I was recently approached by the parents of a young man who had just finished four years hydrographic study and this was the question they put to me: "Sir, our son graduated last year as a hydrographer. Instead of applying for a job he started studying maritime techniques. What do you think of his decision?" As I was on my way to an appointment my reply had to be brief, so I began... "Preparing yourself for your working life with knowledge is a good thing to do". However, embedded in their initial question was the issue of employment opportunities for a hydrographic surveyor.

I proceeded to tell them about high oil prices ($50/barrel or, more tangibly for these parents, Euro 1.30/liter for their car’s petrol) and gave several reasons why these prices will remain high. Demand will increase due to the economic growth of India and China. Oil companies are experiencing problems trying to keep their production apace with demand. There is also a limited reserve capacity. Finally, there are unstable political situations in certain areas. All these factors will motivate extra activity in new areas, while the present oil prices make investments easier than before. Collectively, all this should generate more work for surveyors.

I only told them about the Oil-and-Gas part of our employment possibilities; I had no time to go into the demography. For instance, many surveyors are 50+ (see Hydro international July/August issue ‘Probably, Possibly, Maybe..?’) Also, there is growing environmental wareness and the need to build more maritime transportation infrastructure, like portsand harbours, and the increase in needed expertise for the collection and processing of data. So yes … there is a future for hydrographic surveyors - I would even say a bright future. Maybe not next year, but definitely in the future. And due to the added content of environmental and oceanographic aspects the job can provide increased satisfaction and diversity.

And speaking of surveyor employment, do we know what happens to pipelines hit by hurricanes? Western Europe has a regime of regular (annual) pipeline surveys but this is not worldwide practise. Imagine the growth in employment if it was.

We welcome Douglas L. Brown as a new member of our Editorial Advisory Board. Mr Brown is deputy director of the Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He also serves as the NOAA Program Manager for Coastal & Marine Resources, a role in which he oversees planning, programming and budgetary functions for resource conservation and management programmes totalling in financial worth nearly $200 million. Mr Brown has over 25 years of federal service, primarily in the areas of surveying and mapping. He served as the deputy director of the NOAA Office of Coast Survey prior to his current assignment. Mr Brown holds both bachelor of arts and master of science degrees. We wonder what kind of advice his ‘bachelor of arts’ will bring to our layout.