What Can I do With a Degree in Geography?

Career Center Library Resources
The Career Center Library has a variety of resources to help students explore potential career fields. These resources include information about typical responsibilities, qualifications, career paths, job outlook, salary, and related careers.

Books Specifically Related to Geography Majors

• Careers for Nature Lovers and Other Outdoorsy Types
• 100 Jobs in the Environment
• Green at Work

Books of General Interest to Liberal Arts Majors

• Great Jobs for Liberal Arts Majors
• The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People
• Making a Living While Making a Difference

Vocational Biographies
Vocational Biographies describes the career success stories of 1001 real people. Search by career title, keyword, topic, and career cluster. Username: portland su and pass code: 3w9n

• Geographic Information Systems Analyst
• Environmental Specialist
• Land Developer
• Meteorologist
• Forest Ranger
• Environmental Attorney
• Cartographer

Professional Associations

• The Association of Pacific Coast Geographers
• The Association of American Geographers
• American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)
• ACSM Member Organizations
• Society of Woman Geographers
• Oregon & Southwest Washington URISA
• American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

Internet Sites with Career-Related Information for Geography Majors

• Careers in Geography — Online career guide from the Association of American Geographers
• • The Sample Jobs and Careers by Geographic Field section includes brief descriptions of possible jobs by subfield.
  • The section on What can you do as a geographer? includes an alphabetical list of job titles.
  • The section Where do Geographers Work includes links to lists of employers by type of venue: for profit, federal government, and education.
• Career Information for Geography Majors — From the University Career and Employment Services at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
  
• Geography — Lists and briefly describes possible job titles related to geography majors. From the Career Exploration Center at the University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
  
• What Can I do with a Major in...Geography? — Lists potential job titles. From the Career Services Office at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina.
• Careers in Cartography and GIS — Lists sample job titles by private sector, and federal and state government. "A brochure published for high school and college students considering a career in cartography and Geographic Information Science by the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and the Cartographic and Geographic Information Society."
• Geography Jobs — Published in the Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Spring 2005, Volume 45, Number 1.
• Occupational Report for Geographers — Provides information on "wages, employment projections, employment by industry, skill sets, educational requirements, and training providers." From the Oregon Labor Market Information System.
• Career Paths in Professional Surveying — From the National Society of Professional Surveyors.
• OA Guide to Outdoor and Environmental Careers — Written by Rick Curtis, Director, Outdoor Action Program, Princeton University.
• Geography: What Can I Do With This Major? — Outlines common career areas, identifies typical employers, and suggests general strategies to enhance employability. From Career Services at the University of Tennessee.
• What Can I do with a Major in Geography? — From the College of Arts and Sciences Career Services at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma.
• Careers in Geography — Developed by the Department of Geography, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota.

Internet Sites with Job Search Information for Geography Majors

• GIS Employment Information — GIS Employment Information in the Bay Area from the Bay Area Automated Mapping Association (BAAMA).
• GeographyJobs.com - a job search and job by e-mail service that is focused on bringing together geographers and employers in need of their talents.
• GeoJob.org
• GeoWeb Employment Opportunities — Searchable database of jobs in a variety of fields including: GIS, GPS, Remote Sensing (RS), Cartography, Computer Mapping, Maps, Geography, Environmental Sciences, and Natural Resources.
• Sloan Career Cornerstone Center — Jobs for Geography Majors

Places of Employment
Geography majors may find employment in a variety of areas depending on their skills and experience. Career-related internships or part-time jobs may be a prerequisite to finding professional-level employment after graduation. Places of employment for geographers include private industry; federal, state, and local government agencies; and educational institutions.

The following list of employers and job titles was primarily derived from the Career Center's jobs database where the employer specifically requested geography majors. This list does not reflect all potential places of employment or kinds of jobs for geography majors. This list does not reflect current openings.

