<p>I am thinking of these 2 majors. What types of jobs am I looking at and is the job market good in this and what do the salaries look like? Also do I have to go to grad school for this?</p>
<p>Well…</p>
<p>Geology is a better choice than environmental science. Hiring in environmental science is basically nonexistant unless you get a Masters. With Geology there’s a slight chance that you can find a decent paying job in an environmental field without a graduate degree. Straight out of an undergrad program, the average at my school is for environmental science around $30-40k, and geology around $45-60k. </p>
<p>If you decide to get a graduate degree in either, only get a Masters degree. PhD is useless in these fields unless you want to teach, but competition for teaching jobs is extremely fierce.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions if I love learning about our earth?</p>
<p>Go with Geology. Environmental science only qualifies you to be a lab tech earning $15-$20 / hour. It’s a waste of a degree. People with advanced degrees in environmental science are consultants usually, and only the government really hires anyone in environmental science permanently. Since the government is likely to be downsizing for the forseeable future, it’s not a high growth field. Jobs will be very scarce to come by in environmental science.</p>
<p>How is the job outlook for that?</p>
<p>Geology has a pretty solid job outlook. Companies in both mining and oil and gas are hiring lots of geologists for exploration now. However, Geology has historically been boom and bust. I personally think the days of boom and bust are coming to an end, because increased population is drawing our resources down faster than anyone expected. Overall, if you go into Geology you can expect to find a job pretty well if you go into mineral exploration/exploitation. If you go hydrology, geotechnical, or environmental geology, you’ll have a hard time finding a job, but better prospects than Environmental engineering.</p>