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Meeting Changing Workforce Needs in Geoscience with New
Thinking about Undergraduate Education

Lori Summa*, Rice University, Earth Sciences, Houston, Texas 77005, USA, Lori.Summa@rice.edu; Christopher Keane, American
Geosciences Institute, Washington, D.C. 22302; and Sharon Mosher, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

What enables a geoscience undergradu- that undergraduates need to be successful always match employers’ evolving require-
ate to be successful in the workforce? This in graduate school and the future work- ments. The community survey yielded
is the core question for an NSF-sponsored force; (2) the best methods of teaching and initial data on the skills and concepts con-
effort to develop a community vision for using technology to enhance student learn- sidered critical to both employers and aca-
undergraduate geoscience education. ing; and (3) broadening participation and demics (Fig. 1). The Geoscience Employers
retention of underrepresented groups and Workshop further expanded input from
Two immediate trends impacting the preparing K–12 science teachers to prepare employers regarding the skills and con-
geosciences have motivated this effort. As the pathway to a robust geoscience work- cepts they viewed as critical for the current
the current workforce retires, there is an force and an earth-literate public. The and future workforce, as well as their role
increasing shortage of geoscientists, even effort started in early 2014 with a summit in helping departments implement the
as the overall demand for geoscientists that drew together a wide spectrum of the developing community vision. Overall, the
continues to grow (Martinsen et al., 2012). undergraduate geoscience education com- responses from the 2014 Summit,
Traditional geoscience jobs are evolving munity to outline critical priorities for Employers’ Workshop, and survey were
rapidly, requiring geoscientists to expand improving the quality of undergraduate strongly aligned. However, the workshop
both their breadth and flexibility to be suc- education. This summit led to an ongoing participants also provided greater defini-
cessful in their careers. Mapping and inter- community survey that now has over 460 tion and granularity regarding the use of
pretation tasks are increasingly automated, responses. A follow-up Geoscience specific skills and concepts in their respec-
and geoscientists are increasingly called on Employers Workshop in 2015 and depart- tive work environments. During those
to inform the solution of significant soci- mental heads and chairs Summit in 2016 discussions, they consistently emphasized:
etal issues, such as hazard resiliency, pub- tested the initial results of the 2014 summit (1) systems thinking and multidisciplinary
lic health and the environment, access to with geoscience employers and engaged approaches to applied problems, with a
resources, and global security. At the same department heads and chairs to develop strong understanding of fundamental pro-
time as workforce needs are changing, methods for implementing change. cesses, and their linkages, and feedbacks;
undergraduate education is transforming. Documentation of the summits, workshop, (2) experience in cross-disciplinary team-
Educators have developed new ways to and the community survey can be found at work and communication; (3) appropriate
enhance student learning and new pedago- http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/events/future-of quantitative skills to manipulate and apply
gies for STEM education (Singer et al., -geoscience-undergraduate-education/. the governing physical, chemical, and bio-
2012). Additionally, the academic commu- logic equations used to solve multidisci-
nity has a broader awareness of the need The process of engaging a spectrum of plinary problems; (4) the ability to manage
to prepare students for the next generation employers together with the input of criti- and analyze large quantities of diverse
of geoscience careers. Finally, despite cal priorities from the undergraduate edu- data; and (5) an appreciation for the inter-
continued efforts by educators and indus- cation community proved to be especially faces between geology and society, includ-
try, the geoscience community still strug- enlightening. Workforce discussions ing business practices, ethics, risk, envi-
gles to recruit and retain underrepresented generated a remarkable consensus among ronmental sensitivity, cultural diversity,
individuals in our programs and profes- both academics and employers, whether and a global outlook. These employer pri-
sions compared to other STEM disciplines employers were from the energy sector, orities were viewed as reflective of the
(O’Connell and Holmes, 2011). environmental and engineering consulting, ongoing evolution in geoscience employ-
mining, or public agencies: The demand ment and will increase in importance over
To develop a common vision that for new geoscientists in the workforce the foreseeable future. Complete documen-
addresses this changing landscape, the continues to be strong, but the skill sets tation of the employers’ discussions can be
NSF-sponsored effort focused on three key of newly graduated geoscientists do not
topics: (1) content, competencies, and skills

GSA Today, v. 27, doi: 10.1130/GSATG342GW.1. Copyright 2017, The Geological Society of America.
* Retired from ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Senior Technical Consultant.

60 GSA Today | September 2017