Hydrologic Technician

Scientists aren’t exaggerating when they say it: Because it covers approximately 72 percent of the earth and makes up approximately 60 percent of the human body — it’s 70 percent of brains, 90 percent of lungs, 75 percent of muscles, and 83 percent of blood — water really is the building block of life.

As a Hydrologic Technician, therefore, you’re kind of like nature’s Architect, assisting in the research, design, and implementation of systems that harness, utilize, conserve, and protect the water resources that make life on earth possible.

In support of hydrology — the study of water, including its composition, distribution, and environmental impacts — Hydrologic Technicians work with Hydrologists, Engineers, and Hydrogeologists to plan and execute water research projects related to scientific and environmental issues such as drought, flood control, irrigation, hydroelectric power, and groundwater contamination, just to name a few.

Employed most often by universities, governments, nonprofits, research laboratories, and engineering firms, you’re basically the hands of the hydrology profession, conducting ground-level research tasks on behalf of the Hydrologist you work for. Among those tasks, for instance, are: calibrating and repairing instruments; collecting surface and ground water samples for chemical and biological analysis; drilling wells; surveying land; keeping records; and using computers to enter, then process and analyze data.

If it had to be summed up succinctly, your role as a Hydrologic Technician is “quality control.” Although Hydrologists design and conduct the actual research, they rely on you to make sure they’re using the proper procedures and collecting uniform, reliable samples — which basically makes you the “Research Cop ” of the water world!