Cartography or Mapping Sciences

Mapping and Cartography today encompasses a diverse range of fields and disciplines.
To reflect these changes industry and the profession have adopted the broader term Mapping Sciences, thus relating to work in the areas of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), resource management, environmental monitoring, transport, communications, and tourism.

Office or Outdoor Work

Training and studying to become a Cartographer / Mapping Scientist generally means preparing for an indoor working career associated with maps, land information, desktop publishing, digital imagery, and 3-dimensional data. This may involve working with Surveyors, Planners, Engineers and other technical scientists to acquire, communicate and manage geo-spatial information.

Which High School Subjects should I study?

Maps and their coordinate systems relate directly to map projections and data manipulation. For this reason a sound achievement in Mathematics and English is recommended.
An understanding of Graphic Communication and knowledge
of Physics fundamentals is also desirable for Mapping Science related disciplines.

Tertiary Institutions

The Australasian Surveying and Mapping Education Directory is a web site dedicated to providing an index to all surveying, cartography, GIS and related courses throughout Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Job Prospects

Rapid technological developments in the mapping industry are leading to a demand for tertiary qualified technical and managerial staff.
The need for People with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) skills is expected to increase in the coming years.
Mapping Scientists are people who gather, process, analyse and present spatial data. These skills enable the professional to specialise or diversify into many interesting and exciting fields of employment.
Graduates will call upon a range of skills developed during their studies. They may use their graphic design skills in the production of a variety of mapping products; their computer skills in the creation of a geographical data base and/or their analytical skills in data management and communication.
Employment opportunities are available in all levels of Government, semi-government agencies, statutory authorities and in private industry.

What are the job prospects?

Experts believe that the demand for tertiary qualified Mapping Scientists in the resource industries and local government sectors will continue to grow in the coming years. Some are forecasting a large annual growth in the GIS and Spatial Data Management fields.
The 1996 RMIT graduate destination survey revealed that 97.1% of the Land Information graduates had jobs within 3 months of course completion, higher than accountancy, computer science, psychology and tourism. Visit their web site to find out more.

Work Experience

Work experience is best arranged at a local level through school or via direct contact.
Businesses involved with the mapping industry can be found in the Yellow Pages under Maps or Mapping. Many government agencies are also involved with mapping and GIS.

Pay levels

Pay in both government and private industry is normally related to qualifications and experience.

In the government sector this is generally based on the Scientific or Technical Officer scale.

INDUSTRY INFORMATION

A tertiary qualification in Mapping Sciences opens up career opportunities throughout Australia and overseas.
Skills developed through tertiary study are needed for work on the development and management of resources and infrastructure both locally and world wide.
Graduates can find themselves working within a great variety of fields. Visit the RMIT Dept. of Land Information site to find out about where some of their past graduates are now working.
Mapping can be seen as part of the bridge between engineering and science. The Mapping Sciences industry is very diversified and includes working in or being associated with the following areas of government agencies and the private sector.

Technical Services

Using computer systems and equipment for data presentation such as:
Geographical Information Systems (GIS),
Plotting and data management of floods, bushfires, accident reconstruction, natural resource recording and sampling,
Transport system management using satellite data,
Remote Sensing and mapping from space,
Photogrammetry using aerial, terrestrial and satellite images,
Geological mapping,
Land and marine inventories,
Surface modelling for infra structure development,
Multimedia / Internet design and development.

Environmental Management

Government Departments such as:
AUSLIG,
Primary Industries,
Lands and Environment,
Mines and Energy,
Harbours and Marine,
Forestry,
Water Resources,
Land Development,
Tourism,
Emergency Services,
Private Surveying and Mapping companies