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Research geologist vs senior geologist

The differences between research geologists and senior geologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a research geologist and a senior geologist. Additionally, a research geologist has an average salary of $116,391, which is higher than the $109,166 average annual salary of a senior geologist.

The top three skills for a research geologist include GIS, geological survey and R. The most important skills for a senior geologist are project management, data collection, and GIS.

Research geologist vs senior geologist overview

Research GeologistSenior Geologist
Yearly salary$116,391$109,166
Hourly rate$55.96$52.48
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs45,501811
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age4545
Years of experience1212

Research geologist vs senior geologist salary

Research geologists and senior geologists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Research GeologistSenior Geologist
Average salary$116,391$109,166
Salary rangeBetween $81,000 And $166,000Between $63,000 And $186,000
Highest paying CityMidland, TXCorpus Christi, TX
Highest paying stateTexasTexas
Best paying companyExxon MobilStatoil
Best paying industry-Energy

Differences between research geologist and senior geologist education

There are a few differences between a research geologist and a senior geologist in terms of educational background:

Research GeologistSenior Geologist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common majorGeologyGeology
Most common collegeUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research geologist vs senior geologist demographics

Here are the differences between research geologists' and senior geologists' demographics:

Research GeologistSenior Geologist
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 77.9% Female, 22.1%Male, 84.7% Female, 15.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 0.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 6.4% Asian, 5.6% White, 81.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 0.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 6.3% Asian, 5.4% White, 82.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage4%4%

Differences between research geologist and senior geologist duties and responsibilities

Research geologist example responsibilities.

  • Foster cross laboratory collaboration between physics labs and between engineering, biology, and chemistry departments to accomplish share goals.
  • Synthesize and characterize colloidal room-temperature ferromagnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles.
  • Conduct research by administering quantitative and qualitative surveys to low income fathers and entering and analyzing the data using SPSS

Senior geologist example responsibilities.

  • Manage the installation of geophones, tiltmeters, inclinometers, passive vent wells, gas caps, and ORWs.
  • Provide technical GIS support to CRA staff including data acquisition, analysis, and presentation.
  • Supervise excavations of contaminate materials, collect groundwater, potable water, and surface water samples, and perform soil-gas surveys.
  • Lead coordinator and geologist for ComEd geotechnical and environmental sampling project to support infrastructure expansion.
  • Serve as principal-in-charge on geotechnical projects ranging in scope from engineering geologic assessments to foundation engineering studies.
  • Build geological, geophysical and geochemical models for integrate basin modeling, prospect generation, volume estimation and well planning.
  • Show more

Research geologist vs senior geologist skills

Common research geologist skills
  • GIS, 40%
  • Geological Survey, 18%
  • R, 15%
  • Geological Data, 12%
  • Research Projects, 8%
  • Sedimentology, 8%
Common senior geologist skills
  • Project Management, 9%
  • Data Collection, 9%
  • GIS, 8%
  • Geotechnical, 7%
  • Autocad, 5%
  • Business Development, 4%

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