1. Do You Want to Be a Geologist? Written by Margret M. Keats

2. First you have to ask: What is a Geologist? People who study rocks are called geologists. They study the history of our planet by looking at the rocks on our Earth. They study landslides, earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. They study earth materials like oil, natural gas, metals, rocks and minerals.

3. Mark Smyk is a geologist who studies the geology of the Lake Superior region. Mr. Smyk is the Resident Geologist with the Ontario Geological Survey in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

4. University of Utah geologist Winston Seiler examines the tracks of dinosaurs where they had gathered to drink water over 190 million years ago. This area has so many prehistoric animal tracks that they are calling this trample surface a “dinosaur dance floor.” This ¾ acre area is located in the Paria Canyon- Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness along the Arizona-Utah border.

5. Donielle Chittenden is a geologist in Hawaii. Donielle works for the URS Corporation’s Environmental Division. She works on cleaning up and preserving the environment. She helps develop ways to protect and improve our air, water and soil quality.

6. U.S. Geological Survey geologist Dave Johnston goes into Mount Saint Helens to sample water from a small pond that was in the bottom of the crater.

7. A geologist examines a large conglomerate found in the Brooks Range Foothills southeast of Umiat, Alaska.

8. Geologists study the Persian Gulf marine ecology, looking at the different kinds of coral and how people living near them interact along the coast.

9. Geologists look for rocks and minerals under the ocean. They will examine the rock to find out what it is made of. The large arm is cutting off part of a rock in the ocean.

10. Utah State University geologist, Blair Larsen, works at Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming. She has unlocked the “Aquarium in Stone.” In the photo in the upper right, Hillsdale College students and their professor are studying the fish fossils that are found in the Green River Formation.

11. Geologist Jon Trujillo is examining the rock in the Tres Marias Mine in Mexico. This mine used to produce zinc-germanium. This geologist is surveying the underground mine.

12. Years ago, geologists surveyed land to find oil. They would use “hit or miss” methods to drill for oil.. Now geologists use surveys and test borings (they drill into the earth surface and test for minerals.)

13. Geologists discover the story of our earth that goes back billions of years in time. Their work leaves an impression in the ground that we walk on. Geologists study how forces like earthquakes, volcanoes, soil erosion shape our earth and use this knowledge to predict their affect on mankind. Geologists can tell us a lot about the history of our earth by looking at rocks, finding fossils, and studying the contours of the land.