Marine biology branches out into several disciplines and professions. Once you graduate from university, you can choose a variety of jobs where you can truly become effective. You should also gauge your level of interest in each field to determine which one will be most suited for your skills and knowledge. Learning more about the job description of each one will help you decide better. Here are some tips on some of the most common functions.
Be a Geophysicist
If you want to be a geophysicist or research oceanographer, you have to earn your doctorate degree first. You may be assigned to a technical job if you finished bachelor’s or master’s degrees in engineering and science. Expect to earn about $80,000 to $130,000 every year as a geophysicist. The average work lasts about 20 to 50 hours per week. You may also continue working on weekends.
Your work mainly involves studying seafloor images and maps via different software programs that analyze the processes that make features under the water like submarine volcanoes. Some of the big discoveries that this type of profession has made include documenting huge submarine debris flows and submarine landslides. Other discoveries are also apparent such as finding amazing sites in the Pacific and finding vents that emit caustic fluids and liquid carbon dioxide.
Be a Fish Ecologist
The fish ecologist or conservation biologist can go on several expeditions every year in different parts of the globe. You will need to earn your doctorate degree to be a professor. There are many other field positions if you finish your bachelor’s or master’s degrees such as working up lab samples, diving, running advanced equipment and conducting sampling. The average ecologist earns around $80,000 every year. Work can last anywhere between 40 to 60 hours per week.
Research by fish ecologists focuses more on the functions of habitat in changing the availability and distribution of fishes. The work can take place in a huge range of locations like on tropical coral reefs, outer continental shelf environments and the deep sea. You will use a variety of materials like submersibles, cameras, snorkel and scuba to gather data. Most professionals want others to understand the needed balance and the ethical obligations to save plant and animal communities.
The Marine Archaeologist
If you become a marine archaeologist, you get to coordinate heritage activities of the maritime program. You should focus more on the starting phases of marine archaeology like finding and studying shipwrecks. Hydrographers make use of remote sensing tools to go through the ocean floor and make nautical charts for secure investigation. The tools can also be used to look for prehistoric landscapes.
Helping Other Researchers
Researchers can manage sites better if the marine archaeologist gives a sensible inventory and manage remote sensing data. You should work well with other existing programs to create shipwreck rules to meet the requirements of communities. Extra protection and preservation is needed for the new shipwrecks found. Researchers can find lost ships and other landscapes more easily with the given data.