What Is a Geographer? Key Roles and Duties

What is a geographer?

A geographer is a scientist who studies the earth’s environment and the way humans interact with their surroundings. Geographers have extensive knowledge of natural phenomena that they use to identify patterns and make predictions about how different natural events and human behaviors can impact ecosystems, including the atmosphere surrounding Earth, bodies of water and the habitats of animals and plants.

Types of geographers

The two main types of geographers are human geographers and physical geographers. A third category, integrated geography, emphasizes the relationship between human geography and physical geography over time. Human geography and physical geography both have several sub-specialties that geographers can choose to focus their studies on.

Physical geographer

Physical geography involves investigating and responding to Earth’s natural characteristics and behaviors. This type is what most people think of when they think of geography.Some of the popular specialties for physical geographers include:

Climatology:Climatologists study weather patterns and other atmospheric conditions. They focus on the global climate or the weather conditions of a certain area and how they have changed over time.
Biogeography:Biogeographersresearch the distribution of native plant and animal species based on geographic patterns. They identify animal migration patterns and study different habitation behaviors and historical events that influenced them.
Geomorphology:Geomorphologists study landforms and their historic development. They extrapolate Earth’s history by studying erosion and the movement of tectonic plates and sediments in Earth’s crust.
Oceanography:Oceanographers study oceans and the organisms that live in them. They work closely with marine biologists to learn about the habitats of marine life and how ocean currents, wave patterns and sea levels impact them.

Human geographer

Human geography is the study of human behaviors as they relate to how people organize their communities, gather and distribute resources and adapt to their environment. Human migration patterns and how human behavior changes the natural environment are both an important part of human geography. Some of the sub-specialties that human geographers can work in are:

Economic geography:Economic geographers study how wealth and resources are distributed in different regions. They identify physical factors that influence economic development patterns.
Medical geography:Medical geographers study how diseases spread through different parts of the world, using environmental research to learn how pandemics and common diseases reach communities around the globe.
Military geography:Military geographers research the ideal conditions for distributing military facilities, troops and supplies based on information about the terrain, climate and transportation infrastructure.
Political geography:Political geographers focus on how countries set their borders. This includes national borders, voting districts and involvement with international groups and organizations.
Urban geography:Urban geographers identify potential areas that are ideal for land development and growing infrastructure for populations.

Geographer roles and responsibilities

Geographers spend most of their time gathering information and condensing it to create decision-making tools for governments, environmental agencies and businesses. As scientists, their role is to produce data-driven research that responds to hypotheses about geographic issues and concepts. Some of the main responsibilities of geographers in any field are:

Studying the history and characteristics of a particular region to ensure that their research plan targets their goals
Collecting data by interpreting satellite images, census reports and making observations in the field
Gathering samples and analyzing them in a lab environment
Developing and distributing surveys
Creating and updating maps that represent geographic phenomena
Using geographic information systems (GIS) software to store data and produce visual representations of information
Performing environmental risk analysis
Condensing key information in the context of their employer’s goals
Teaching geographic concepts to coworkers and students
Making predictions about how the environment will develop over time in different scenarios

Benefits of hiring a geographer

Hiring a geographer can be extremely beneficial in ensuring that your team operates efficiently and makes choices based on scientifically supported data. Regardless of your industry, there is a range of benefits to hiring a professional geographer, including:

Geographers have the skills and training to manage complex GIS software and tools. This allows them to interpret and map out large amounts of relevant data and visually identify the geographic trends that are most relevant to a business.
Geographers use scientific methods to produce reliable, targeted findings for predicting natural events and human behavior as it relates to your surroundings.
Geographers understand the cause and effect of how an organization interacts with its environment, allowing them to develop accurate long-term predictions to guide business strategy.

How to hire a geographer

Follow these steps to create a successful geographer job posting, attract the right applicants and vet candidates with a targeted interview:

1. Determine what skills you need

Make a list of the specific geography skills you are looking for in your organization. While all geographers should have experience with GIS, there may be subject-specific skills or industry knowledge that you need to get the most out of their background.

2. Craft a job description

Provide an overview of the daily duties and responsibilities you need the geographer to fulfill. Be clear about education requirements, necessary certifications and the amount of travel or fieldwork the geographer should expect to do.

3. Connect with the American Association of Geographers

In addition to posting the job on career boards, register as an employer with the American Association of Geographers to get access to a network of professionals in the field.

4. Develop specific interview questions

During the interview, ask standard culture questions and more in-depth questions about their skills and experience. Questions to ask a geographer candidate include:

Describe your experience with geodatabases.
Have you ever authored an interactive map? How would you use it?
Explain the multiple nuclei geographic model.

What Is a Geographer? Key Roles and Duties