 His doctoral thesis was titled "Rare earth elements and ore formation processes".Bernd Lottermoser has worked as an exploration geologist for BP Minerals and Kennecott, as research fellow for the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE, Sydney), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz and University of Melbourne, and as lecturer at the University of New England.He later served as professor of the School of Earth Sciences at James Cook University and the University of Tasmania and the Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter.