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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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! (keane@agiweb.org)