Geology offers both a specialized focus and a broad background in science, allowing for a wide range of career options at completion. Regardless of your concentration area, you’ll participate in labs and classes that largely take place out in the world, giving you hands-on experience that can be directly applied to careers and internships later on. Common careers include water, energy, and mineral jobs, geological hazards management, regulatory management, and education.

Many opportunities exist for geology graduates in the private and public sectors within a wide range of societally important and satisfying careers. Environmental management, energy resources, water resource and management, construction services, mining, power generation, computer software, and many other industries employ geoscientists in exploration, development, production, communications, building, management, and research. Federal and state agencies employ geoscientists for resource mapping and assessment, oil-gas-coal-groundwater-geothermal resource evaluation and development, resource and environmental water studies, leasing and conservation, resource restoration and rehabilitation, hazards assessment and mitigation, regulatory activities, national defense, and basic and applied research. State and local governments employ geoscientists for geologic and soils mapping and resource management, natural resources, hazards evaluation and mitigation, public information activities, consulting, management, and communications. Environmental, engineering, and water resources firms further employ geoscientists for mapping, restoration and rehabilitation planning, monitoring and evaluation of geologic and built environment hazards, and in site feasibility evaluation and implementation of construction projects, water management and reuse evaluation, groundwater pollution assessment and remediation, and contaminant prevention and treatment.