Solid-Earth Sciences and Society (1993) / Chapter Skim
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6 Ensuring Excellence and the National Well-Being
6 Ensuring Excellence and the National Well-Being
Pages 233-268
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From page 233... ...
Funding for the solicI-earth sciences and a prioritization of basic and applied research activities are discussed in Chapter 7. Given the many pressing problems that involve the earth sciences, excellence among earth scientists is more important now than ever before But scientific excellence does not happen by chance.
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From page 234... ...
Employment projections indicate that opportunities in the earth sciences are growing again, with emphasis on issues of groundwater, the siting of waste repositories, and environmental cleanups. Because of this shift, the retirement of current earth scientists, and the eventual recovery of the of]
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From page 235... ...
A number of steps can be taken to strengthen precollege, undergraduate, and graduate education in the earth sciences, including greater involvement of professional societies in education, government programs directed at science and mathematics education, and the efforts of individual earth scientists who resolve to pass on their knowledge and enthusiasm to others. Not only will these initiatives strengthen the earth science field, but they also will promote greater public awareness of earth sciences, with corresponding benefits for public decision making and public policy.
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From page 236... ...
Incompatible data formats, lack of knowledge about the existence of data, proprietary and national security concerns, and the lack of centralized archives all potentially limit the use of data in solving important problems. Greatly improving the availability and utility of earth science data requires a national earth science data nolicv or set of ~uiclelines (leafing with a wide range ot Issues.
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From page 237... ...
In addition, many solid-earth scientists work in areas that span two or more specialties, and many problems must be addressed through the combined contributions of more than one specialty. The earth science community still lacks a full understanding ofthe many factors that contribute to the supply and demand for personnel in specific specialties.
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From page 238... ...
Many earth scientists received degrees from traditional geology or earth science departments in colleges and universities. Others received degrees in chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, or some other discipline and later came to specialize in an earth science field.
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From page 239... ...
Geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and other earth sciences are heavily represented among those in research and related fields. The levels of training of solid-earth scientists in the United States show a similar diversity.
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From page 240... ...
Future Demand for Solid-Earth Scientists The supply of and demand for solid-earth scientists tend to be out of phase. On the demand side, the problem has been a chronic oscillation in earth science employment the so-called boom-and-bust cycle related to employment needs in the petroleum and mining and minerals industries.
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From page 241... ...
During 1988 to 1989, according to hiring surveys conducted by AGI, while petroleum-related hiring in the earth sciences decreased by 33 percent, hyclrogeological and engi Less than $20,000- $30,000- $40,000- $50,000- $60,000- $70,000- $80,000- $100,000- $125,000- $150,000 $20,000 $29,999 $39,999 $49,999 $59,999 $69,999 $79,999 $99,999 $124,999 $149,999 and above Income (U.S. Dollars)
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From page 242... ...
These trends, plus the aging of the earth science community and brighter prospects for the oil and gas industry, indicate that there will be a substantially increased demand for geoscientists in the 1990s and into the twenty-first century.
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From page 243... ...
The composition of younger age groups poses BA/BS MOMS 1111 PhD 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 Year FIGURE 6.6 Numbers and types of degrees granted in the solid-earth sciences between 1980 and 1991. From American Geological Institute.
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From page 244... ...
The geoscience community is contributing to these broader efforts and coordinating more specific actions to enhance general appreciation for the solid-earth sciences and to improve the educational position of the discipline. For example, the earth science community is working with the AAAS to help students achieve literacy, the development of logic and creative thought, and the ability to test hypotheses.
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From page 245... ...
Earth science departments in colleges and universities and their respective schools of education need to develop collaborative programs in training earth science educators. 245 College Education in the Partly Sciences Earth science education at the undergraduate level has three overlapping components: the introduction of undergraduates to problems and issues that involve understanding the Earth, the training of earth science teachers, and the preparation of earth science mayors.
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From page 246... ...
Statistics on future employment opportunities indicate that these industries will not be so dominant in future hiring, and undergraduate earth science programs are, in fact, increasingly emphasizing environmental aspects. Given the shifting trends in geoscience careers and the need for adaptability as well as creativity, undergraduate departments should produce majors who are as versatile as possible, whether they are headed for graduate studies or directly to employment.
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From page 247... ...
One is the lack of earth science courses in elementary and secondary schools. Also, geoscientists have perhaps been less vocal in promoting their discipline than have physicists, biologists, and chemists.
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From page 248... ...
Computers with ultrafast interactive graphic capabilities make it possible to grapple with complex nonlinear phenomena such as convection in the mantle, the behavior of the magnetic field, fluid flow in sedimentary basins, and the equations of state for minerals. The discussions in this section do not try to inventory all of the instruments and facilities that are important in the solid-earth sciences.
