People who take explorer jobs have an unquenchable curiosity and are willing to travel wherever their research takes them to find the next pieces of the puzzles to which they’ve devoted their careers. Explorers are risk-takers who venture into unknown territory to fulfill a mission and are excited about sharing their knowledge. An explorer’s job may vary from working on an oceanic scientific voyage to writing for a travel magazine, leading groups on expeditions or delving into the mysteries of space.

Relying on Scientific Discovery

Most explorer jobs involve science in some form. Biologists, marine explorers, oceanographers, deep-sea researchers and science engineers work for organizations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the government. Ecologists who work in exploration find jobs with foundations and universities, or conduct surveys about various species for groups such as the Catlin Arctic Survey or the While Shark Trust.

Writing about New Discoveries

Explorers are in demand for companies that offer vacations and unique destination trips to consumers. The website Jauntaroo, for example, put out a call to hire a Chief World Explorer for its company that matches tourists with exciting vacation trips. The company received 3,000 applications from around the world for the job, which started in March 2014. Modern day explorers often follow their hearts to exotic places to bring their finds to publishing companies, write their own travel essays and sell them to magazines or bring awareness to certain untapped areas of the world. Explorers may work for a group like Jauntaroo or apply for grants from sponsors and media outlets to run their own explorations.

Leading Groups on Wilderness Trips

A commonly known group of young people, called explorer guides, take summer jobs working for their state departments of natural resources or parks departments in various localities. Rather than look for new discoveries, these explorers introduce unique historical, cultural and natural resources to student groups, local naturalists and tourists. They share their knowledge with their visitors, both children and adults. Explorer guides serve as ambassadors for their chosen states.

Checking Out the Final Frontier

Space is often referred to as the final frontier, due primarily to the popular Star Trek series that bore it as a tagline. Space exploration is the landscape for astronauts who work primarily for the National Aeronautics Space Administration, commonly referred to as NASA. Space explorers train to travel the solar system through everything from asteroid fields to other planets. In 2013, NASA recruited its first set of new space explorers since the space shuttle program was shut down in 2011. These recruits hope to be among the first to fly a new commercial spacecraft.