# Career Prospects in Geophysics

```{admonition} What This Section Covers
:class: tip
- Job market snapshot for geophysics graduates (2025–26)
- Technical and professional skills employers screen for
- Three career paths available after a BS in geophysics
- Portfolio-building actions with the highest return on investment
```

The geophysics job market is stronger than many students realize — especially for graduates who combine domain knowledge with computational and AI skills. This section draws on Bureau of Labor Statistics data, employer job postings, and salary aggregators to give you a realistic picture of what is possible after ESS 314.

```{note}
**UW leverage:** UW sits at the intersection of a top-10 Earth & Space Sciences program and one of the world's premier computing ecosystems (Paul G. Allen School). Access to the eScience Institute, PNSN, USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, and Pacific Northwest technology companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Google) gives UW geophysics students a profile that is genuinely rare. Build experience that bridges both worlds intentionally.
```

## Market snapshot

::::{grid} 2 2 4 4
:gutter: 3

:::{grid-item-card} Entry BS salary range
**\$78 – 102K**

Median ~\$84,600

[Salary.com, 2025](https://www.salary.com/research/salary/alternate/entry-geophysicist-salary)
:::

:::{grid-item-card} BLS median (all geoscientists)
**\$99,240**

May 2024

[BLS OOH, 2025](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geoscientists.htm)
:::

:::{grid-item-card} BLS job growth 2024–2034
**+3 %**

~2,000 openings / yr

[BLS OOH, 2025](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/geoscientists.htm)
:::

:::{grid-item-card} ML publications in seismic
**500 +**

SEG/EAGE 2010–2021

[Anjom et al., *Geophysics* 2024](https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2023-0129.1)
:::
::::

## What this course gives you

A mid-level introductory course heavy on methods and earth interior is the **single highest-leverage undergraduate course** in geophysics — the place where physics intuition meets real data types. With Python notebooks on top, you convert conceptual knowledge into demonstrable computational skills.

The skills you build here span seismic wave theory (P, S, surface waves), travel-time curves and ray tracing, gravity anomalies and isostasy, magnetic surveying fundamentals, earth structure (crust, mantle, core), and forward modeling intuition.

## Sections

- {doc}`job_market` — salary by sector, employer skill badges, Washington state outlook
- {doc}`skills` — 11-skill priority table, portfolio-building actions
- {doc}`paths` — Path A (BS → job), Path B (graduate school), Path C (AI-augmented geoscience)