whats a good second major for me

I am currently a senior in high school and I am deeply interested in science, particularly natural science. I have decided that I would like to go into geology in college. I would really like to do a double major but I am not sure what would go well with geology.
Here’s some information about me:
again I love natural science
hard worker
I love any hands on work- I worked in a car garage in high school and I do carpentry as well
I would like to have a career that allows me travel
Ultimate dream would be to work for NASA in some way- preferably as an astronaut although I realize that job openings in that field are extremely limited.
I don’t mind working with computers but I would much rather be doing field work.

I considered mechanical engineering but the more I looked into it the less “hands on” it seemed.

I am not completely committed to geology so if you think of something that you think i might like better feel free to let me know. I appreciate that you took the time to read and possibly respond to my post. Thank you!

Why do you need a second major? Especially if you’re unsure of the first? When you start college, keep an open mind, talk to fellow students, read up on the majors your school offers, talk to faculty. Give yourself some time to discover your true strenghts and interests. You will have time to decide since, as you probably know, much of your first year and a half is taken up with gen ed requirements.

I would like to double major for several reasons. Primarily because geology is a very diverse field so having a background in something else could help me get a job when I leave school. The reason I would like to know now is so I can make sure I get all of the baseline courses I need for these two fields.

First get to college. Second, take some classes in a variety of areas that interest you. Then start to decide on a majors/minors etc. There is no rush to decide.

Since you mentioned “field work” -
What about… Geography, Physical Anthropology, Environmental Science.

I agree, there’s no rush to decide.

Worry about one major, not two. If you decide you want to pick up some extra employable skills, you could also do a minor, take classes as electives, or do an internship to develop those skills. In my own experience, I’ve been surprised how far those 3 things have gotten me in a field that wasn’t my major.

I really appreciate everyone’s responses. But I got a lot that said “don’t worry about it now.” I appreciate the advice, but I’m just curious about what other people think will interest me, if there were other people in my position that took up something totally unrelated but really like it, etc.

I’m in the camp that you shouldn’t double major if you don’t even know what your second major might be, but I’ll bite anyway.

It’s difficult to answer your question because you could double major in anything, pretty much. You could double major in English and become a science writer; you could double major in statistics and become a meteorologist; you could double major in public policy and become an environmental policymaker; you could double major in economics or business and become a commodities trader. Your interests and career goals should drive your second major (if any), not the other way around.

When you say you want to work for NASA in some way - what do you mean? NASA has HR professionals, accountants, and middle managers, but I’m assuming that’s not what you mean. You probably want to work for NASA because you want to do some work with space. NASA is currently hiring researchers: geophysicists, oceanographers, astrophysicists. They also hire engineers - looks like all their current listings are for computer engineers.

But one thing that caught my eye in their ad for astronaut candidates (because they are currently hiring new astronauts!) is that NASA is partnering with commercial space flight organizations that are also developing space exploration and travel capacity. An example is SpaceX, a private company that develops rockets and spacecraft. Lockheed-Martin, an aerospace company, is the primary contractor building the Orion spacecraft for NASA. A quick search shows that they are hiring a few people with geology expertise. In 10 years the landscape may be that private corporations are doing more space research and work than the government.

There are also positions with the EPA as an environmental protection specialist, environmental engineer, or environmental scientist/researcher. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also hires geophysicists, oceanographers, meteorologists and other physical scientists. The U.S. Geological Survey, obviously, also hires geologists and other related scientists.

Personally, I think statistics or math is a great second major for a geology major, because a lot of the positions that geologists can take post-college will use a lot of quantitative analysis. Modern systems for monitoring geological changes are rife with computer usage, too; yes, I understand that you want go to into the field, but every field researcher needs to be able to use the software that allows them to analyze their data after they pick it up. So computer science is an excellent second major or minor to complement geology if you are interested in technical roles within the geological/physical sciences.

You may also be interested in majoring in atmospheric sciences or earth & ocean science or something of that nature - kind of similar to geology, but there are more opportunities both government and commercially. Meteorologists and atmospheric scientists do a lot of work for aerospace companies and government agencies concerned with aerospace because predicting weather is important to flight patterns, but they also work for private corporations (weather can affect commodities! which affects business) and of course private weather-prediction companies like AccuWeather or the Weather Channel.

Thank you juillet, that is the exact type of response i was looking for.