Explore Earth Science Careers
In the face of changing climate and increasing risks from natural hazards such as wildfires, hurricanes, landslides, and drought, there is a growing need for earth scientists to mitigate the causes and help communities and ecosystems adapt to the changes that are already occurring. This interdisciplinary, broad-ranging field encompasses everyone from researchers to policy scientists to outreach and education specialists, all focused on informing and protecting our communities from current and future natural disasters, reducing the severity of climate change impacts, and enhancing resilience to its effects.
Critical minerals are primarily non-fuel minerals or mineral resources that are essential to existing and developing alternative energy technologies that are of limited supply and at great risk for their supply chains to be disrupted. U.S. Federal agencies determine that any disruption or absence of these minerals could have significant consequences for national security. The “criticality” of a mineral changes with time as supply and society’s needs shift. Demands for critical minerals such as rare Earth elements (REEs) has increased in recent years with the growth of high-tech devices for personal and commercial use such as wind turbines, solar panels, electronics, and batteries. Earth scientists are necessary to explore for, identify, and evaluate the economic potential of current and new mineral resources for each of the elements on the list.
Energy transition refers to the global shift from traditional fossil fuel-based energy systems to cleaner, more sustainable alternatives. This transformation is driven by the urgent need to mitigate climate change, reduce air pollution, and enhance energy security. Emerging careers in the energy transition are characterized by a focus on clean, renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency, sustainability, and climate resilience. New opportunities have emerged in areas such as geothermal, wind, and solar energy, carbon capture, and Earth science applications for batteries and material cycles related to energy storage. These new roles underscore the ongoing importance of Earth science expertise in the energy industry, though the required skills and competencies are evolving quickly.
Hydrogeology deals with the distribution, movement, and quality of groundwater –water beneath the ground surface. Hydrogeologic data can provide important information regarding the availability and sustainability of, and how to best access, groundwater from an aquifer for drinking water, industry, and agriculture. Hydrogeologists explore the subsurface through boreholes, geophysical methods, and collection of water-quality samples, which can be analyzed for hundreds of constituents and man-made pollutants. Satellite data are often useful in mapping topography, in monitoring lakes, rivers, and wetlands, and more. Powerful surveying techniques on the ground surface or using drones or aircraft help hydrogeologists “see” into the Earth to better define aquifers. In the office, software tools help hydrogeologists predict how climate change and over-pumping can impact aquifers, and are used to investigate strategies to reduce the impacts.
