'Hydrogeology' has become an umbrella term for anything involving water and earth
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While hydrogeology used to be a lesser-known profession, these days you can find the names of thousands of hydrogeologist job opportunities in a quick online search. This change is not because they all practice hydrogeology in the classical sense, but because it has become an umbrella term for anything involving water and earth.
Here is my practical (inexact) guide to the slight distinctions between job titles falling under the umbrella term of hydrogeology. Sometimes these positions are labeled as you see below, and sometimes they might be advertised as ‘hydrogeologist.’
Groundwater Modeler- Quantitative hydrogeologist that uses numerical modeling to analyze water budgets, flow models, and make predictions of inflows and outflows
Groundwater Practitioner – Anyone who does anything with aquifers, usually in the field of environmental remediation or water resources, or contaminant transport
Groundwater Scientist – Anyone who drills wells or looks at aquifer water quality data or flow direction
Hydrologist – Typically trained in the field of engineering mostly relating to surface water, but might also be a hydrogeologist that isn’t currently working with groundwater
Water Engineer - Trained in the field of engineering mostly relating to surface water, and often has an understanding of well design and pumping systems
Water Professional – This is a catch-all term that often includes those in water and wastewater treatment
Water Scientist – Broad term like water professional, but often oriented towards drinking water quality standards and municipal water supplies
Engineer (hydrogeology) – Quantitative engineer who is not afraid of applying Python scripts to supply well systems
As for me? I am a groundwater modeler by training. If you need help in that arena, please send your questions through the contact form on www.mielsolutions.com.