Which of these would be a more useful degree as concerned with planetary science?

[Juryoku]

Hello all,

 

I'm attempting to decide what to major in out of my geology, environmental science, and physics & astronmy departments at my university.

At the moment I'm thinking to double major but I'm unsure what combination would be the most beneficial for my future employment opportunities. I would like to study planetary compositions, atmospheres, and geological processes. I'm also interested in things such as stellar evolution and a general understanding of the universe which obviously leans towards the astronomy & physics department side.

I'm thinking geology may be beneficial either way and that I need to make a decision on which of the other two I would be better of with to combine with it.

Thanks for your thought's and opinions in advance.

[seismic dunedain]

Hi Juryoku,

When someone likes geology and physics I am very quick to suggest geophysics(not least because I am a geophysicist). It combines physics and geology to work on some really interesting problems. For instance, geophysics is taking a leading role in global warming mitigation with something called Carbon capture and storage(CCS). The idea with CCS is to capture CO2 produced by industry and store it deep underground in porous rock. The role of geophysics in this is to find the places where this can be done, and then monitor the CO2 to make sure it isn't leaking. Other geophysics topics include earthquakes and plate tectonics and oil exploration. Geophysics is very applied and there are lots of jobs, especially in oil exploration(which is what I do)

 

best of luck to you no matter what you choose.