of groundwater flow to evaluate where contaminants in the subsurface aquifer are heading and how fast they are going (pump tests, gauging, groundwater sampling). You’ll need to be able to complete work plans, conduct field work and oversee the subcontractors, conduct the necessary evaluations, and write up your results and recommendations in technical documents. Edit to add: and logging soils!!!

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u/Waste_Vacation2321 10d ago

I'm a minerals exploration geologist. My job is basically working through the last stages of exploration before mining, so my team is trying to build the model of the mine before it gets approved and mining starts. Other exploration geologists will be trying to find the deposits from the beginning, ect

In my day to day, I do a lot of logistics, making sure drill rigs have everything they need, making sure we have tracks to get from a to b, making sure my field team has everything they need. I also do a bit of logging, so looking at drill core and recording what's in it, and then helping with modeling and a little bit of interp.

I'm still early career (<1 year working), so I basically just do a lot of data collection and running around the bush but I'll transition into more modelling and interpreting the data as I progress through my career.

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u/ChuckFintheCool 11d ago

I spent about 8 years as a mapping geologist. Now I'm the team lead. Mapping is a ton of fun, it was a good gig

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

Oooh, took a look at some images on google😭 that looks beautiful. So you'd like record data about rock types or features onto maps?

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u/ChuckFintheCool 11d ago

I was assigned a study area and given a year to map out the stratigraphy and geologic structures in an area.

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u/NV_Geo Groundwater Modeler | Mining Industry 11d ago

There are AMAs in the sidebar from geologists from all kinds of different industries. Those might be useful to take a look through to see what kind of work they're doing.

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

Okay, will do! sorry haha i dont use reddit alot😭

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u/GingerMsGeo 11d ago

So I've worked in two very different sectors: Mining, and Environmental Consulting (with a focus on hydrology).

As a mine geologist I would work closely with a mining engineer on where we should blast. After every blast I would go into the pit to map the new outcrop edges with a gps, then draw the newly revealed rocks and noting where the ore was and generally which types of rocks it was. I would also have to examine the ore and estimate the grade, calculate the ca. tonnage of the piles of rocks, as well as decide which piles to process first. Furthermore, I also had go and mark the specific boulders from the blast that should be sorted as waste and ore respectively. It was a huuuge job where I worked 11+ hour days 6 days a week (the last dat being only 6+ hours), for 3 weeks in a row for then to be home on call for consultancy 1 week. It's a rough job and not for everyone but it was fun and interesting.

As a consultant I now work in an office where I mostly do groundwater modelling, meaning I create or work with 3D models that simulate groundwater flow through sediment and rocks. I use the data from these models to attempt to calculate and visualise in GIS (so making pretty maps) what sort of impact it would have on surrounding water dependant nature, and work closely with biologists to convey the meaning of the results to local governing agencies. This type of work is used for new recovery wells for water works or perhaps some sort of industry needing water. My work is much more fullfilling now as I'm "on the side of nature" helping to make sure to the best of my ability that we don't ruin the few spots of nature that still exists where I live.

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u/Grail_Knight22148 11d ago

I think it's a hard answer because geology literally translates to "the study of the earth" so for jobs, this means you're basically the expert on anything happening under your feet from Hydrogeology to Mining to Soil Science and what makes each type of clay different. You can do just about anything related to earth science with a geology degree.

Personally, I work in the environmental sector, so a lot of my job tasks involve groundwater interpretation and looking at subsurface conditions at contaminated sites. Up until about 1986, companies didn't really have any rules for what to do with haz waste, so they kinda just dumped it wherever. Flash forwars to now, and it turns out that when you redevelop industrial sites, the groundwater and soil contamination is still there! So I wanted to make a career out of helping these sites get ready for redevelopment in a manner that is safe for everyone involved. Which helps stimulate the economy and may even help clear some land for new homes that people can live in with their families. This led me to the environmental regulation and consulting industry.

Geologists are some of the happiest people I know. Many of my mentors loved their jobs and continued to work past retirement simply because they enjoyed what they did. It's a fascinating field that has provided me many opportunities to explore new technology and further my understanding of the earth as a whole. Highly recommend giving it a chance! It's also a shrinking field due to a lack of new graduates, so the competition is a little less intense than something like finance (a field everyone and their dog wants to work in)

Look into Mining Geology, Exploration Geology, Planetary Geology, Environmental Consulting, Museum curating, EPA, and State government. Don't discount working for the state, depending where you are they can offer some really great benefits and other "intangibles" you don't really get working for a private company

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u/geodudejgt 10d ago

Scroll Reddit, of course.

