Civil engineers design, develop, and construct community projects that serve the general public such as roads, bridges, damns, tunnels, water supply systems, etc. The designs include but are not limited to many fields such as hydraulics, thermodynamics, or nuclear physics.

Soil scientists study the physical and chemical properties of soil. A soil scientist reviews the distribution, origin, and history of soil and plants, as well as identifying, interpreting, mapping and/or managing soils. This field is commonly applied for agricultural purposes. Fieldwork is frequently required.

Let us introduce you to Katrina Laygo and Melissa Oguamanam from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Melissa and Katrina are the Center Leads for the DEVELOP Program’s Goddard location. NASA’s DEVELOP Program is a student-led research internship that focuses on using NASA Earth observations to address community concerns and public policy issues.

Review these resources to learn how Dorothy "Dotty" Metcalf-Lindenburger explored different career paths to eventually make her way to work with NASA.  Starting off as a geology student in college, then working as a teacher, Dotty gained employment with NASA as an astronaut!

This video addresses the following question: "We know that there are a number of ways that data can be visualized. Would you please describe your process for looking at the same data as represented by different graph types and how this helps inform your meaning making from the data?"

This video addresses the following question: "We know that the science you do is driven by the big questions around Earth System Science. Could you please describe how you shape the questions that you ask before, during, and after you have collected data, how do you initially look at these data to help explore your initial set of questions?"

This video addresses the following question: "As you think about exploring the data that you have collected, what are the approaches that you use to organize your data and/or process your data before you make meaning from the data?"

This video addresses the following question: "As you look at a data set(s) that has been collected, could you help us understand how you use data visualizations to shape new questions to explore further in the data set(s)?"

This video addresses the following question: "As you think about how you use data visualization(s) to communicate your findings with others, can you describe how you refine the visualization(s) that you present to better support the story that you are sharing with the data visualization?"