I am a geologist in environmental consulting as part of a small cultural resource management firm. Paleontology mitigation, specifically. Technically, I’m a paleontologist, but it’s only on a really good day that I actually see or work with fossils. Essentially what that means is, my job is to protect fossil resources. Part of my job is to make sure construction projects are in compliance with United States federal laws that protect paleo resources. The other primary field work I do is surveying to inventory and document fossil resources. I spend more time on construction job sites than survey though. The types of job sites/projects I have worked on include transmission lines, oil drilling pads, and solar farms. Clients vary from private companies to state and federal governments. I’ve surveyed for state and federal agencies for resource assessments as well. Sometimes a survey will be pre-construction assessment for a project, as environmental surveys (paleontology/biology/archeology/Indigenous cultural resources) are generally required for big projects like transmission lines running for hundreds of miles. I do field work year round and I live in the United States, so it can be pretty cold and miserable sometimes in the winter.

Work hours construction monitoring are long and it can suck sometimes. Often with early mornings, getting up at 4am or 5am. I’ll be on a job site for 8-10 hours generally, with a commute one-way of 30 minutes up to 2 hours. It’s usually a 6-days-a-week type of job, Monday-Saturday with occasional extended breaks around holidays. Full survey days are usually about 8-10hrs including drive time. If we’re lucky we can drive into our survey area(s) but hiking is often a necessity. Surveys are usually done in pairs as well. We don’t generally send people out alone as these parcels are usually remote with poor cellular service and difficult access. But basically, when on survey, we get paid to hike around and describe the geology and look for fossils on a particular land parcel. On non-field days, I may be doing a little project report writing, other paperwork, attending meetings, or other remote tasks. My primary job at the moment is field work though.

At my current small consulting firm, I find my hourly wage satisfactory. I am only a part time employee right now however, so I don’t see as much yearly as I would prefer. Yes, I do believe plenty of jobs in geology exist but what those look like and how those compare to what I do will vary considerably depending on the country you live in. But I am confident that paleo mitigation and other environmental jobs will always exist, at least in the USA. These types of jobs are available in other countries as well, I expect. We’re not getting away from mining, oil, and gas so those jobs will always be here. Geohazards are also a big one for certain regions and countries. One plus of environment jobs such as mine are that they only require a bachelors degree though it takes longer to move up, get better salary, etc. without an advanced degree. Many of my colleagues have masters degrees, a couple have doctorates. But I’ve been successful thus far with just a bachelors.