Geography is one of the oldest academic disciplines in the world, dating back 2,300 years to ancient Greece.
Geography is a broad, multi-faceted field in which degree-holders can find a wide variety of jobs. Many large corporations employ geographers to work in areas such as store site location, geographic patterns of sales trends, and map production. Trained geographers can also find employment in the government sector, as there are several agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Geological Survey and the Army Corps of Engineers, which use geographic techniques to a large extent. While the following list is not exhaustive, it does provide descriptions of the broader areas in which geographers can find work.
Cartography and Geographic Information Systems Cartographer
Cartographers are trained in the art and science of producing maps. Several companies in the United States employ cartographers to research location information, design, and construct maps for many uses such as navigation, population analysis, and politics. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computer applications used to perform spatial analysis on spatial data. A GIS technician may perform tasks closely related to a cartographer, but are also involved in maintaining databases of spatial information, and creating web-based map services.
Economic Geographer
Economic geographers are responsible for analyzing and understanding the spatial concepts involved in retail services, trade, agriculture, and industry. Geographers in this field may perform such tasks as determining optimal site locations for new retail stores, analyzing patterns of purchasing activity, and analyzing transportation and shipping networks.
Environmental Geographer
Environmental geographers work in fields related to the study of the physical earth and the interaction between humans and their environment. Tasks related to phenomena such as pollution, resource management, climate, and environmental change all require an understanding of the physical mechanisms that operate on our planet. Many environmental geographers (also referred to as physical geographers) find employment in the government sector, such as with the National Weather Service, The Department of Agriculture, or the Geography Division of the United States Census Bureau.
Geography Teacher
Understanding the physical and cultural processes at work in our world are important to a well-rounded education. Geography teachers instruct students from kindergarten through college on such topics as regional, world geography, environmental, human and cultural geography. Geography professors at the college level usually teach these same courses, but also instruct students in their own area of expertise as well as the focus of the department curriculum.
Remote Sensor
The sub-discipline of geography referred to as remote sensing is concerned with collecting and analyzing information about the earth and the atmosphere through the use of satellites. Remote sensing technicians used satellite-based imagery to observe such phenomena as vegetation change, weather, and ocean, river and other water-based processes. Government agencies that employ remote sensing techniques include the Central Intelligence Agenc, The Department of State and the Department of Defense.
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