Career In Meteorology

What was the working environment when you work with earth science job like?

I graduated from Chemical Engineering school and was interested in about tranferring to Earth and Science field. ( Climate change/ Weather forcast/Meteorology/Environmental management) I don't know much about working environment, career path and people whom you might work with. Can anyone give the ideas about this ? Do I need to work alone in the lab? Cause I give the important factor of my life balance as well. Thanks in advance ; )

Public Comments

1. Any work in the sciences you mention will necessarily entail field work as a major component. This means being rained on, getting heat stressed, being bitten by insects, reptiles and mammals, falling over,being cut and scratched by vegetation,having no toilet or washing facilities and working with people who are totally obsessed with some aspect of nature and often dissociated from reality. Fun and a half.
2. Excellent question. This is the process. Apply to an undergraduate university which offers meteorology or Atmospheric Science as a major. These schools include the Pennsylvania State University, Texas A&M University, Oklahoma State University, Florida State University, Washington University, and others. While there in school you should continue with mathematics to include vector and tensor analysis, differential equations, and of course Calculus unless you are satisfied that your high school Calculus was an excellent course. Your meteorology curriculum will include classes in meteorological analysis, dynamics of the atmosphere, radar meteorology, satellite meteorology, atmospheric radiation, jet stream meteorology, general circulation, numerical weather prediction, tropical meteorology, severe weather, climatology, and oceanography. At many schools you can train to become a TV meteorologist if that is the direction you wish to go. The military services (Air Force and Navy) offer careers in meteorology as officers, in which case you should also take ROTC in college and make arrangements for this kind of career. The government hires most meteorologists who work in Weather Forecast Offices around the country or as research meteorologists at the National Meteorological Center in Washington, D.C. or with the Satellite Service. NASA also hires meteorologists who work on meteorological satellite instruments and the data retreived from these instruments at locations such as Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt Maryland or at the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville Alabama. There is also the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena California which hires meteorologists doing similar work with interplanetary missions. Finally, there is industry which supports both NASA and the military and the Government which hires meteorologists. And with an advanced degree there is always work at the university as a teacher/researcher. I hope this helps you a little in your planning.
3. Would you like to trade careers? I'm a meteorologist who prefers to work in engineering. Don't get me wrong, meteorology is a good field, but you're smart to consider the working environment before changing careers. Here are my thoughts on the fields you mention: 1. Climate change. Interesting field, and your Chem-E background would be relevant. Very research oriented, quite different from engineering. Perhaps occasional lab or field work, but mostly office work in an academic environment. Because it is so research oriented, a PhD would be an advantage. Potentially very computer oriented, a good choice if you like developing software models. A multidisciplinary subject, with many opportunities to collaborate with people in other fields - you won't be working alone. Increasingly becoming a political subject; maybe a good choice if you're interested in public policy, perhaps less so if you have a distaste for anything political. 2. Weather forecasting. Most meteorologists are weather forecasters. Forecasters tend to be very enthusiastic about weather, a few to the point of obsession. Most forecasters work for the government, so some toleration of bureaucracy is useful. Shift work is usually required, and this can be difficult. A good field if you love weather, less good otherwise. 3. Environmental management. In the meteorological context, this probably means air pollution engineering. Your Chem-E background would be relevant here. Most meteorologists in this field work for engineering services companies, doing dispersion modeling and permitting applications for industrial customers. Work is a mix of computer work and customer facing work, with a fair amount of writing required. Perhaps the most engineering-like of all possible careers in meteorology. I hope this is useful for you. If you have any more questions on careers in meteorology, drop me an e-mail, and I'll try to answer.