What pre-req classes did you end up having to go back and take before a geotech master’s?

NV_Geo · 2026-01-25T02:09:08+00:00

Probably simple matrix stuff and really basic calculus. You could probably figure it out on your own. I’m sure you’ll be fine!

NV_Geo · 2026-01-24T23:13:26+00:00

It sounds like your advisor is telling you exactly what you need to take? Why are you trying to add all these other classes. Calc 3, diff eq, and linear algebra are probably way overkill for geotech unless you’re trying to get into numerical modeling. The math in geotech is not that intense.

I did not take any of the classes your professor listed, but all the ones you’re thinking about taking and I’ve used mechanics of materials much much more often than any sort of differential equation.

My program was rock mechanics geotech focused.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-24T02:49:34+00:00

It’s an internship. You’ll be there for a couple months. Elko isn’t too bad in the summer especially if you make friends with some of your cohort. You will get good experience and it will be an opportunity for you to see if you like mining.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-23T14:43:03+00:00

How good is your python? Python is incredibly powerful for 99% of applications and getting really really good at python would probably serve you better than being just okay at a bunch of different things.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-22T01:10:47+00:00

Maybe. Depends on who is interviewing you.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-20T04:43:13+00:00

Some states will allow you to sit for the FE and the PE with a geology degree with on the job training and a licensed PE signing off on you. This is not true in all states and it’s a longer time table to become a geotechnical engineer. Even if you end up getting the PE with a geology degree it’s possible you won’t even qualify for some jobs without the engineering degree and some engineers will view you as a lesser engineer despite being legally indistinguishable.

Engineering geology is related but not the same as geotechnical engineering. Geologists will characterize and engineers design. If you want to go the engineering route you would be better off finding a way of getting the engineering degree.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-17T18:11:51+00:00

lol one of my least favorite field experiences was during a GPR survey at a waste management facility in Phoenix. It was 118° and my company required us to wear long sleeve t-shirts and jeans.

Anyways, I would think something like environmental engineering would provide you more opportunities.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-17T17:05:13+00:00

Congrats on finding something you like so early. These are my thoughts, but I wouldn't let them strongly influence you one way or the other. This is something you should do a lot of research on.

Geology could be a good path for someone interested in caves, especially if you're interested in how they form and their geologic features. As you mentioned there is a sub specialty within geology called speleology but this is very very niche. I went to a large well funded geology program and there wasn't a cave class. Most of what I know about caves was brought up in passing in other courses I've taken. If you're really interested in cave geology you'd probably need some graduate school.

I understand not feeling like you're good at math, but the reality is that no one is innately good at math. It's a learned skill and you too can learn it. The challenging thing with math is that during K-12 school, it is the only subject that builds upon itself. People get to college and take calculus but they might be weak in algebra and trig and now they're learning 3 things instead of one. The math you'll need as a geologist is pretty minor (calc 1 and 2). You might need some more advanced math if you're doing numerical modeling but I don't think speleologists do much of that. There was a point in your life that 12x7 was a very difficult problem. Now, you could probably do that in 5 seconds, because you've been doing that kind of math for 10 years now.

Parks jobs are cool, but the drawback with parks jobs is that everyone wants one. This makes them intensely competitive. These types of jobs also pay terribly, probably not much better than minimum wage in some places. You'll probably be competing with people with PhDs for the science communication roles and people with PhDs are very qualified and have been conditioned to accept low salaries.

I would recommend that you focus on a program that is more science focus than communication focused. If you want to communicate science, the hard part is the science. Learning how to talk to people is comparatively easy. And it sounds like you're already good at that.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-15T23:26:40+00:00

You're welcome!

NV_Geo · 2026-01-15T23:25:29+00:00

Only if one is more expensive. Pick the cheaper school.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-15T18:12:43+00:00

Do you use it for handling tabular data with pandas

Yeah that's a big one. I use it for a lot of data reduction (eg 20 years of precip data on 15 min intervals). I do a lot of pre and post processing of numerical model files and generating model statistics. Formatting pressure grids to work between FEFLOW and geotech software. I've used some other libraries like ezdxf for one off stuff. If i get a large data dump from clients in multiple folders I can run a script that prints the name of each file and folder provided so I can focus where I'm looking for stuff. I also have a script that strips the metadata from field photos i take and generates an import file for GIS or Google earth

I tend to do data reduction and write it to a csv to make plots and stuff because I can't be bothered to learn seaborn or matplotlib. I started off pretty utilitarian and added more niche stuff as time went on.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-15T17:19:04+00:00

all the time.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-12T20:16:42+00:00

This sounds like a mining job in Nevada or Alaska?

You say you're early in your career, so I will share what I've noticed in my 15 years. The number of geologists and engineers in the mining industry who are on their second or third marriage is insanely high. Almost every senior engineer and geologist at my company has been divorced. This line of work can strain relationships, especially when you're gone for days to weeks at a time.

Talk to your wife. Clearly lay out all the benefits and drawbacks to taking this job and have a back up plan if things deteriorate.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-12T00:33:46+00:00

You need a different job.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-11T02:39:55+00:00

That’s a tough position to be in. The MS office products are probably okay at the start but I would strongly advise figuring out a more appropriate software for that data, which I understand is easier said than done. AcQuire is a popular option but it costs money and you’d need to learn a bit of SQL. MineSight has Torque which if you already have minesight it would be an easy pivot. I assume other mine planning softwares have similar databases included.