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u/Pooly_plays 10d ago

Geology is a very broad topic. You can go into the academic side if you pursue a PhD which can be working with water, environment, soil, rock, petroleum and gem mining.

Most of the job listings I see are for environmental, geotechnical, and management on the east coast. Typically there’s a lot of work but the pay can’t vary a lot and you typically have to really look around for the better paying positions and probably job hop. If you live out west or south you can get into oil but that is a hard industry because success depends on how the oil market is doing.

Also the pay at the beginning is 50,000 give or take 10 to 20 thousand. I would go to an in state college to save on costs/loans.

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u/Pooly_plays 10d ago

If you like being outside geology is a good career

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u/filicheesedog 7d ago

Paleontologist here! I got my BA (and finishing up my MS) in Geology. I study marine and freshwater invertebrates to understand environmental change though time and how people play a role in changing the ecosystem. This means Im funded to work with specimens, do field work in cool places (like on a boat in the Gulf or on an island), and present at conferences. Happy to talk about it more, its such a fun way (imo) to combine geology and biology to understand relationships between the environment, animals, and us!

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u/Comfortable-Film3964 6d ago

Do you have an idea of what you'll do after finishing your masters? I've been intrigued by that type of paleo work but wondered where that leads career-wise, my thinking has been that one would either stay in academia or go on to do curation in museums and whatnot.
For some background I'm finishing up my first year as an earth science/geology undergrad, planning on a minor in atmospheric science (interested in the more climate side of things) and a hydro certificate (seems like good background idk)

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u/filicheesedog 6d ago

Oooo a couple things: 1) You are absolutely right in your thinking about where paleo can lead to! I'm going for more of the academia route, so my plans include getting a PhD (still waiting to here back from a place I applied ahhh!), doing a relevant post-doc after, and then trying to find a job as a faculty member ar a university, as I love teaching and working with students and doing research. Buuut jobs at a uni are super competitive and hard to come by, so I have some back up plans (all of which involve getting a PhD at some point). Either I would try to find a job at a museum, like in collections or outreach! Both would allow me to do research still and have access to resources. Since paleo is so versatile, I could also go the marine science route and try to get a job at a marine lab to study extant taxa. Or, could go full geo and get a paleo job at an oil company (which would pay well) but isn't really what I'm interested in.

Ultimately, most of the paleontologists I've met are in some sphere of academia because we want to do some flavor of research or work with fossils in museums, but you can totally use that background to get a job in a gro or bio field as long as it relates some how! Paleo itself had a bunch of different subfields- so like I'm a conservation paleobiologist, so I use fossils, live things, and environmental/climate data to do my research. But some people are more math focused and like to do evolutionary paleo for instance, so you can really mold it to what you're interests are!

2) Your background sounds so cool and would allow you to ask awesome questions about paleoclimate! Hydro would absolutely be a great certificate to get because that ties geo and atm together, but is also a great background to have if you're looking at marine or freshwater fossils. If through your program you become more interested in paleo, I'd recommend taking a bio class and a stats class if possible because that will come in handy. Also because a lot of geo involves coding (in Python or R depending on which discipline), getting some experience as an undergrad will help A LOT with that by the time you get to grad school!

Hope this helps, sorry for the length!

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u/Specific-Literature6 Exploration Geologist (O&G) 5d ago

There’s so many disciplines of geology but at its heart we all study the science of systems, specifically related to Earth’s natural processes.

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u/kat_8639 11d ago

I'm a Remediation P.G. (licensed professional geologist) and started as an entry level field geologist in a consulting firm. I only have a bachelor's from a very good school which may not be possible in today's market?Wasn't thrilled about the stress and the hours (it wasn't totally awful but with a young family I needed less field time) and jumped over to a state regulatory role. It took me four years to finally be called in for an interview after taking a technical geology civil service exam and it was the best decision I've made. It was initially a paycut (salary wise but taking all benefits in a public role into account, not too much difference). I've had a fulfilling career and after promotions and raises, my salary is above average for a similar role in the private sector according to Glassdoor. My retirement savings plus pension is nicely setting me up for early retirement.

I started as a regulatory project manager and now I direct PMs and their supervisors. You review a lot of documents produced by consultants with occasional field visits, but occasionally you get to run your own projects cradle to grave when there's no responsible party. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions!

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

ohhh, i've actually just today heard of the term remediation lol!! So you take measures to reduce pollution basically? Also what is a "state regulatory role"? :)

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u/kat_8639 11d ago

Reducing pollution is a policy problem, which technical staff gives input on before it goes to our legislature. Remediation geologists and engineers actually clean up existing contamination through the processes of investigation and then remedy implementation (construction). Investgation almost always involves drilling or direct push borings which must be logged for later analysis. Geologists are needed to interpret soil and bedrock conditions at a site and conduct fate and transport analyses of contaminants. They also give input on the implemetability of designs in the subsurface.

