Earth Systems Science
Program Description
Earth Science is an interdisciplinary field offering opportunities to work on practical problems that are important for life as we know it on Earth. Because the Earth and its environment are all around us, job opportunities related to the Earth and the environment will always be plentiful. Top industries that hire earth scientists include engineering, surveying, research, and education. Successful completion of an Associate in Science (AS) degree in Earth Systems Science will result in a strong foundation in several key aspects of earth science, which prepares students to continue in the field to study geologic hazards, GIS, climate science, meteorology, oceanography, the environment, resource management, or any number of other related subfields.
Graduates of this program will successfully complete the following learning outcomes:
- Collect and correlate geologic data
- Prepare and interpret graphs, maps, and diagrams of geologic data
- Identify and explain the origins of minerals and rocks
- Describe the inter-relationships between geology and the other areas of science
- Become informed of the one-world concept of geological processes affecting humanity
- Explain the fundamentals of a GIS, including what they are, how they are used, and what is required to develop and maintain them
- Develop scientific hypothesis regarding climate processes and design simple tests to test the hypothesis
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Schedule NowDegree(s) / Certificates(s)
| Title | Local Bachelor's |
|---|---|
| Earth Systems Science - A.S. Transfer Degree | - |
Career Outlook
Successful completion of this program can open doors to various employment opportunities, many of which require further higher education at the university level. Below are examples of related occupations and their annual mean wages in Arizona, based on career and wage data from Pipeline AZ, which utilizes government sources for its reports and forecasts.
Description
Assist scientists or related professionals in building, maintaining, modifying, or using geographic information systems (GIS) databases. May also perform some custom application development or provide user support.
Duties/Tasks
- Produce data layers, maps, tables, or reports, using spatial analysis procedures or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, equipment, or systems.
- Design or prepare graphic representations of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data, using GIS hardware or software applications.
- Maintain or modify existing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases.
- Provide technical expertise in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to clients or users.
- Perform computer programming, data analysis, or software development for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications, including the maintenance of existing systems or research and development for future enhancements.
- Enter data into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases, using techniques such as coordinate geometry, keyboard entry of tabular data, manual digitizing of maps, scanning or automatic conversion to vectors, or conversion of other sources of digital data.
- Review existing or incoming data for currency, accuracy, usefulness, quality, or completeness of documentation.
- Perform geospatial data building, modeling, or analysis, using advanced spatial analysis, data manipulation, or cartography software.
- Design or coordinate the development of integrated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial or non-spatial databases.
- Perform integrated or computerized Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses to address scientific problems.
Salary Information (AZ)
$84,030
$38,490
$78,050
$128,880
$40.40
$18.50
$37.00
$61.96