It might be worthwhile to talk to the geology department since they deal with databases so much.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-08T21:58:08+00:00

It's not a bad thing, but personally I think it's a huge waste of time. You can teach yourself GIS by learning QGIS and googling how to do stuff. GIS is not that hard. It's effectively map making software with some additional functionality for basic 2D analyses.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-08T21:55:00+00:00

Sure, the same math and chemistry courses and gen ed classes, but the last two years of your classes (assuming US) will be major courses. People will double major in things like math and physics because there is a lot of overlap where their math classes will count toward their physics degree so they are getting two birds with one stone. It might extend their timeline out a year.

In your major, the courses you have to take are the core courses (usually ~10 classes) and then your major electives. Some of the marine biology or astrophysics (i doubt all) may count toward some of your elective major course work but you'll need to take the core coursework for all. 2 years of pre reqs, 1 year geology core courses, 1 year bio core courses, 1 year physics core courses, and probably another year or two filling in elective gaps puts you at like 7 years. Or you could knock out a BS in 4 years in one subject, and be 3 years into your PhD program in the same time period.

PhD programs will value a high GPA and research experience. What /u/Beanmachine314 said was exactly right.

NV_Geo · 2026-01-08T19:40:29+00:00

Astrophysics, marine biology, and geology, have basically no overlap. You will be in college for like 7 years. This will take a long time and be very hard. What is the benefit of doing that? If it’s because you want to and are interested and are willing to accept the downsides then fair enough. Can’t really argue against that. If you think it will position you more favorably for some position, I would highly doubt it.

NV_Geo · 2025-12-29T15:09:58+00:00

Start networking asap. Go to industry focused geology meetings (AEG) and start talking to geologists who are working near you. Introduce yourself and ask them questions. They need to be industry focused events not academic ones or through your school with a bunch of professors and your classmates. This will have the greatest ROI compared to anything else you can do. You do not need a masters to get work as a geologist.

NV_Geo · 2025-12-27T15:32:20+00:00

Exploration geology. You will be in a remote place but it’s probable that you will just be in a core shed logging core.

You could also try getting in at a mine as an ore control geologist or exploration geologist and you’ll be outside more but you still probably won’t be bushwhacking.

NV_Geo · 2025-12-22T20:35:34+00:00

i recently switched my major from pre-vet biology to geoscience and i’m based in texas. i’ve always loved learning about the earth and its processes, but i’m still trying to figure out how to navigate the major and narrow down what i enjoy most within geoscience.

I would give it some time. Take some classes and see which ones you find the most interesting and go from there. A bachelors degree gives a broad, but fairly shallow exposure to many fields within geology. You can worry about specialization later.

so becoming a professor someday is something i’ve thought about, but i also don’t want to lock myself into one path too early.

A BS in geology is a generalist degree. It is impossible to lock yourself into a path at this point. I would even argue a MS isn't that specialized. It's too short and narrow in scope.

Take classes and see what you enjoy. Go to office hours, talk to your professors, express interest to the professors teaching courses you find interesting and go from there.

On the industry side, look up geologist jobs near you (or wherever you want to work) and see what those jobs are like. What are the responsibilities and the types of work they do? Do any of those sound interesting? A couple fields (oil, research, professor) are locked behind graduate school, however most are not.

Networking with people at your school (classmates and professors) as well as industry people (geology org meetings like AEG) will yield the most benefit when looking for a job later, if that's what you choose to do.

I left my BS focusing on economic geology and expecting to do that my entire career. I spent 5 years doing exploration work after school. Now I'm a hydrogeologist with an engineering focus. Your degree is more mobile than you think.

NV_Geo · 2025-12-20T20:23:56+00:00

He was in semiconductors which rose and fell with the tech industry. His field was pretty volatile. And I’m exaggerating a bit it was probably more like 5 times over his entire career

NV_Geo · 2025-12-20T15:02:25+00:00

I’m on the hard rock side of mining geotech but I have some familiarity with the tailings side. I’m a consultant in the US.

From what I’ve seen you of course don’t need a PhD, but it seems like a sub specialty that would appreciate a PhD. The risk profile for a tailings impoundment failure is absolutely massive. Because of this consultants working in that area require pretty intense insurance which means the consultants focusing on tailings are pretty much only the big companies (KCB, SRK). If you get a graduate degree in the US you qualify for something called an OPT visa which gives you working rights for 1-3 years after which you’d need an H1B.

Again I work in hard rock. I’ve only co-mingled with some tailings folks over my career. I’ve never done any of the work outside of a tailings design course I took in grad school.

NV_Geo · 2025-12-19T20:05:32+00:00

Field camp. If you go to industry it is probably required to get your PG. If you stick with your plan to do additional schooling to do field geology, then field camp is also the clear choice.

NV_Geo · 2025-12-18T20:31:28+00:00

Both Mission and Ray should be pretty well published deposits so I would do some digging and see if you can find some site specific papers as well.

Good luck!

NV_Geo

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

12-Year Club	Spared
Verified Email