CLASSROOM EARTH
My junior year of college, I took a course on Earth surface processes and soils, which surprised me with the intense load of mathematical formulas, calculus, and physics we needed to understand in order to predict natural and unnatural changes underground, as well as how these changes would affect other parts of an environment. This course opened my eyes to how important a grip on mathematics and physics are in geology.
Also in my junior year of college, I took an environmental ArcGIS course. This course, coupled with the Google Earth, STELLA software, and Microsoft Excel work I utilized in other courses, showed me how important knowledge of technology is for geology. This emphasis on technology has also been impor- tant for me while working on a database for the U.S. Geological Survey this past year. Advanced technology in geology is still only just getting started too.
I now believe geology/geoscience is not only just a category of STEM, but all-encompassing of STEM. It is a broad study that requires students to learn how to use computers and scientific technology. It ensures students learn mathematics to be able to interpret and create scientific graphs, data, and formulas. It demonstrates to students how intertwined engineering is with the Earth. Geology is not just a lone category, but it is a kind of study that includes nearly all other fields of science, especially biology, chemistry, and physics. Not many other majors within STEM are quite as interdisciplinary. This is why geoscience is actually a peak STEM career in my eyes.
Unfortunately, however, there remains a lack of emphasis on this pathway in K-12 education, thus not all students, or even adults know how valuable geoscience is in STEM. I attended an unusually large high school with roughly 6,500 students. This meant we also had a huge variety of classes we could take, and yet, the only Earth science course I took in high school was AP Environmental Science. There is a fundamental lack of geoscience courses and diploma requirements in public high schools today, which may contribute to this belief that geoscience is not a legitimate STEM category. Students may be led to believe that since this kind of science is not a requirement to learn, it is less important than the other sciences and not the most legitimate career path. Because of this, I believe many young people, especially women, BIPOC, and lower income stu- dents, are unintentionally dissuaded from majoring in Earth
In Memoriam Member Since 1965
sciences like geology. Before I began taking geoscience courses, I questioned if they would even look good on a transcript. I was worried that it would appear that I was simply taking easy courses for credits, as I had been led to believe from my peers that geoscience is an easier topic to study. Getting into college was my main driving force in high school. But when I began, I constantly found myself challenged, and yet enjoying the content I was learning. The more I delved into geoscience classes, the more rigorous they became too. After taking about 3 solid years of geoscience coursework, I can now do things in a laboratory, in a math class, and on computers that I never thought I could do. While I had the great opportunity to get to explore Earth sciences in high school enough to jump into them in college, not everyone has this privilege. Students in poorer areas, who are often disproportionately BIPOC, are not always afforded the chance to take Earth science courses at their public schools. These students may have a genuine interest and show promise for these topics, but never have the opportunity to study them. Also, in my experience, women in STEM programs for geology and Earth sciences are not as heavily promoted compared to other STEM categories, like robotics and computer science. Both of these factors, coupled with the fact that some may not view geoscience as a category of STEM, may be dissuading students from the Earth sciences. If parents are pushing their children to study STEM topics, but do not view Earth sciences as a STEM topic, their children may not get the chance to research geoscience.
It is my belief that “Women in STEM” and “BIPOC in STEM” organizations need to become more involved in the Earth sci- ences, particularly geology/geoscience. In the past three years at the University of Michigan, I had no idea there even was a “Women in STEM” organization, as it was housed in the chemistry and biology departments and not in the geoscience building on campus. This is one of the biggest changes I’d like to see in geoscience. While I am proud to learn about how much geoscience diversity has grown in the last century, it would be amazing progress if more young female and BIPOC students could get involved in geoscience, a true STEM field. This would undoubtedly inspire more high school students to pursue the Earth sciences as well. As a young female geoscientist, I am striving to be a part of this change in this ultimate STEM career, and am excited to witness others join in geology!
Charles William Welby, CPG-01033 Lexington, North Carolina October 9, 1926 - September 22, 2020
Charles William Welby, 93, of Lexington, NC, formerly of Raleigh, passed away on September 22nd, 2020. He delighted in his career as a geologist and as a volunteer for the community, government entities and professionally. He was born in Bakersfield, CA, on October 9, 1926 to Harry Sheldon Welby and Mary Cook Barnes Welby. He was pre- ceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Eleanor Morse Welby. He is survived by two daughters, Mary Louise Welby (Robert “Hersh” McNeil) of John Day, Oregon, and Nancy Welby Check (Jeffrey) of Lexington, as well as five grandchildren.
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Charles grew up in Taft, CA, and graduated from Taft High School in 1944 and the University of California, Berkeley in 1948. He earned a master’s degree at UC, Berkeley (1949) and a Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1952). Geology was a lifelong enthusiasm, ignited by expe- riencing the spectacular geology of Yosemite and by growing up in the oil fields of Taft; he continued to enjoy “geologizing” with friends and family throughout retirement.
Charles started his career with the California Company in Jackson, MS, and New Orleans, LA. He joined the facul- ties of Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT; Trinity College, Hartford, CT; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY; University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS; and North Carolina State University from 1965 until he retired as Professor Emeritus in 1997. He enjoyed teaching environmen- tal geology, paleontology, and hydrogeology among other geol- ogy courses.
His research interests were varied and included paleo- ecology and fossil studies (including describing new species from the Lake Champlain,VT, area), environmental hazards, groundwater behavior and processes, shoreline erosion,
Jan.Feb.Mar 2021 • TPG 23
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