What Do You Call Yourself in the Geospatial World?

From Marine Biologist to Geographer

Unlike professions with instantly recognizable titles — teacher, architect, engineer — geography rarely offers a tidy noun that neatly aligns degree and employment. Growing up, career aspirations can sound glamorous without being practical. Marine biologist once had that appeal for me, despite living far from any ocean and hesitating to remove a fish from a hook. The ambition faded, but the instinct to pursue something spatial and exploratory remained. Eventually, geography and geographic information science became home.

Today, I comfortably use the terms geographer and cartographer. They are established words with historical grounding. Even if some people imagine explorers mapping uncharted territories, that association is hardly unwelcome. Yet in the broader job market, “geographer” appears far less frequently than the work itself.

The Disappearing Job Title

Roles explicitly labeled “geographer” still exist, but largely within federal agencies, the military, or government contracting environments. Academia also maintains the term. Outside those spheres, geography often functions as a keyword rather than a formal job designation. It hides inside titles like sustainability specialist, GIS analyst, geomatics engineer, project manager, or director of location intelligence.

The distinction between job title and career identity becomes clear here. In some professions, the two are interchangeable. An architect works as an architect. A teacher teaches. In geospatial careers, redundancy is rare. Many professionals trained in geography operate under titles that obscure the discipline’s roots.

This phenomenon may reflect broader shifts in the employment landscape. Organizations favor modernized, tech-oriented labels. Emerging fields rebrand themselves to signal innovation. In the process, foundational disciplines become less visible, even when their methodologies remain central.

A Field Hidden in Plain Sight

Geography students are often trained to decode job listings. Because positions involving spatial thinking are seldom advertised under the banner of geography, students learn to scan descriptions for transferable skills and spatial competencies. Associations like the American Association of Geographers provide resources linking academic preparation to diverse career pathways. Still, the burden falls on graduates to identify roles that align with their expertise despite mismatched terminology.

Institutional naming trends compound the issue. Departments evolve into “geospatial and environmental analysis” programs or similar hybrid constructions, attempting to capture interdisciplinary breadth. While such rebranding reflects innovation, it can dilute a shared professional identity.

Versatility: Strength and Challenge

The geospatial field’s adaptability is both asset and complication. Spatial thinking integrates seamlessly into environmental management, business analytics, emergency response, logistics, urban planning, telecommunications, and countless other domains. This flexibility enables professionals to move fluidly across sectors.

Yet widespread applicability makes collective definition difficult. Working under varied titles and organizational umbrellas, geospatial practitioners often go unrecognized as members of a cohesive professional community. The common thread — spatial reasoning, geographic analysis, mapping, and location intelligence — remains implicit.

Searching for a Shared Noun

Is there a single word that could unify this community? Informal exploration of professional networks reveals a spectrum of self-descriptions: geographer, GISer, GPSer, geospatialist, geonerd, locationist, geomate, and even geonaut. Each captures a facet of the work. None fully encapsulates its breadth.

The diversity of labels may reflect the field’s inherent interdisciplinarity. Perhaps the pursuit of one definitive noun is unnecessary — or even counterproductive. A unified term could strengthen visibility, but it might also oversimplify the range of skills and identities present.

Maybe It’s Not a Noun at All

If spatial thinking transcends traditional boundaries, perhaps identity lies less in a title and more in a characteristic. Geospatial may function better as an adjective than as a standalone profession. It describes an approach — analytical, integrative, place-based — rather than confining practitioners to a narrow role.

In that sense, whether someone identifies as a geographer, GIS specialist, location strategist, or something more playful like geonaut, the shared element is spatial awareness. The capacity to analyze “where” remains the connective tissue.

Ultimately, the label may matter less than the work itself. The field continues to evolve, innovate, and intersect with new domains. If the community lacks a single noun, perhaps that flexibility is precisely what makes it resilient.