Article published in the Wall Street Journal by Clara Hudson on July 28, 2025.
During her Ph.D. studies, Pooja Sheevam examined the structure of planets like Mars. Now, she is exploring terrain closer to home for her government job researching geothermal projects in arid New Mexico.
Sheevam was drawn to the geothermal industry while studying at the University of Nevada at Reno because she wanted to be a part of something new and increasingly relevant: cultivating a renewable source that extracts heat from the Earth’s core for energy.
But the industry will need a lot more of this interest to grow. Even though geothermal has been exempted from the policy changes in President Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” that are squeezing other renewables, more geologists, engineers and data scientists will be needed to capitalize on the expansion efforts.
The talent pool of experts with geothermal experience is shallow, particularly as geologists have the option of working in the oil, gas or mining industries. Given that geothermal has been a much smaller sector, talent and expertise has flowed to these other industries.
Geothermal is at a turning point. Tax credits for other renewables—like solar and wind—were cut in the Trump bill, but geothermal was left alone. The industry also has broad bipartisan support. The Biden administration had backed geothermal projects, emphasizing that they have minimal carbon emissions, and Trump in a January executive order declaring a national energy emergency embraced geothermal along with uranium and oil.
The Energy Department says on its website that geothermal “holds the potential to power more than 65 million American homes and businesses, and is the next frontier for renewable energy deployment.” The industry currently meets less than 1% of global energy demand, according to the International Energy Agency, but it has the potential to meet up to 15% of global electricity demand growth by 2050.
The geothermal industry has a heightened need for drilling engineers, pressure control specialists, data scientists and more.
“Geothermal needs more than geologists—this is an all-hands-on-deck moment,” said Marcus Oesterberg, chief operating officer of Ignis H2 Energy, a geothermal exploration and development business.
“This is no longer a niche, backroom segment of energy,” Oesterberg said. “It’s stepping into the spotlight as a viable, front-line solution in the global energy transition. And to meet that moment, we need to expand our thinking around talent.”
John Plack, vice president of engineering at Ameresco, which designs, builds and finances geothermal energy systems, said the oil-and-gas industry “still needs those folks, but we need them too. The scale that we want to go at is going to be limited by the amount of folks we have.”
Ameresco doesn’t have in-house geologists itself, but partners with geothermal system providers that have subsurface expertise, including geological profiling.
Geothermal projects are set to expand in the Southwest where Republican lawmakers are pushing to speed up permitting for a series of sites on federal land. The tech industry is also pinning its AI ambitions in part on geothermal: Google and Meta have signed geothermal deals to fuel their growing data center energy demands.
Geothermal generates energy for heating, cooling and electricity. A geologists’ role in such a project is widespread; they work on finding the most promising sites, evaluating the structure of subsurface rocks, analyzing how much heat could be harnessed, and guiding drilling for example.
Matt Houde, co-founder and chief of staff at geothermal startup Quaise, said: “As the sector grows, demand is rising for geologists, geophysicists, and geomechanics specialists whose expertise is essential for exploring and developing new geothermal resources.”
Canadian geothermal company Eavor has enough geologists for projects in Canada and Germany, but is aware of the talent crunch in parts of the U.S. “If we were to open up in Utah or Nevada, it would be much harder,” said Jeanine Vany, Eavor’s executive vice president of corporate affairs.
Rob Klenner, president of Greenfire Energy and a geologist himself, said his company—based in oil-and-gas hub Oklahoma City—wants to ensure it has the best talent as it looks to expand into states like California, which is “going to take a good team of geologists.”
“If you don’t have someone that’s done this for 20 years, you may be hiring someone straight out of school, which is OK, but there’s a learning curve,” he said.
Oil-and-gas companies including Chevron, BP and Devon Energy are also expanding into geothermal. The energy giants are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into projects nationwide.
Oil-and-gas geologists require similar skills as those in geothermal. The industry uses equivalent exploration strategies and drilling technologies, and more broadly is about mapping what resources lie beneath the earth.
But awareness “is probably the single biggest problem” for the geothermal industry to draw in more geologists, said Chris Keane at the American Geosciences Institute.
“They all know the oil-and-gas industry, they all know the mining industry, they all know environmental remediation, and faculty members, and we’ve even seen a massive increase and shift in geological employment to professional services,” Keane said.
While popular college science classes like biology host hundreds of students, geology programs are far less frequented, said Aaron Johnson, executive director of the American Institute of Professional Geologists.
“The talent pool is small,” he said. “60 to 70 students would be a really big program.”
There are currently 264,555 geoscientists working in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The statistical agency estimated that there would be a 5.6% increase in geoscience jobs from 2023 to 2033. Median salaries for geoscientists increased 2% from 2023 to 2024, it said, to about $99,000 a year.
Young students anticipating careers in geology and natural resources are also wrangling with thorny ethical dilemmas. Mining companies, for example, have had trouble hiring geologists because it is often perceived as a “dirty” industry, following mining disasters and concerns about worker exploitation. But as a renewable energy source, geothermal could prove attractive for some young professionals.
“If we can figure out a way to educate the younger generation that you can actually have a career that you can be proud of and help solve a problem the world is facing, but also work in the extractive industry, I think that could go a long way,” Vany from Eavor said.
Job security and compensation undoubtedly plays a pivotal role in a geologists’ career path. While oil and gas pays the best, energy projects across industries can be very cyclical, so experts can get hired and fired depending on oscillating economic conditions.
There are other considerations for the future of geothermal. The industry, along with oil and gas, has to navigate tariffs on steel and aluminum, which are essential for energy projects.
Another threat extreme weather conditions—could also fuel more work for geologists across the board.
“When you have more natural disasters, you’re going to have more demand for geologists and geoscientists,” Johnson said.