Christopher KeaneLeila Gonzales
1 September 2010
Born from session at the IGC33 in Oslo, Norway in 2008
Focus on 3 primary questions:
1. Defining the Geosciences2. Measuring the Producers and Consumers of Geoscientists3. Strategies for Capacity Building
Membership is OPEN.
Communications is by email, wiki, and skype.
Currently working on the first 2 questions.
Developed nations face “The Great Crew Change” Likely permanent drop in economic activity
Developing nations face: “Brain-drain” which inhibits building competencies Divorced priorities from needs from central
planning Produce petroleum geologists when you need
seismologists and geomorphologists Central government reduces investment in geoscience
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7
Pri
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f O
il ($
/bar
rel)
adju
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d to
20
07
Co
mp
letio
n R
ate
of
Ge
os
cien
ce D
egre
es
Geoscience Degree Completion Rates and the Price of Oil(1973-2007)
Bachelor's Master's Ph.D. Oil ($USD / barrel)
Source: AGI Geoscience Workforce Program, data derived from AGI's Directory of Geoscience Departments, and http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Historical_Oil_Prices_Table.asp
US Federal Government Definition Strict discipline and work duty boundaries
Resource intensive countries Trend towards less inclusive (exclude soils,
geography, etc.)L
ess resource-dependent countries Broader view, especially for surface process
areas
An excellent construct for geoscience education
A fine construct for the discipline to operate Increasing interdisciplinary research
A model for communicating with the public
But when talking about the grain-size of people…
Earth Systems Science occurs in teams.
Each team member adds a bit to the whole.
US Federal Definition of Geoscientist: Excludes managers, regardless of tasks Relies on employer titles Therefore US Government thinks there are only
5000 geoscientists in the US Petroleum industry (there are about 80,000).
Degrees in China are not necessarily awarded per discipline, so titles can be ambiguous External estimates of 400,000 Chinese
geoscientists appear to be off by a factor of 10.
The ‘countable’ nationality of a geoscientist is a challenge.
What nationality is a:
Foreign-national educated and then employed locally?
Foreign national educated and then employed by a local company to work in their home/third country?
A geoscientist who works as a journeyman across projects around the world – major resource/consulting companies
United States: 250,000 geoscientists
Europe: 140,000 geoscientists
China: 40,000 geoscientists
Canada: 20,000 geoscientists
Africa: ~10,000 geoscientists
South America: Unknown
Middle East: Unknown Iraq: 5,000
India: Unknown
United States 6,500 total new
graduatesE
urope: 8,000 total new
graduates (50% in Russia)
Africa: 1,000 total (about 400
p.a. in South Africa)
Demand is outstripping supply in: China Europe (in aggregate) United States (but looks to be narrowing)
Exporting talent China, ex-pat students not returning Australia, educate many foreign students who leave Africa, top talent seeking better pay
Geoscientists often “work in/out of the cold”
Nowhere do you HAVE to be licensed
Many places place limits if you are not
Examples? “European Geologist” (Europe) “Certified Professional Geologist” (USA) Licensed geologist (Various US States) “Registered Geologist/Hydrologist” (Various Countries)
Why? Enables free multinational
movement to practice (Europe) Enables legal authority (some
U.S. States) Allows legal interaction with
stock exchangesW
hat does it guarantee? Fundamental competencies in
geoscience Understanding of ethical and
social responsibility
•Moutaz Al-Dabbas, Geological Society of Iraq (Iraq)
•Tanvi Arora, NGRI (India)
•Jay Barton, (South Africa)
•Peter Pangman, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (USA)
•Sarah Gaines, UNESCO (France)
•Ochir Gerel, Mongolian University of Science & Technology (Mongolia)
•Alireza Gharagozlou, NGDIR (Iran)
•Leila M. Gonzales, American Geological Institute (USA)
•Christopher M. Keane, American Geological Institute (USA)
•Michael G. Loudin, ExxonMobil (USA)
•Michael Leggo, (Australia)
•Edmund Nickless, The Geological Society of London (UK)
•Eikichi Tsukuda, Geological Survey of Japan, AIST (Japan)
•Jacques Varet, BRGM (France)
•Andrew Waltho, Rio Tinto (Australia)
•Xiaoping Yang, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)
And the entire YES Network
The taskforce is engaging all interested individuals who are willing to:
Communicate about the nature of the geosciences in their nation
Willing to discuss these issues domestically
Willing to do a little research on who/what/where of the geosciences in their nation.
Willing to review documents/skype sessions regarding global geoscience workforce
Interested – talk to me! ([email protected])
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