Geoscientist jobs typically are specialized. For instance, there is the geologist who studies the composition, landscape shaping processes, and general history of the Earth. The geologist will attempt to figure out how rocks were formed and what their current dynamics are. Geologists also help study life's evolution through analysis of plant and animal fossils. Then there are geophysicists. These geoscientists apply principles of physics, mathematics, and chemistry to study the Earth’s surface, internal composition, ground and surface waters, oceans, the atmosphere, and the electromagnetic as well as gravitational forces. Geochemists glean basic, elemental knowledge about the chemical processes involved in the shaping of the Earth and, by extension, other planets, moons, asteroids, etc. Their knowledge is critical for understanding quite diverse topics including economically valuable ore deposits, how to safely dispose of toxic wastes, and climatic and weather variance that may impact human activities with flooding, drought, storms, and the like. Oceanographer jobs are a kind of geoscientist job that requires ones to draw upon geology, geophysics, biology, and chemistry to analyze the motion and circulation of the oceans' waters and their chemical and physical properties in order to figure out how these properties affect coastal environments, weather, and climate.
There are even subdivided specialties of the geoscientist jobs within those geoscientist jobs. Petroleum geologists, using advanced instrumentation and computers to interpret geological data, map the subsurface of land and sea, probing terrain for oil and natural gas deposits. Engineering geologists apply their knowledge to civil and environmental engineering so that they can counsel about major construction projects, environmental remediation, and natural hazard mitigation projects. Mineralogists analyze and classify minerals and precious stones according to their composition and structure while they scan the environment's surrounding rocks seeking new mineral resources for human use, while their counterparts the stratigraphers analyze the formation and layering of rocks to understand the environmental forces that created them, and the volcanologists research volcanic phenomena to try to predict the potential for future volcanic eruptions and threats to human health and welfare. Sedimentologists study the nature, origin, distribution, and variations in sand, silt, and mud, chiefly aiming to find oil, gas, coal, and numerous mineral deposits that might be useful to human civilization. Paleontologists study the fossils that are found in geological formations in order to chart the evolution of the Earth's flora and fauna as well as the geologic history of the Earth's shaping forces themselves; their counterparts include the glacial geologists who study the physical properties and movement of glaciers and ice sheets.
There are even more specialists under the umbrella of the geoscientist, and they try to glean even more-specialized data. Geodesists study the Earth’s shape and size, its rotation and gravitational field, its tides and polar motion. Geomagnetists measure the Earth’s magnetic field and add their measurements to those recorded over the previous few centuries to come up with theoretical models of the Earth's origin. Paleomagnetists make interpretations of the fossil magnetization that they measure in rocks and sediments taken from the continents as well as the oceans of Earth in order to document the spreading of the ocean floor, the drift of the continents, and polarity switching that the Earth’s magnetic field has undergone over the aeons. Seismologists are "earthquake hunters".
Those who are educated or experienced as geoscientists are turning more and more to consulting. Sometimes these consulting jobs are with government agencies; nearly 20% of all geoscientists in the U.S. are employed by the government. However, the private business world needs geoscience consultants, too. As the human population grows and expands over the Earth and looks more to eventually colonizing outer space, people need to consider carefully where to build homes and communities; where to find natural resources; how best to interact with given environments; the health effects on them of certain environments; and economic concerns, among numerous other things. Energy companies, space exploration companies, construction companies, architects, economic firms, and on and on need to draw upon the knowledge of those intimately familiar with geoscience.
Geoscience jobs for consultants currently pay an average of $65,000 a year.
