Oceans of Opportunity

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HAVE YOU CONSIDERED A CAREER IN MARINE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY?

Approximately 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by the oceans, and career opportunities abound in this environment where fresh challenges arise all the time.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN?

diving • underwater communications • design of offshore structures • aquaculture • geology of the sea bed • pipeline design and manufacture • oceanography • instrumentation • submarines • remotely controlled underwater vehicles • autonomous underwater vehicles • naval architecture • computing • offshore oil and gas production • pollution control • underwater vehicles • marine engineering • subsea construction • salvage • renewable energy • carbon capture and storage • archaeology • marine spatial planning • law.

All of these interests fall within three main areas of career opportunity:

  • underwater technology
  • ocean science
  • offshore engineering

We would encourage you to find out about possible specific careers in these areas if you already enjoy studying any of the following subjects:

biology, maths, physics, chemistry, geography, computing, electronics, geology, or zoology, archaeology, history, law.

You might be surprised to discover that there are many fulfilling career opportunities in the marine and subsea world.

HOW TO USE THIS CAREERS INFORMATION

The linked pages cover a specific area, such as geology or engineering or marine biology. For students under age 16 the information is grouped into four general sections (Working Underwater, Oceanography, Offshore Technology and Coastal Marine Sciences). For school leavers and beyond there individual pages on each specific subject. However there are overlaps between the subject areas covered in the fact sheets, for instance between sheets on ‘geography’ and ‘biology’. In addition, students with an interest in specific school subjects may find that they are qualified to pursue a career in a number of topics. There is also a more general section covering courses, SUT funding opportunities for under– and post–graduates, and a listing of corporate members of the Society who are thus potential employers.

The aim is to give relevant up–to–date information and show that such careers are amongst some of the most interesting available to you, and are certainly full of great potential as scientists and engineers face ever changing challenges in the dynamic underwater environment.

These fact sheets are meant only as an introduction, to whet your appetite and encourage you to find out more, either by asking your careers adviser or by referring to other more detailed publications, or by contacting the organisations whose addresses are given at the end of each sheet.

For a broader overview of marine industry jobs (including ones that don’t require a university degree) take a look at our original careers video below. Don’t let the clunky computer monitors and 90s fashion put you off – the content in this short film is still hugely relevant today and is a great insight into various ways you could work in the underwater world.