Geography Department
Careers in Geography & GIS
Here is a list of titles:
- Aerial Photo Interpreter - working for remote sensing company, lots in future with drones
- Air or Water Quality Control Manager - working for government agency
- Appraiser
- Atmospheric & Space Scientists
- Cartographer, for example with news media, books, websites, etc.
- Climatologist - heavy in science and math
- Conservation Scientists & Foresters
- Demographer - working in advertising, a huge field that is growing
- Emergency Management
- Enviromental Scientist & Planner - a growing field with environmental regulation to follow, especially for large development projects (California is growing!)
environmental review & impact reports; regulation compliance
environmental clean-up; hazardous waste
environmental health and safety management; occupational safety; chemical regulations
- Ecologist - using GIS as a mapping specialist, for example, with vernal pools or grassland
- Facilities Planner
- Fire & Forestry related to mapping
- Flight Attendant
- Geographer - really a generic title. Here is a link to the Bureau of Labor - Geographer - for more information.
- Geography teacher, post-secondary
- Geographic Information Systems - one title over 1,000 sub job titles here.
THIS IS BIG! - Click here to go to various industries
- GPS specialist
- Health Services - this is also big too.
- Hydrologist
- Intelligence Agent (maybe even a spy like the movies)
- International Business Relations - also big (one of my favorite growth areas with international trade, transnationals, & globalization)
- Land developer
- Land Surveyor - need to take other classes related to the technical & legal aspects
- Location Expert / Marketing / Business Location Analyst
- Marketing Research Analysts
- Map Analyst - if you know some computer program, think big here with mobile apps going geographic!
- Military mapping / GIS expert
- Natural Resource Specialist
- Outdoor Guide
- Park Ranger, both interpretive and law enforcement
- Photogrammetrist
- Pilot (commercial moving cargo or people)
- Power Grid / GIS Specialist - see SMUD in Sacramento. They hire!
- Property Manager for large corporations or resorts
- Public Utilities Specialist
- Real Estate Agent
- Remote Sensing Specialist (think Google Earth)
- Soil Research / Agriculture Specialist
- Surveyors & Surveying Technicians
- Sustainability Expert related to land use
- Teacher at all levels
- Traffic Manager
- Transportation Specialist
- Travel Agent & Recreation
- Urban & Regional Planner
- Weather Forcaster
- Wildlife Manager
- Writer
So you can see, geography is cross disciplinary. Therefore, it's important to focus on what industries you like, then build the skills to suit those needs in addition to geography classes.