PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Protecting, Defending, and Improving Our
Geoscience Profession
Chuck Drake, CPG-11179
Chuck@Bio-Techconsulting.com
Past-President Sara Pearson’s article in the October-November- December TPG provided an exemplary path forward for us follow. Sara described the important work she has started with NESTA (National Earth Science Teachers Association), ABET and Geo- ACTS. Her article presented “The Science Communication Gap,” which we can and should use to tell our story of the importance of geosciences. I’ve included it here as a reminder of how to address these issues, and I will use it as often as possible to remind myself that we need to tell our story as a narrative and not use so many tables and graphs that our message gets lost, or the audience loses interest.
So here is my story, with only one graphic… This article, which is my first as AIPG President, is a continuation
of Sara’s article; first because it is an excellent description of her efforts over the last year and probably when she was President- Elect, and second because I have seen the decline in geoscientists and geoscience education in high schools in Florida over my career. For this article, I want to give my historical perspective on these two observations, because it helps, I think, many of the young geologists understand the working environment of pre-professional geologist licensing, and how far we’ve come since then.
When I started my geology career in 1982, I worked for a govern-
ment agency and didn’t need to be licensed. I worked with many professional engineers, which is how I learned of their professional engineer’s license. I wondered why geologists weren’t licensed.
In 1985, I began working for a consulting engineering firm and
reported to a Florida licensed professional engineer. He hired me because he knew the importance of geology and especially hydrogeology in Florida, and that it would expand the company’s expertise. So, for two years or so, he would sign and seal my work which he did understand, and also understood that it was out of his area of true expertise.
Florida Statute Chapter 492 is the set of laws governing the prac-
tice of professional geology in Florida. It was made into law in 1987 and he was all for me getting my P.G. license and was a reference for me when I applied. I give him the credit for seeing the benefit of getting my license and supporting me in the application process.
Even after receiving licensure, when many municipal govern-
ments advertised for geotechnical engineering services, they included hydrogeologic investigations and other services that were much more on the geology side of the equation rather than the engineering side. It took many years for municipalities to have separate advertisements for hydrogeologic services and to hire hydrogeologists on their staff to provide these services in-house.
After 10 years, Florida Statute Chapter 492 was scheduled to sunset, and we’d lose our licenses. The Florida Legislature was set to allow it to sunset, but many licensed professional geologists
www.aipg.org THE SCIENCE
COMMUNICATION GAP Bridging the Divide Between Facts and Feelings
Q=-KA(dh/dl)
HOW SCIENTISTS COMMUNICATE
• Lead with numbers, models, and
•
•
• Goal: Inform and
•
Example:
Published hydraulic
-4
Science is
strongest when facts meet
stories.
1. Freeze, R. A., & Cherry, J. A. (1979). Groundwater.
HOW THE PUBLIC CONNECTS
• Engage through stories,
• training
•
• Goal: Inspire, engage,
• Challenge: Stories
Example:
contacted the State Representatives and Senators to plead with them to not let it sunset. Fortunately, many of us knew former Senate President Jon Vogt, who at the time Statute 492 was enacted, was the Senate President, and was instrumental in getting the law passed. I have to mention that Senator Vogt was a licensed profes- sional engineer. Even though he was termed out of the Senate, he went to bat for us to make sure that 492 did not sunset. If I got any of that out of order, call Tom Herbert, P.G.,CPG; he was a good friend of Senator Vogt and may have been one of the first or the first to contact him and ask for help.
We were successful in keeping our licenses; however, it seems like every few years there are legislative efforts to deregulate our
Jan.Feb.Mar 2026 • TPG 33
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