Geology jobs in Colorado -

Hello!

I'll be moving to Denver/Boulder area for the climbing (and other mountain adventures), but don't have a job lined up quite yet. I'd love to hear your opinion of geo-employers in the area, and suggestions of local geo-companies I may be able to contact.

A little bit about me: I'm a geologist with a Bachelors and Masters of Science in Geology, along with one year of working as a geologist in a gold/copper/silver mine and one year working as an intern for NASA.

Thank you for your opinions and suggestions!

So as far as I know, the biggest geo sectors in this area are in oil and gas, environmental/geotechnical consulting, and probably a few mining companies. Considering the price environment and all the recent layoffs, getting into oil and gas is realistically very slim right now. Even in good times, Denver is a very competitive market (for obvious reasons when comparing to Houston etc), and most come into the industry via internships while still pursuing a graduate degree. As for consulting, I can't say. It's not the most enjoyable work, but there tends to be a lot of firms. You might expect to do some grunt work to get your foot in the door. I can't speak to mining, but I'm not aware of any large mining presence in Denver. I could be very wrong on that. Again, this area is a desirable place to live and as such is competitive for all types of jobs. You may need to consider pursuing an internship (paid or not) to get established. What is your background?

I've been looking for anything slightly geology related since December. This is a very hard market at the moment as the vast majority of us locals just got laid off from our oil gigs. Environmental work is the next best thing and is therefore super hard to find right now. Freeport-McMoRan has a few mines here (Climax in Leadville, Henderson in Empire). I've just settled for a GIS gig, because screw moving.

Check out UNAVCO

unavco.org/about/about.html

Check out Colorado State jobs:

governmentjobs.com/careers/…

Oil and gas inspector, coal mine inspector, some opportunities out there at the state level.

PM sent as well.

Thanks for the insights, everyone!

Evan H asked about my background -

I'm more of a "hard rock" geologist. In undergrad, my strengths involved hand specimen identification/petrology. After graduating, I worked in a gold-copper-silver porphyry mine in northern Nevada, where I logged core for a few months and then was transferred to work as an ore control geologist in the same mine. I mapped blast holes and tracked how the geology changed as the mine did, and also worked with shovel operators and metallurgists to make sure the ore was "behaving" well (not too much clay, iron-oxides, etc).

I got laid off after about a year, and then started work at the NASA Astrobiology Institute as an independent contractor (a fancy term for an intern who has been out of school for more than a year). I wore many hats in this job, but largely helped with database organization and social media presence, as well as helping with education and public outreach efforts.

A year later, I started grad school. I measured hydrogen in nominally anhydrous minerals in martian meteorites using an ion mass spectrometer. Broadly speaking, I'd consider myself a geochemist.

I was hoping (really really hoping) for something at the USGS in Colorado. I understand that I am not the only geologist who wants to work for the USGS in Colorado, and that positions there are more in-demand than a cigarette for a smoker on a 21 hour plane flight. Since I understand that reality, I am looking for work of any kind, really. I was, however, shying away from the oil industry since it's largely outside of my field.

Thanks again for your recommendations and insights!