Christopher M. Keane

Who Will Fill the Geoscience Workforce Supply Gap

Society needs more geoscientists than there are presently students.

Critical resource needs in the geoscience profession: Geoscience student‐to‐professional transitions

The U.S. geoscience profession is at a critical juncture as half of its extant workforce is beginning to retire at an accelerating pace while only a trickle of geoscience graduates continue to transition into the core geoscience occupations, despite the projected 23 percent increase in geoscience jobs over the next decade and highly competitive salaries. Retaining and transitioning highquality geoscience students into core geoscience occupations is now a critical issue for the geosciences as the profession is starting to experience the loss of fundamental technical skills in the U.S, both within academia and in the applied sectors. Given the current trends, many core and specialty geoscience sub-disciplines that are also economically critical are at risk of extinction. Across all fields, future geoscientists will need solid fundamental skills in both geoscience and mathematics that can be applied to different geoscience challenges including water resources, energy, minerals, hazards and climate issues. Studies have shown that there are a set of specific experiences that students encounter that may contribute to increasing interest in and pursuit of the geoscience discipline (Houlton, 2010). Focusing recruitment and retention efforts towards these factors may yield a positive response for increasing students and professionals in academia as well as across all geoscience-employing industries.