• AMEC Earth & Environmental, Inc. — GIS Analyst
• Benton County — Assistant Planner, Engineering/Surveying Technician
• Blazing Adventures — Guide
• BLUE: Land, Water, Infrastructure — Analysis and Design Focus
• C-Tran — Planner (GIS/Data Analyst)
• Census Bureau, Seattle Regional Office
• CH2M Hill — GIS Analyst/Developer, GIS Project Manager, Entry-Level GIS Technician, Survey Party Chief
• City of Albany, Oregon — Public Works Department
• City of Beaverton — GIS Analyst, Senior Planner, Associate Planner, GIS Intern, GIS Specialist (Finance Department)
• City of Corvallis — Assistant Planner, Associate Planner
• City of Grants Pass — GIS Database Technician
• City of Hillsboro — GIS Analyst, Urban Planner I, Urban Planner II
• City of Lake Oswego — GIS Technical Support Specialist
• City of Portland — Mapping Data Technician, GIS Technician II, Map and Records Supervisor
• City of Portland Water Bureau — GIS Position Engineering Trainee Internships
• City of Prineville — Senior Planner
• City of Salem — Planning Intern, Public Works/Transportation Planning, Assistant Planner
• City of Springfield — Senior Public Works Intern/Public Works Intern
• City of Tigard — Associate Planner
• City of Vancouver — Environmental Planner
• Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission — GIS Specialist
• Confederate Tribes of Siletz Indians — Planner/GIS
• Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments — Associate Planner, Community Development/Land Use
• Criterion Planners — GIS/Planning Technician (part-time)
• Crook County — GIS Manager
• Dean Runyan Associates — Research Assistant
• Deschutes Basin Land Trust — Land Steward Assistant
• Deschutes County — Assistant Planner
• EarthCorps — GIS Specialist/Project Manager
• Environmental Careers Organization (ECO) — GIS Technician for Cultural Resources, GIS/GPS/Fire and Fuels Support Technician, GIS/Hydrology Assistant, Range Associate Intern, Botany/GIS Assistant
• EPA Regional Personnel Office
• Hollywood Entertainment — GIS Analyst
• Jackson County — Planner III, Programmer Analyst I, Zoning/Fire Safety Field Inspector
• KMH Environmental Management, Inc. — Environmental Technician
• Lincoln County — GIS Survey Technician II
• Longview Fibre Company — Forestry GIS Technician
• McKenzie River Trust — Director of Resources
• METRO — Assistant, Associate and/or Senior Transportation Modeler in the Research and Modeling Services (TRMS) section within the Planning Department at METRO.
• Multnomah County — GIS Technician, Mapping Intern, GIS Intern
• Natural Resources Conservation — Cartographic Technician
• Oregon Department of Environmental Quality - DEQ — Information Systems Specialist 6 - GIS Coordinator
• Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center — Faculty Research Assistant - Biologist/GIS Analyst
• Oregon Department of Revenue — Cartographer I and III
• Oregon Department of Transportation — Right of Way Agent 2
• Oregon State University (OSU) — Associate or Full Professor - Marine Resources Management, Faculty Research Assistant - Remote Sensing/Data Management
• Oregon Trout — Fish Refuge Program Coordinator
• Pacific Telecom Services — Site Acquisition Specialist
• Parametrix, Inc. — GIS Analyst
• Port of Portland — Aviation Planning and Development Intern, Noise Management Intern
• Portland Development Commission (PDC) — GIS Coordinator, GIS/Research Analyst
• Portland State University Geography Department — Research Project Person (FWSP)
• Sabrix, Inc. — GIS Analyst
• TriMet — Planning Intern, GIS Technician, Service Planner I, GIS Data Analyst
• US Army Corps of Engineers — Community Planner
• U.S. Forest Service — Rangeland Management Specialist
• U.S. Geological Survey

Miscellaneous

• State of Oregon Classification Specifications for Cartographer 1, Cartographer 2, Cartographer 3, and Cartographic Program Specialist.
• Mapping Agencies — Links to mapping agencies that are connected with digital mapping in some way.
• WAGIC — Washington State Geographic Information Council.
• SSCGIS — Oregon GIS — State Service Center for Geographic Information Systems.

Department of Geography - Portland State University