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Careers

[Careers in the Astrogeology Research Program]

The USGS Astrogeology Program employs planetary geologists, cartographers, computer scientists, researchers, administrators, and a variety of support personnel.

Want to be an astronaut? Check out the NASA Astronaut Selection website.

Why it's great working for the USGS Astrogeology Research Program

Ken Herkenhoff, USGS Astrogeologist and Mars Exploration Rover Microscopic Imager Payload Element Lead, speaks at a NASA Mars Exploration Rover press conference alongside Steve Squyres and other mission team members.

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Soccer coach Jeff with his team at a tournament in Durango, Colorado. Jeff works a flexible work schedule to give him free time in the afternoon for coaching. Flexibility to schedule annual leave provides him the opportunity to take time off when he wants to to participate in out-of-town and out-of-state soccer matches.
©2006

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Lisa Gaddis, USGS Astrogeology Program Chief and Mars Exploration Rover (MER) team member, was stationed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California for mission operations, along with fellow USGS Astrogeologists Larry Soderblom, Jeff Johnson, and Ken Herkenhoff; Jim Bell (Cornell); and Tim Parker (JPL).

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Stuart works a flexible schedule so he has an afternoon free during the week to hike with his wife and their dogs on the local trails, such as this trail in nearby Sedona.
©2006 Deborah Lee Soltesz

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Quality of life for employees is important to the USGS Astrogeology Research Program. Employees here enjoy many of the following benefits that help them balance family, relaxation, and work:

  • Flexible Work Schedules and Hours: 9-to-5 is a thing of the past! Many of our staff members work flexible work schedules to create personal time to homeschool their children, coach school sports teams, take a mid-week hike into the San Francisco Peaks, or simply have long weekends for family and activities.
  • Flexible Work Locations: Tele-commuting allows many staff members to work from home a few days a month to concentrate on complex projects without office distractions, reduce the environmental and personal cost of commuting, or work in the relaxing, comfortable environment of one's own home.
  • Annual Leave: Employees accrue up to 5 weeks of paid annual leave per year that can be scheduled at any time as work permits.
  • Opportunities to travel: Many staff members travel on a regular basis to conferences, mission operations sites, and meetings with other participating organizations. Most of the staff have had opportunities to travel for training, mission activies and launches, and meetings.
  • Ability to publish: In addition to publishing official USGS maps, documents, data, and other products, scientists, engineers, and technological staff publish in professional journals, trade magazines, and other venues.
  • Public Service: Contributing to the public knowledge about science and our Solar System that helps us understand our planet and ourselves is possibly the highest ranked benefit by our staff.
  • Participating in space exploration missions and research: Making new discoveries, being the first to see completely new images of a planetary surface, commanding a remotely controlled vehicle across the vacuum of space, watching a rocket launch and knowing that your work and passion is part of the payload... yeah, it's a very cool job!
  • Working with world class scientists: We have some of the finest planetary scientists in the nation on our staff working on unique and exciting projects.
  • Casual dress: "Business Casual" around here means cargo shorts and a t-shirt. Ties are optional, but are generally frowned upon.
  • Training, both on-the-job and formal study: In addition to working on cutting-edge projects that provide the opportunity to learn and use new skills and technologies, most staff members also take advantage of on-site and off-site training seminars, and take classes at the local Coconino Community College and Northern Arizona University.
  • Standard benefits: Retirement, health insurance, life insurance, sick leave, holiday pay, and more! See Why It's Great Working for the USGS for more benefits information.

Employment with the USGS

All positions with the U.S. Geological Survey, including those with the Astrogeology Research Program, are advertised online:

Current Openings

E.M Shoemaker Postdoctoral Fellowship

The E.M. Shoemaker Postdoctoral Fellowship Program provides and opportunity for postdoctoral fellows to conduct concentrated research in association with selected members of the USGS Astrogeology Research Program scientific and technical staff, often as a final element to their formal career preparation.

To learn more about this please see our E.M Shoemaker Postdoctoral Fellowship page.

Astro Internships

Just a few of the benefits our student interns receive include:

  • Participating in space exploration missions and research: Hands-on experience putting your education to practice can enhance your skills to give you an edge in your academic career as well as after graduation when competing in the job market. Not only do USGS internships look great on the resume, the environment here also offers opportunities to create interesting class projects, thesis research, and independent study subjects based on your work on our team.
  • Casual dress: "Business Casual" around here means cargo shorts and a t-shirt. Ties are optional, but are generally frowned upon.
  • Flexible Work Schedules and Hours: Since the entire scientific and technogical staff have been college students, we understand the need to balance work with classes and offer students flexible schedules.

Looking for an internship with the USGS Astrogeology Research Program or elsewhere in the federal government? Keep an eye on the following sites:

Employment with NASA

Other Federal Recruitment Sites

The following sites advertise government jobs: