A Career in Meteorology

A Career in Meteorology is a role that is growing in importance.

Meteorology is the science and study of the earth's atmosphere and its interaction with the earth itself and all forms of life. It embraces a wide range of time and space scales, from the tiniest turbulent eddies, which survive as recognizable entities for only a second or two, to the variations in ice cover and the global climatic fluctuations, which extend over millennia. It seeks to understand and to predict weather, the climate from the surfaces of land and sea to the edge of space and to do this for the benefit of mankind.

Careers In Meteorology

Your career as a meteorologists means that your work will cover great scopefrom weather forecasting to climatology and from horticulture to the planning and operation of great engineering undertakings. They include the development of complex mathematical representations of the way the atmosphere works and can be predicted, the manipulation of vast data resources, the design, development and testing of new instruments, and the use of modern communications and data- management systems. There are also close links with sister sciences such as hydrology and physical oceanography.

Within this wide spectrum, there are opportunities for pure research, applied research, operational work, scientific and commercial management, entrepreneurial ventures, teaching and consultancy.

Who Employs Meteorologists?

The majority of Britain's meteorologists work in the Meteorological Office, a government institution that is involved in research, applied meteorology and operational meteorology. The headquarters of The Met Office, as it is officially known, are at Exeter, Devon, but there are many other Met Office establishments at home and a few overseas. There also exist some opportunities to work with British companies operating meteorological offices abroad.

Other government or quasi government departments employ meteorologists. For example, the Natural Environment Research Council employs meteorologists in its oceanographic and hydrological institutes. In addition, agricultural and fisheries institutes, the British Antarctic Survey and various United Nations technical aid programmes employ meteorologists.

Service industries, such as those which supply gas, electricity, oil and water, employ meteorologists in limited numbers; and the private sector of industry and commerce, as well as some instrument manufacturers and environmental consultancies, also provide employment for meteorologists.

Universities and other educational institutions provide a few openings where teaching and fundamental research are carried out in an academic environment.

USEFUL CONTACTS
Royal Meteorological Society
www.rms.org
The Met Office
www.metoffice.gov.uk
Natural Environment Research Council
www.nerc.ac.uk
British Antarctic Survey
www.antarctica.ac.uk

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