Geosciences in Modern Society
James F. Howard, Ph.D., CPG-2536 Status of the Profession
The geosciences have, for the past several decades, under- gone a significant decline in both numbers and in perceived value to modern society. The traditional areas of petroleum exploration and resource mining have been the target of numerous organizations who view those activities as basically destructive elements that potentially threaten the future of the earth itself.
In the wake of the storm of negativity characterizing our profession, a steady decline in both practicing geoscientists and geoscience students has been in evidence, to the point where many departments have been forced to either join with other, more glamorous disciplines or suffer complete dissolution.
Why has our profession been relegated to what is to many a second-rate desirability as a goal for future students? What caused this decline in future prospects for the geoscience profession?
Most of the resources of the societies involved in promot- ing the geosciences have concentrated their efforts into two major areas:
Providing teachers with better materials to support their efforts to educate their students;
Targeting the existing practitioners to enhance their skill set and more effectively accomplish their objectives, e.g. pro- duce more oil, minerals resources and, relatively recently, aid in solving environmental problems, usually under the supervision of an engineer.
The graphs from AIPG and AGI shown in Figure 1 below and Figure 2 on page 40 illustrate the trends of AIPG member- ship and Geoscience student enrollment over the past decades.
Why the decline in perceived value of the Geosciences?
Reasons for this decline in active AIPG membership and in potential future additions to the geoscience work force are numerous, some external and some self-inflicted.
Figure 1 - AIPG Enrollment Trends from 1988 to 2020.
www.aipg.org Apr.May.Jun 2021 • TPG 39
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