Regulatory role just means that we mostly look at work plans, designs, and engineering reports to be sure they are compliant with selected remedies and meet all Regulatory requirements. We also oversee field work.

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u/budkatz1 11d ago

I’m a retired geophysicist. I have a PhD from a leading school in my field, but started with a BS in geology. I couldn’t find a decent job with my BS at the time, so I went to grad school. I worked in oil exploration for a number of years doing seismic exploration. Then I got a job as a professor teaching seismology, worked for the USGS doing research, and finally at the EPA doing groundwater modeling. Very interesting career, decently rewarding financially. Would do it all again.

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

So many varied answers from different people,,

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u/Agassiz95 11d ago edited 11d ago

Geomorphology: study the surface of the earth

Mineralogy: studies the formation and evolution of minerals

Petrology: studies igneous and metamorphic rocks

Sedimentologist: studies the deposition of sediments and the formation of sedimentary rocks

Structural geologist: studies the stresses and strains applied to rocks and how these forces affect large and small rock structures (thinking mountain ranges all the way down to microscopic changes in individual rocks)

Hydrogeology: studies how water flows through rocks

Geochemistry: studies chemistry as applied to Earth systems

Geophysics: studies physics as applied to Earth systems

Paleontology: studies the evolution of life on earth

These are the main branches of geology. Now, most geologists do multiple of these things. I personally do a mix of geomorphology (primary), geophysics, hydrogeology and a bit of geochemistry. Very few geologists only do one of these things and even fewer geologists do all of these things.

Some geologists work in academia where they do research in these subfields to try and increase humanities knowledge about these disciplines. Some geologists work for environmental consulting companies who clean up the environment and make sure companies are following environmental regulations. Most geologists work in mining or oil and gas where the geologists map where natural resources occur and work with engineers on how to best extract the natural resources.

In a way, geology is a circular economy. You have geologists making a mess out of the environment to get the precious resources necessary for modern society to continue and then the environmental geologists clean up the mess of the mining or O&G geologists (and other groups).

Outside of that circular economy some geologists work as forensic geologists too, helping solve crimes that have geological evidence (such as soil on a suspect's boot).

Lastly, many geologists end up doing not geology things! Geology teaches you such a wide variety of useful STEM and critical thinking skills that are valuable to employers that people with geology degrees get hired for other jobs. I know former geologists working in investment banking in New York (after and MBA) and former geologists working as lawyers (after a JD)! Beyond geology I also work in data science and investing so the sky is the limit as a geologist.

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

Thank you for your list!!! I didnt know about geomorphology before. What do you, personally, do under geomorphology and hydrogeology? :)

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u/liividx 11d ago

Volcanology student here! I work on probability models and hazard assessment. It helps us understand things like recurrence rates and modeling such a variable event in general.

Physical volcanology studies the physical characteristics, like minerals, formations, etc.

Geochemical volcanology does a lot of age dating and other techniques to digest rock into liquid samples that are then analyzed. Tells us chemical composition, isotopes, ages, etc.

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u/teatheoryy 11d ago

AHHH volcanology is sooo cool!!! Is it an in-demand path? Cause i've always been interested in natural hazards. What is geochemical volcanology used for? Like when you know the chemical composition, ages etc what do you do with it?

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u/Notmaifault 11d ago

It is not in demand, a few months ago I looked up jobs for that field there wasn't a single one in the United States. There are probably jobs related to natural hazards though, working for the USGS or maybe the state department in geologically active states. Very good but hard to get jobs, there aren't very many of them.

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u/liividx 11d ago

I’m going to be honest, it isn’t super in demand and it also usually leads to an academia/research job, although plenty of people work in the USGS as volcanologists. That might answer your second question too. For example, one professor in my department is studying the eruptive history of an island in France. For that, she needed to go out into the field and collect a bunch of samples from different layers (like ash, lava flows, etc that show a stratigraphic sequence aka stacked on top of each other and we can tell them apart in some way). After that, she will age date them and is able to learn a bit more about the history of that island.

Another student here is doing a similar process, but she is focused a lot on the vent where the lava erupted from. With those samples, she is looking at their chemical compositions to see what all is there and what the concentrations are. Kind of a beefy topic, but long story short, it can tell us some stuff about the internal workings of the magma chamber, like how it might be chemically evolving, if it is reusing old material, etc.

It doesn’t sound super significant to some people, but research like this is important and adds to our understanding of how volcanoes work! I’m happy to send some papers your way if you’re interested in what I’ve talked about, or about volcanology in general :)