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Geology News
Geologist Career Current Events

British Columbia Map.

A report in The Vancouver Sun says that oil jobs are quite dangerous in British Columbia. The injury rate there is about 1/2 of the provincial rate, however, the severity of injuries and duration of off time are much worse.

Lee Allison comments on starting salaries in the oil industry based upon discussions with professors and students at the recent AAPG meeting in San Antonio.

The need for skilled mining industry professionals in Canada is going up faster than Canadian schools can gradate students. They need 600 engineers per year but schools only graduate between 120 and 150. The nine schools granting those degrees do not have the capacity needed to meet the demand.

A new “Geoscience Currents” at the American Geological Institute website shows that the number of Geoscience Faculty members in the United States fell by 10% since 1999.

Royal Dutch Shell is scaling down its North Sea operations where well yields are declining and costs are increasing. About 180 jobs will be cut. Shell employs about 8500 people in the UK.

More then 50% of the oil industry workforce is between 50 and 60 years old and jobs are hard to fill. The Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association is trying to stimulate student interest in the oil and gas industry by preparing an educational toolkit for teachers that features numerous oil and gas industry jobs.

Here’s a Google map that serves USGS topo map tiles. You can browse topo maps in any of the 48 states and Canada and print a copy of these maps from a PDF document.

NPR’s “All Things Considered” program goes to the Colorado School of Mines where lots of students are getting hired well in advance of graduation at $80K+ salaries with signing bonuses.

More….
Geologist Salaries at Record Highs
Geologist Career Resources

Here’s a source of printable polar coordinate graph paper that can be used to plot things like joint and fracture orientations, current directions, fossil orientations or any type of data that is collected in degrees. These are .pdf files that you can easily download and print. Bookmark it for easy access when you need it.

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered volumes of 3.65 billion barrels of oil, 1.85 trillion cubic feet of associated/dissolved natural gas, and 148 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the Bakken Formation of the Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota.

We recently updated our geology jobs page adding links to over 200 employers, headhunters and articles relevant to the job market for geologists. If you know anyone looking for earth science employement or anyone who advises geology students we invite you to share the URL with them.
http://geology.com/jobs.htm

An article at the GEOTIMES website explores the things that faculty and departments can do to better prepare their students for a future in the geosciences. Preparing students to learn on their own, helping them understand integrated Earth and planetary systems, and introducing them to the breadth of career options available are three of the many issues discussed.

Google has added contour lines to their terrain maps. They are not quite as detailed as USGS topos but for free-to-use maps they are very nice. Contour intervals vary depending upon local relief.

It’s a Great Time to Be a Geologist! Starting salaries for geologists in the petroleum and mineral sectors are over $80,000 and there are far more positions than qualified people to fill them.

A short article on how Boise State University geology students are doing in the job market. The article is actually a transcript of the video that you can watch by clicking the box at the top of the article.

An interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about a geologist searching for copper in the Peruvian Andes. The goal is to capture reserves quickly.

A collection of photos that trace some of the activities of geologist, Torsten Danne, who searches for copper in Peru for the Rio Tinto Group.

The demand for degreed geologists is very strong these days and the salaries are at record highs. Kim Hannula, a professor at a small public college in the Rockies, speculates what might happen if the current employment environment motivates the enrollment of a large number of new students who are mainly motivated by the high salaries - and not necessarily the love of the science.

This podcast at NPR explores how new graduates from the Colorado School of Mines and other schools are grabbing starting geologist salaries of $80,000.

Geology.com: Geology Careers Page

USGS has a list of questions that the public frequently ask volcanologists…. here are a couple…

Are you “scared” when work on an active volcano?

What kind of school training do you need to become a volcanologist?

Don’t get an MBA to make the big bucks. Instead get a degree in geology with an emphasis on minerals and fossil fuels. New geology grads who go to work in exploration and extraction are fetching record salaries.

Here’s a site where you can download and print free graph papers in a variety of formats. Square grid paper, polar coordinate paper, isometric paper and axis graph paper.

Chris Rowan has some interesting comments about how outcrops should be treated - especially those that attract a large number of visitors to see small and unique features. Outcrops can be one-of-a-kind educational resources and some of the damage is done by people who are otherwise well intentioned.

The St. Petersburg Times has an article about an incident where an environmental activist testified about matters related to geology at a public hearing and then found herself in hot water for practicing geology without a license….. Yes, you do need a license to practice geology in many locations.

If you are interested in using your expertise as a geologist working in a short-term assignment at a National Park, with Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service, dozens of summer jobs and internships were recently announced at the GeoCorps America 2008 pages on the GSA website.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau in the Philippines reports that 70 of their 120 geologists have resigned in the past several months to take higher paying jobs with natural resource companies.

The need for geologists trained for the mining industry is very high but the number of qualified graduates is very low in some areas. Part of the problem is that qualified graduates often opt for employment outside of the mining sector, which is not considered by some to be an attractive career path.

A guy in Pennsylvania set a new record for stone-skipping. You will not believe how many skips he made. I think that this record should rightly belong to a geologist, but I don’t know of any who can skip a stone half that many times.

The supply of geologists in Russia is similar to that in other parts of the world - there is a shortage. Part of the problem can be traced back to low levels of support for the academic departments that provide the training.

NASA Image

Geologists are eligible to apply….. “To be considered, a bachelor’s degree in engineering, science or math and three years of relevant professional experience are required. Typically, successful applicants have significant qualifications in engineering or science…”

From the article: “The number of cases involving foreign institutions and individuals conducting illegal surveying and mapping in China has been on the rise in recent years, according to the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping.” (I’ve seen two or three news items on this subject in the past couple of months. Since so many geoscientists are visiting China these days it makes sense to mention it here.)

From the article: “After 11 years of trying, geologists in the state of New York are still waiting for their professional license. Despite a long series of unsuccessful bills stretching back to 1996 to introduce such a license to the state, some proponents see signs that the mood in Albany may be changing at last.”

USBR.gov Image

Lots of geologists work in areas where snakebites can happen. The article “My Rattlesnake Bite” was written by Justin Schwartz, who was bitten by a Northern Pacific rattlesnake when he was 13 years old. Be warned that the photos of his surgery are shocking. If you read his story and see the photos you will realize that being careful in snake country is an important thing to do.

USBR.gov Image

Most geologists are into the field and locations where they might come in contact with ticks. If you don’t already know about ticks and Lyme Disease - or if you don’t know this information thoroughly - this article explains how to avoid problems with ticks, explains Lyme Disease and tells how to recognize the symptoms of Lyme Disease.

A geologist and an engineer are sitting next to each other on a long flight from LA to NY. The geologist leans over to the engineer and asks if he would like to play a fun game. The engineer just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks…. More…

(Why is it that at least 50% of all geologist jokes involve an engineer?)

USGS Image

Geologists often have access to the data of clients and employers that is considered “confidential”. What responsibilities do they have related to this information and how long do those responsibilities apply? This article explores confidentiality agreements in mineral exploration and mining - a subject that is probably not included in every geologist’s education.

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists has a “Visiting Geoscientist Program” that sends experienced geologists to university geology departments. These geologists spend a half to a full day with the students, make presentations, answer questions and serve as ambassadors of the profession. Professors can visit the AAPG website to learn more and schedule a visit.

Should geologists be allowed to use precision GPS units as a routine part of their field work? I think that in many situations it would be irresponsible not to use them. Some surveyors in Arizona feel that the use of these devices for mapping earth’s physical features should be restricted to those who hold a surveyor’s license.