Career Resources
Download the NOSB’s new career resource: An Ocean of Possibilities!
There are so many options for careers related to ocean and aquatic science. This booklet will give you just a sense of those opportunities so that, with a mind open to possibility, you can chart your own course.
The ocean and marine sciences include an enormous variety of careers and areas of study. If you are beginning to search for a job, or if you are just looking to get a sense of where you can go in the field of ocean and marine science, use the links below to find out more information.
- Sea Grant marinecareers.net: Sea Grant’s Marine Careers site will introduce you to a wide range of marine career fields and to people working in those fields.
- OceanCareers.com: COSEE’s Ocean Career’s site allows you to explore different ocean science careers, higher education programs, internships, and other helpful information.
- OceanOpportunities: OceanOpportunities is a partnership between science, math, and engineering faculty at minority-serving institutions and graduate program administrators and offers many resources to help you in your ocean science career.
- WomenOceanographers.org: This link provides information on women in the ocean sciences.
- Career Profiles form The Oceanography Society: TOS’ site includes profiles of individuals working in all sectors and in many fields related to ocean science.
- Marine Technology Society Career Resource: This site provides employment assistance through its online network of individuals, businesses and institutions, including job listings and resume posting.
- OceanLink: This site offers career profiles and interviews with marine scientists.
- Guide to Marine Science and Technology Programs in Higher Education – This guide is a collaboration of MTS and MATE and is available to download for FREE.
- Working in the Aquatic Sciences: The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) site provides background and resources to enable you to pursue your interest in aquatic science.
- AGI Geoscience Careers: The American Geosciences Institute geoscience workforce program offers information on a variety of geoscience careers.
- Science Careers from the journal Science: This site offers a variety of information on careers in science, including helpful articles about the job market and trends.
- Resources from The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center:
- Careers in Oceanography, Marine Science & Marine Biology - This site lists numerous careers in a wide variety of fields in ocean and marine science.
- Careers in Marine Science – This link in an article from the National Sea Grant Library about exploring careers in marine science.
Applying for federal jobs can be different than applying for jobs in the private sector. Information on federal jobs can be found at the following sites.
- Office of Personnel and Management: http://www.opm.gov/
- USA Jobs: https://www.usajobs.gov/
Colleges and Universities with Ocean Science Programs
There is a wide variety of marine science college and university programs to which juniors and seniors in high school could apply. The field of ocean sciences has broad and multidisciplinary areas of study; some people choose to specialize in college early in their college careers, while others study one of the four major areas of ocean science (biology, chemistry, physics or geology) and specialize in graduate school.
What is most important is that you focus on your own goals and objectives and develop a list of schools that best meets your objectives. Use the links below to help find college and university programs that are best suited to your long-term goals.
- Marine Biology Web - This link lists college and university programs designed to train college students in marine biology.
- College and University Programs in the Atmospheric, Oceanic, Hydrologic, and Related Sciences – This site is maintained by the American Meteorological Society.
- U.S. News and World Report Searchable College Directory - This link is a search engine for various undergraduate and graduate all over the United States.
- Peterson’s Educational Portal - This site provides information on a wide variety of college and university programs around the country.
- CollegeNet.com – This search engine tries to match your interests with corresponding college and university programs.
- Overview.com - This college and university search engine matches numerous career fields with college, university, scholarship and financial aid programs that offer opportunities in those fields.
- BrainTrack: BrainTrack’s Career Guide helps visitors evaluate career options and find schools.
Don’t forget to explore the universities and institutions that host the NOSB regional bowls! They all have programs in ocean, aquatic, and earth science.
