PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND PRACTICES - Column 163
vary somewhat between each jurisdic- tion. Visit the websites of the appropriate provincial/territorial geological licens- ing organization for the details.
Equal Pay for Equal Work
“Equal pay for equal work” is worth- while goal. It sounds great until one digs into it a bit. What constitutes “equal work”? Are all similarly qualified geosci- entists paid the same? No, they are not.
The American Geosciences Institute periodically publishes data on the geoscience workforce, most recently in Status of the geoscience workforce 2016, available at
www.americangeosciences. org/pubs. Some of the reported salary findings are:
• Starting salaries vary from less than $30K to more than $120K depending on field and degree.
• Master’s graduates tend to have the highest starting salaries.
Figure 1 - Predicted Storm Tracks for Tropical Storm Bonnie
cal storms shown on weather forecasts. Figure 1 above shows the storm tracks predicted by various models for Tropical Storm Bonnie as of 0600 UTC on May 29, 2016. While most of the models predict that Bonnie would end up in the Atlantic off the Virginia coast, two tracks head for Canada. The majority of predicted tracks vary on whether Bonnie would be onshore or follow the coastline.
The point being that what is unknown, what is uncertain is well illustrated by the predicted storm tracks. Similar sorts of illustrations or discussions should be included in scientific papers. Peer reviewers and editors have the ability to request that information on what is uncertain and what is unknown is clearly presented in scientific papers.
Erik Ronald in his blog, Mining Geology HQ, quotes the statistician George Box, “For such a model there is no need to ask the question, ‘Is it true?’ If ‘truth’ is to be the ‘whole truth” the answer must be “No.’ The only question of interest is ‘Is the model illuminating and useful?’ It is sometimes shortened to ‘All models are wrong, some are useful.”4
Geologic Practice in Quebec
In column 147 (Sep/Oct '13), I discussed the procedure for obtaining a temporary,
limited practice geologist’s license in Quebec. Ken Witherly, CPG-11536, of Condor Consulting, recently provided updated information on this process, which he completed. Because AIPG is an Affiliate Member Organization of ASBOG, AIPG Certification can be rec- ognized by the Ordre des géologues du Québec for temporary licensing purposes even if you do not have an ASBOG- member state license. Quebec requires licensee’s to have minimum liability insurance coverage, which for an indi- vidual is C$250K for damages exclusive of any defense or settlement costs (these are assumed in total by the insurer with no cap) with no exclusion concerning the type of work and a clause extending coverage a minimum of 5 years after the work is completed with no obligation to maintain premiums in that period. Witherly was able to obtain reasonably priced professional liability (E&O) insur- ance for consulting geologists through the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) insurance program pro- vided by Partners Indemnity Insurance Brokers, Ltd. You must join PDAC to get this insurance (
www.pdac.ca). For further information on temporary licensing in Quebec, go to http://ogq.
qc.ca/en/admission/member-of-another- association. Temporary licenses may be available in other Canadian provinces and territories. The requirements will
• For BA/BS graduates, the top employers were environmental ser- vices at 40% followed by oil and gas at 16%.
• For MA/MS graduates, the top employers were oil and gas 67%, environmental services at 13%, and mining, 4-year universities, research institutes, and state and local government agencies were all at 4%.
• For PhDs, 51% went to 4-year uni- versities, research institutes 20%, oil and gas 15%, and the federal government 12%.
• Women constituted 46-47% of the general workforce from 2006 to 2015. Women constituted a variable percentage of the environmental science and geoscience workforce, generally between 25% and 30% during the same period.
Figure 2 on the following page pres- ents 2015 median salary data in different geoscience
areas.Clearly geoscience sal- aries depend on both degree and area of practice. Oil and gas pays the most. The area of practice also varies by degree. Is the work done by an environmental geoscientist equal to that of an oil and gas geoscientist? Generally not, at least as measured by salary.
Consider the following case: KC has over a decade of experience and works as a geologist for a major company. After taking 6 months of Parental Leave, KC has returned to work part time, work-
4. Box, George E.P., 1979, Robustness in the strategy of scientific model building in Launer, R.L., & Wilkinson, G.N., Robustness in statistics: Academic Press, pp. 201-236.
www.aipg.org Jul.Aug.Sep 2017 • TPG 39
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