PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Senator Nelson contacted the UF president and convinced him


that cutting the geology department budget so severely would not be in the university’s best interest. Soon after, the geology depart- ment had to take only a small budget cut and at the same time was given the approval to add an associate professor position related to climate change.


“


I should add that at the end of this, the Dean of CLAS met with the advisory board and said that he really did not know of the importance of geological sciences and just because it is a relatively small department, doesn’t mean it isn’t critical.


I am encouraged because when I talked with the school board


chairwoman, she immediately understood the need for geologists in Florida, especially in the water sector. It took only two days for her staff to contact me to schedule a meeting.


A couple of weeks ago, I met Florida State Representative Doug


Bankson at an event and because he had mentioned something about the environment during his presentation, I talked with him during the dinner and told him about the lack of geoscience educa- tion in Florida. He was immediately interested and gave me his card and asked me to call his office and set up a meeting.


I should add that at the end of this, the Dean of CLAS met with the advisory board and said that he really did not know of the importance of geological sciences and just because it is a relatively small department, doesn’t mean it isn’t critical.


I think this is the point I want to make about this tangential


story; geoscience departments have been under attack for years but because of our efforts in talking to anyone who will listen we reach the right person or persons who can help us. The UF student who found his calling in geology; his dad saw his son light up and therefore became interested in geology himself, and who happened to know Senator Nelson. This is a lesson to learn: that you never know who you know that may know someone else that can be an advocate. Same story with Senator Vogt; he remained engaged with us geologists for years after he left the Senate.


Another disruptor to our profession is the dilution of geoscience


programs across the nation. As Sara has discussed in her previous articles, many universities have diluted their geoscience depart- ments by combining them with other departments, or have elimi- nated or are trying to eliminate them. This was a recurring theme in our AIPG Executive Committee meetings and monthly status calls, as well as calls with AGI.


The moral of this is to talk to everyone and let them know, in


story format as presented in Sara’s graphic about the importance of geoscience in everyday life.


Which brings me to the second part of what I want to accom- plish; with everyone’s help, is to get geoscience education into or more visible in the high school curriculum. I heard of this when the fiasco that I described above was occurring. During that time, the geological sciences chair said that students would be looking for courses to take and come across geology/geosciences. The students and parents maybe remembered something about earth sciences from middle school, but nothing after that. That told him, and later me, that could be a prime reason why enrollment numbers are decreasing.


That experience made me think it was a Florida thing but have since learned that it is an issue across the nation. Which seems to make sense because there aren’t enough geoscientists being graduated to replace the retiring geologists. Again, this is where working with NESTA and ABET and Geo-ACTS will be a huge help.


Recently, I met with several department directors from the


Orange County (FL) Public Schools (OCPS) to discuss how we can get earth sciences into the high school curriculum. During that meeting, I learned that OCPS has elective classes in environmental sciences, and quite a lot of what is taught is in the geoscience realm. Perhaps a simple name change would allow the students to remember geosciences.


I did, and we met in his district office. I went to the State


Representatives webpage and learned that he is on the Student Academic Success subcommittee and Career and Workforce sub- committee. Now I know why he was so interested! He asked what he could do to help, and I answered that we need to let students know that there are many career opportunities in the geosciences in Florida and across the nation and world. I might’ve been too eager because he jokingly called me a “geoscience evangelist!”


Recently, I was fortunate to attend a University of Central Florida


football game and Florida Lt. Governor Jay Collins and his wife, Layla, were there. I talked with him for few minutes and mentioned geoscience education, which I do with every elected official I meet, and learned that he is interested in education in general and that Layla is a committee woman on the Florida State Board of Education. I did some “geoscience evangelizing” and she said one of her sons is extremely interested in fossils and does a lot of fossil hunting. Her suggestion was for me to find high schools that have international baccalaureate programs and give presentations to them. I’ll do that and keep in contact with her, as well as Representative Bankson.


That’s my story about the things I want to work on and continue


the efforts of previous Executive Committee members and the advisory committee members.


Each of us has a responsibility to inform the public of our value


to their everyday lives. Remember, we are the gold standard in our profession, and it is up to us to maintain that standard. Thank you for being a member of the AIPG and Happy New Year!


ADVENTURE GEOLOGY TOURS


adventuregeologytours.com Active Exploration with Enthusiastic Geologists


Active Exploration with Enthusiastic Geologists


Specializing in group trips, study abroad programs, & individual travel


2026 & 2027 trips to Patagonia, Iceland, Costa Rica, and more!


www.aipg.org


Jan.Feb.Mar 2026 • TPG 35


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64