Career of the week: Seismologist

Day to day tasks

In your day-to-day tasks you may:

  • monitor and analyse data from seismic sensors around the world

  • map seismic regions and fault lines in the Earth's surface

  • develop early warning systems for earthquake zones

  • investigate target sites for new seismic stations

  • search for oil and gas deposits under land and sea

  • produce survey reports for mining and energy companies

  • attend conferences and publish research findings

  • take students on field trips to study earthquake and volcano hot spots

  • teach students, or train professionals in related fields like people working in disaster risk reduction

Working environment

You may need to wear safety clothing and use safety equipment.

You could work at a research facility, at a university or in a laboratory.

Your working environment may be physically active and you may spend nights away from home.

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course

  • working towards this role

University

You can do a degree or postgraduate qualification in:

  • geology

  • geography

  • Earth science

  • geophysics

  • environmental science

  • computer science

Many employers will expect you to have, or be working towards, a PhD in a relevant subject.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English, maths and science

  • 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent, including a science, for a degree

  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

Work

You could start as a PhD research assistant, for example in a university Earth sciences or geophysics engineering department. With further training and experience you could become a seismologist.

Further information

You can discover more about working in seismology from The Geological Society and the British Geological Survey.

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