SUSTAINING THE HUMAN ENTERPRISE IN THE GEOSCIENCES

In the Spring of 2018, the AGI formally adopted the Statement on Harassment in the Geosciences. This statement is broad in scope and sweeping in reach and recommendations, and provides a strong statement of values and ethics in professional conduct for our disciplines. It was also not the first statement of its kind in science or the geosciences, nor was it the strongest statement of rules or policy in this area. Rather, it’s significance rests – as in all actions by our broad federation – as a statement of shared values across all of our allied earth science disciplines and sectors, across the many countries and communities encompassed by our membership. At the time and still true today, it represents a response to an emerging issue in the geosciences in growing and maintaining our workforce.

It is a public recognition of the need to establish sustainability as a key facet of all segments and sectors of our disciplines. It does this by centering attention on the need for all people who learn and work in the geosciences to be able to sustain their engagement and thrive as geoscientists regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, culture, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other personal dimension of diversity. This statement recognizes that for us to guide humanity in sustainable stewardship of Earth’s resources, we must first ourselves be internally sustainable as a profession.

A diverse and thriving workforce is the key to making the pivot to sustainability for the geosciences. A major challenge for our community is attracting talented students in higher education to the geosciences over other science and engineering fields, and then finding a pathway for them into careers. Research on academic field choice, success and retention shows that in order to attract all walks of humanity – necessary as a fundamentally global science – and ensure people thrive as geoscientists, we must create welcoming and inclusive educational and working environments. Major strides have been made in recent years, but we have much work left to do. As we seek to balance competing needs of resource use, economics and global change through the lens of sustainability, developing a culture of inclusion is essential to our success as we embrace the needs, priorities and aspirations of the global communities we serve.