GEM-SET

Daily Digest Archive for April 10, 2003

Q: (Initially posted on April 8, 2003) FROM MENTEE ALEXIS K. IN VA
What is a geophysicist? What are the steps (classes to take) to becoming
one starting in high school, then undergraduate, then graduate school.
Second question relating to the first: are there many things a person can do
with this training and what are the many ways?
Third question: how many geophysicists are there in the United States and
how many are females?
Fourth question: What regions of the world are geophysicists needed and are
there many opportunities in the polar and arctic regions?
Another question: I am interested in doing science in very cold regions. I
have learned how to scuba dive and will take cold water scuba training one
of these days (got to get enough babysitting money!). I was selected to
attend a dog sled training program with Girl Scouts at the end of the year.
In addition to scuba and dog sledding, what other things can you think of
that would be helpful for me to learn to I am better equipped to do science
in the cold?

April 10, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR BRENDA WOLFE
Alexis,
I would suggest that you check out a college which offers Mining or Petroleum eng. - mostly a School of Mines. I am a graduate of Colorado School of Mines and although I didn't graduate in geophysics - I had plenty of friends who did. They got hired by major petroleum and exploration companies. You could check it out at www.mines.edu ( Click on Academic depts. and then choose Geophysics).
Most of my experiences with geophysics is that they are trained to do the exploration for major mineral deposits - and are hired by petroleum companies to help search for oil reserves. They use electric equipment to bounce sound waves into the ground and then determine what is beneath based on the echoes that come back.

I suggest you take calculus and physics in high school if it is available to you. If not, take as much math and science as you can. At Mines, everyone takes the same courses for the first two years which included calculos, physics, geology and chemistry. Then in your jr and sr years, there are specific geophysics classes to take. You can get a Bachelors of Science in Geophysics without going to grad school and you may want to do that.

There are probably about 4-5,000 geophysicists in the world and less than 400 ( 10%) are women. I believe that there is a need for this career and experience in the arctic regions. I would recommend also taking a foreign language.

Hope this helps.

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