Technical Communicators

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Physical Geography
Secondary Topic: Meteorology, Atmospheric sciences, Climatology

Overview: Technical Communicators are responsible for producing written materials and documents such as instruction manuals, how-to guides, and journal articles to communicate complex and technical information to people. Although primarily a communication job, they still need a firm knowledge of meteorology, geographic information science, cartography, etc. Experience in these fields will help the Technical Communicator better understand and circulate vital information. The following are examples of Technical Communicator job titles:

Research Specialists are technical communicators who begin their careers as specialists or research assistants in a technical field. They develop skills and assume primary responsibilities as researchers in areas such as meteorology, climate, ocean, etc. who work on projects and publications for the organization in various academic journals. They coordinate and conduct interviews.

Technical Writers study weather, climate, and other aspects of the atmosphere. They develop reports and forecasts from their analysis of weather and climate data. They also publish journal papers and work with academics from various backgrounds including meteorologists, geologists, physical geographers, and human geographers. They also write news content about the NASA Earth Science Applied Science program and create audio and video scripts for science news content and stories. They also strategize, develop, write and edit content for a variety of print and web communication according to the set standards. The content technical writers produce ranges from feature writing, and short news items to profiles of Earth science data users and NASA staff and collaborators. They also attend NASA internal and other scientific meetings to find stories for social media and traditional media outreach.

Technical communicators with writing skills also need an understanding of the scientific dimensions and links between different environmental processes. Furthermore, they also need to know the departmental functions within the organization as they will be creating both the scientific and departmental materials. They also act as a hub for the communication channels within the organization and are essential personnel for developing, gathering and disseminating technical information throughout the organization. Technical Communicators also are excellent researchers and require knowledge on related scientific subject matter in order to do their job efficiently.

Geographers at work:  Physical geographers, Meteorologists, Geologist, Human Geographers, G.I.Scientists.

Recommended College Courses: Physical geography, Geographic Information Science, Climatology, Cartography, Geology, Human Geography

Skills: Understanding of geographic information systems, spatial skills and thinking, weather and climate map reading and interpretation, computer and database systems, physical and human geography

Occupation Group: Life, Physical and Social Science

Learn more about Technical Communicators from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor:  https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/technical-writers.htm

NASA.gov/Earth, Applied Sciences website.