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From page 249... ...
The information needs of earth scientists are discussed more fully in the Data Gathering and Handling section of this chapter. Instrumentation in Earth Science Laboratories Instrumentation for earth science laboratories has been addressed in two recent NRC reports Earth Materials Research (1988)
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From page 250... ...
, the conventional analytical technique used in earth science research has been neutron activation analysis. A versatile alternative method to activation analysis, in its early stages of development, is the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS)
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From page 251... ...
The performance capabilities of the instrument are very well suited to a wide variety of studies as well as to more general applications in materials sciences, chemistry, engineering, and life sciences. However, their role in modern earth science research is so important that at most universities electron microprobes are based in earth science departments.
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From page 252... ...
The earth science community needs to participate in the development of the APS beam lines so that they are designed to meet the needs of the earth materials research community. DATA GATHERING AND HANDLING The practice of the earth sciences requires the analysis of information from many different sources.
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From page 253... ...
With the availability of inexpensive and powerful personal computers and the emergence of sophisticated workstations and special-purpose software, the daily activities of most earth scientists now directly involve computer-processed data. But not all subdisciplines in the solid-earth sciences have equally participated in and benefited from this unfinished digital information revolution.
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From page 254... ...
Improving Data Management In the earth sciences, the computer revolution translates into solving more problems more effectively and efficiently. However, this requires ready access to an increasing quantity and variety of digital data a situation that is only a goal, not a reality, to many earth scientists today.
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From page 255... ...
One of the principal stimuli for the formation and promulgation of various international geoscience unions and congresses has been recognition of the need for systematic geological data exchange and standardization. The international dimensions of the earth sciences, including those related to data exchange, are discussed below.
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From page 256... ...
The IGY demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of international cooperation among essentially all countries in a scientific endeavor of common interest. Although the IGY included only limited specific activities in the solid-earth sciences, it provided the opportunity to plan new programs in the geosciences on a global scale.
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From page 257... ...
The earth science community will play a key role, both in establishing priorities for the IDNDR and implementing subsequent studies. One of the most successful cooperative programs in the geosciences has been the International Geological Correlation Program (IGCP)
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From page 258... ...
involvement in many major international earth science organizations, events, and bilateral programs, U.S. government agencies, such as the NSF, USGS, NASA, and NOAA, have played important roles in global programs.
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From page 259... ...
As stated earlier, the ODP is an example of a consortium-based international activity (operated through the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc., on behalf of NSF) that continues to produce valuable earth science information.
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From page 260... ...
The U.S. petroleum and mineral industries have recognized the benefits of global collaboration in the earth sciences for many years.
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From page 261... ...
It is essential that geoscientists be allowed access to other geological environments if mineral and hydrocarbon resource concentration mechanisms are to be accurately interpreted. In the course of providing the United States with its basic mineral and energy resources needs, private industry and the earth science community must be aware of the potential environmental impacts of resource exploitation.
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From page 262... ...
Input from the solid-earth science community at an international level will be an essential requirement for the success of this program. The NRC's Space Studies Board recommended in its report Mission to Planet Earth that a program be established during the period 1995-2015 with four primary goals: ~ to determine the composition, structure, and dynamics of the crust and interior; · to understand the dynamics and chemistry of the oceans, atmosphere, and cryosphere and their interactions with the solid earth; SOLID-EARTH SCIENCES AND SOCIETY · to characterize the relationships of living organisms with their physical environments; and · to monitor the interaction of human activities with the natural environment.
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From page 263... ...
In other sections of this chapter, conclusions and recommendations are highlighted in specific sections and are not repeated here. Education in the Solid-Earth Sciences Significant changes are required to make the training of solid-earth scientists reflect changing societal demands on the profession.
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From page 264... ...
National policies are needler! that will provide incentives for organizations and individuals to first digitize existing and future solidearth science data and then to place those data in a national data system.
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From page 265... ...
Federal agencies, professional organizations, and private institutions should work closely with the academic community to strengthen curricula and improve facilities for educating students, educators, researchers, and practitioners in the area of data management. The above discussion has dealt primarily with digital data, but the discussion and recommendations apply in general to any type of earth science data.
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From page 266... ...
GIobal ColIaboration Major advances in the earth sciences are most likely to originate from better understanding of how the Earth functions as a total system. Therefore, if there is to be an improved interpretation of that system, the energy fluxes that drive it, and the mechanisms that control them, data must be collected and concepts developed at a global scale ant!
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From page 267... ...
NRC (1987~. Earth Materials Research: Report of a Workshop on Physics and Chemistry of Earth Materials, Committee on Physics and Chemistry of Earth Materials, Board on Earth Sciences, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 122 pp.
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