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2018 GSA PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

I had sent him off to the San Juan Basin with a company car, This position statement:
expense account, and instructions for acquiring samples and 1. Affirms the pressing need for a change in professional
measuring sections. I asked what he was doing back in Denver culture so that all people are welcomed, supported, and can
so soon and he replied that he had gotten married in May and thrive in the geoscience profession; and for policies that aspire
his new bride did not want him gone all summer. Without to the highest standards of conduct as a professional society;
batting an eye, I said, “Well, that’s why we don’t like to hire 2. Advocates for resolving implicit and explicit biases and the
young men. They just get married and quit!” Oh, wherever you elimination of harassment, including bullying and sexual
are today, young man, I apologize. misconduct in the workplace; and
How I admired a Houston woman, Deborah Sacrey, who told 3. Recommends elevated personal and professional responsibility
me about going up to a rig floor to start her duties as a well-site and evidence-based policies that extend beyond civil and legal
geologist in the 1970s. She was greeted by an imposing rough- remedies, to promote inclusive, safe, and productive environ-
neck who told her that there were only two kinds of women who ments in the geoscience classroom, office, laboratory, and field.
came to rigs. Wives or women who provide “other” services. GSA, under the leadership of immediate past president, Isabel
She handed him her business card and said, “Well, here is a Montañez, set up an ad hoc committee to review and make
third kind of woman you can expect on a rig—the kind that will recommendations for GSA’s Code of Ethics. Neil Fishman
fire your sorry ass if you give her any crap!” Oh, my! Where chaired the committee, and recommendations were presented to
does that deep self-confidence come from? Can we learn it? Council in May 2018. These included:
Can we teach it? 1. Add enforcement to our code of conduct;
Another female geologist I know fought hard to be able to do 2. Create a standing committee for ethics;
her share of well-site work in the jungles of Central America. 3. Accept no statute of limitations for a breach of the GSA code;
When she was brutally raped by a gang of armed locals, she hid 4. Provide training for leadership and staff; and
the fact from the well-site team (explaining her bruises and 5. GSA engage a “compliance officer” with a large emphasis on
wounds as resulting from falling down the rig stairs) and did not proactive efforts.
tell anyone because she was afraid that (A) they would not believe In the geoscientist’s world, opportunities are abundant in our
her, and (B) very important—she feared she would ruin the world for misbehavior, whether it is as a victim or as a person
opportunity for other women in the company to do well-site work. accused. We are often in isolated settings. “In the field,” “travel-
Two years ago, a GSA initiative was developed to ensure a ing,” “office hours,” “beer parties,” “late nights in the lab,”
safe and welcoming environment for meeting participants: “conventions.” Those are the real circumstances of our lives that
RISE = Respectful Inclusive Scientific Events. This promotes other professionals might not have to navigate.
“mindfulness”—being aware of your own behavior and the And these are parts of our professional life that we want to keep.
behavior of others to promote the best of experiences for partici- These are activities and situations we love and value. They are
pants, including “bystander intervention training.” Other societ- important relationship- and career-building activities. Fieldwork.
ies have used GSA’s model for their own meetings. Having a beer together. Being mentored by a prominent geoscien-
Many of our fellow geologists have written to GSA leader- tist. These things help make geoscience fun, exciting, and reward-
ship with irritation, “Aren’t we beyond this!” No. We are not. ing. It is what makes a geoscience career unique and collegial. We
Get the data. cherish these aspects of our student and professional life. How do
Last year, 2017, was full of news events about transgressions— we keep these priceless interactions in the “Me, too” world? How
but 2018 is seeing mixed repercussions and some backsliding. do we navigate our unique and potentially dangerous landscape?
Only about half of the states in the U.S. have followed through I believe those of us in the geosciences have excellent skills to
with promised bills and training for legislators and staffs, address harassment, just as we address a geologic problem. We get
according to Associated Press News (Lieb, 2018). the data, study the data, and then promote sensitivity and sensibility.
The “Congressional Accountability and Harassment Reform We are capable. We can do this.
Act: S. 2872” passed the Senate but has not yet passed in the We will navigate from “Me, too” to “Not Us!”
House. And it does not look optimistic for passing. A big issue is
lawmakers’ objection to holding themselves personally respon- REFERENCES CITED
sible for paying any settlement—they are accessing taxpayers’ Katz, J., 2006, The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How
All Men Can Help: Naperville, Illinois, Sourcebooks, 296 p.
money out of a little-known account in the U.S. Treasury or Lieb, D.A., 2018, Half of states act as #MeToo sexual misconduct claims
they’re using the Office of Compliance to pay. It has paid out mount: Associated Press News, 27 Aug. 2018.
more than US$17 million over the past 20 years handling work- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018, Sexual
place complaints and settlements. This is not made public. Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in
But we can’t fix the problems of the world today, or this year, Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: Washington, D.C.,
The National Academies Press, 312 p., https://doi.org/10.17226/24994.
but we can address the problem in the geoscience world. Let’s Pennsylvania State University System Survey, 2015, referenced in Sexual
bring this home to GSA again. Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic
Besides establishing our RISE program—two more recent Sciences, Engineering and Medicine: Washington, D.C., The National
GSA initiatives: Academies Press, 312 p., https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/assessment/smcs/.
Under the leadership of Monica Gowan, GSA developed a Swartout, K., 2018, University of Texas Climate Survey. Appendix D in
Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in
new position paper, approved in May: “Removing Barriers to Academic Sciences, Engineering and Medicine: Washington, D.C.,
Career Progression for Women in the Geosciences.” The National Academies Press, p. 275 –292.

18 GSA Today | February 2019