Definition: "The exploration and scientific study of the ocean and its phenomena."

Required qualifications: There are many different oceanographical disciplines - the main ones being geological oceanography and geophysics, physical oceanography, and chemical oceanography - and the path you take to each discipline can vary greatly. Oceanography is a graduate career, so an undergraduate degree is needed first. Obviously, before university, you need to study hard at high school and get a good overall education in all subjects, especially the sciences and Math's. For university:

In the US: When at university it is wise to major in one of the traditional sciences rather than specializing straight away in oceanography, since a broader scientific basis to your education means that if a job in oceanography proves to be hard to come by, you have a general science degree to fall back on. In high school, enroll in as many math's, chemistry, earth science, biology, physics, and computer science classes as possible - they will come in useful later on!

Other skills: Oceanography is an international career and so the ability to speak another language is often very useful. As with almost all scientific careers, a high level of proficiency with computers, especially PCs, is essential since an oceanographer's job often involves a lot of IT work. Writing skills are highly looked-upon too, since an oceanographer has to write many reports on their research. You need to have good sea legs too!

Salary: £23,000 - £46,000 approx. ($35,000 - $70,000)

Oceanography is a very wide-ranging career path with many different areas - physical, biological (also known as marine biology), chemical, and geological being just four of them. It is also a highly competitive career - as with all marine sciences - and requires a high amount of personal dedication and motivation if you want to succeed. It is possible to enter the field with just a bachelor's degree but if you want to do research then a Doctorate or Ph.D. is usually required.

Oceanographers spend a surprising amount of time traveling all over the world - after all, the ocean covers 70% of the Earth's surface, so there is a lot of it to cover! Because of this, many oceanographers recommended studying a foreign language, at least to A Level (in the United Kingdom) or equivalent, because it will help with your communication skills.

Almost all advice on pursuing a career in oceanography agree on one thing - don't specialize too early! Although these days many universities offer an undergraduate course in oceanography, a Bachelor's degree in a broader scientific discipline, such as Biology or Physics, can often lead to greater job prospects. However, more employers are accepting candidates with an Oceanography degree. One possibility is to do a joint honors degree - Zoology with Oceanography, Marine Biology with Oceanography, and so on. Numeric is key to this field, so make sure your Math's is at a high standard too!