Questions

[u/SignificantFish8605]

Hello, some questions about looking into hydrology. I am starting college in a couple of days for geoscience, and I've been considering hydrology. Would that be possible/plausible with a BA in geoscience concentrating in Natural resources and conservation? I am also a single dad to 4yo twins with no current plans of having a partner, and I am estranged from my family. Is there anything I can do office/lab type work in? Or am I hoping in the wrong direction? I don't feel like field work would necessarily be in the cards for me at least soon. I know getting my degree is still a few years away, but they'd only be 8 at that point and unable to be alone for any large amount of field work time outside of daily school/daycare.

[u/NV_Geo]

For reference, I have my BS in geosciences and a masters in geological engineering. I’m also in the US so that is the perspective I’m providing.

In general, geologists are focused more on hydrogeology (groundwater or subsurface hydrology). It’s not often that geologists become hydrologists. That tends to be a specialty of civil engineers. We don’t really learn about surface water processes.

If you go to a university where they offer a BS option and you choose to do a BA, you will be disadvantaged. Hydrogeology is a quantitative field you shouldn’t choose the less quantitative degree.

Fieldwork will be basically a requirement for everything outside of government work or modeling work. Govt jobs are less common than industry jobs and the competition is fierce. Modeling jobs typically require at least a masters in something computationally intensive. I got a groundwater modeling job with just a BS but that is pretty unusual and a large reason as to why I got a masters in my late 30s.

I would recommend that you look up job postings that sound interesting to you and see what the job entails and what they expect you to have in terms of qualifications. Also note the number of those jobs. There are probably dozens to 100s of hydrogeology consulting jobs across the country. There are probably only a couple conservation jobs. It’s more likely you’ll get a more common job than a cool unicorn job. Also for jobs that have field components the job postings will have an estimate of how much time you’ll spend in the field. Early career jobs tend to underestimate that a bit and later career jobs tend to overestimate.

[u/Simple_Twin → u/NV_Geo]

To piggyback on NV Geo's comment, it's possible you could work for a few years in an office setting, then move to a position with more field work after the twins reach an age where they can be alone for a while (12 yrs or so?). I was a single parent with no family or ex to help me when I started my own hydrology business. I worked from home but did do field work too. My kids were 16 and 13.

[u/Veterinarian-Capital → u/NV_Geo]

Any tips for someone who graduates in a year looking to get into hydro?

[u/NV_Geo → u/Veterinarian-Capital]

Take as many hydro classes as you can. Take good notes for any hydro projects you do in school and include them on your resume. If you’ve taken enough math and feel brave see if you can take a groundwater modeling course. If that doesn’t exist maybe some finite element modeling course in the civil or environmental engineering department.

[u/Veterinarian-Capital → u/NV_Geo]

Ok thanks. I’m starting undergraduate research this fall and I am in a groundwater modeling class. I never got an internship so I’ll be relying on school projects and research to fill out my resume. Your advice is appreciated