The Role of Geoscience in Society
This rapid response survey was an anonymous survey that gauged the geoscience community’s perspectives about the current state and future of the geosciences related to impacts from natural disruptive events, changes in higher education and careers, and the relevance of the geosciences to societal issues. The survey collected responses between December 2023 and August 2024.
The survey was comprised of 56 questions that pertained to trends in higher education, career pathways, perspectives on the geoscience discipline, research activities, and relevance of the geoscience discipline to societal issues. Participants were shown 17 prompts, randomly selected from each of the question category sets, and were given 30 seconds per prompt to provide their immediate thoughts and reactions. Participants were also asked to provide basic demographic information which allowed us to compare the perspectives of the different career stage cohorts.
The survey analysis is comprised of the following sections. Continue reading below or jump to any of the following sections.
About the survey cohorts
For the analysis, participant data was aggregated by career stage which was defined as the time since earning their most recent degree (i.e., 0-4 years post-degree, 5-10 years post-degree, 10-14 years post-degree, and 15+ years post-degree). For this discussion, we use the following terms for these cohorts:
- Early career – individuals who are pursuing a geoscience degree or earned their most recent degree less than 5 years ago.
- Early-to-mid career – individuals who are in the early stages of their careers and who earned their most recent degree between 5 and 10 years ago.
- Mid-to-late career – individuals who are established within their careers and who earned their most recent degree between 10 and 14 years ago.
- Late career – individuals who are advanced in their careers and who earned their most recent degree 15 or more years ago.
The survey collected a total of 447 usable responses. By cohort, there were 155 early career responses, 42 early-to-mid career responses, 35 mid-to-late career responses, and 215 late career responses.
Age distribution by cohort follows expected trends with decadal shifts between cohorts. Early career participants were predominantly in their 20s and early 30s, while most early-to-mid career participants were in their 30s and 40s. Mid-to-late career participants were predominantly in their 40s and 50s, and late career participants were over 50 years old.
The distribution of participants across different career stages reveals distinct patterns in educational and occupational roles. Among early career participants, two-thirds were graduate students, with small percentages pursuing undergraduate degrees (4%), working as post-doctoral fellows (8%), or employed in academic (8%) and non-academic roles (5%). Early-to-mid career participants were more evenly spread across sectors, with a notable presence in academic faculty (31%) and research positions (12%), while 40% were in non-academic jobs. Mid-to-late career participants were predominantly in academic roles, with 43% as faculty and 14% in academic staff or leadership, though over a third were in non-academic occupations. In the late career stage, half of the participants were in academic positions, slightly over one-third were in non-academic roles, and 11% were retired.
Racial and ethnic diversity among cohorts shows a shift towards greater racial and ethnic diversity among newer entrants into the professional field as compared to those more established in their careers. Over 90% of late career individuals indicated they were White, with very low representation from other racial and ethnic groups. In contrast, the early career cohort has the most representation across racial and ethnic groups, while the early-to-mid career cohort had the most non-White representation of all cohorts.
Note that participants were able to select more than one race and ethnicity category, so the percentages for each cohort in the chart sum to over 100%. Seven percent of participants selected multiple race and ethnicity categories, with half (3.5%) indicating that they were Hispanic or Latino and White.
Early career participants had the highest representation of females (57%) of all survey cohorts whereas the late career cohort had the highest representation of males (65%). In addition, individuals who did not identify with male or female gender classifications comprised 2% of the early-to-mid career cohort and 3% of the mid-to-late and early-career cohort.
Given that natural hazard impacts vary by location, the survey asked participants about their current location of residence as well as follow-on questions to assess if they had remained in the same location their whole life, and to ascertain their thoughts on where the safest place in the US would be to live.
The chart is color-coded by US Census regions and divisions, with pink colors representing the northeastern US, green representing the southern US, yellow representing the midwestern US, purple representing the western US, orange representing US territories, and grey representing individuals who did not specify their current location of residence.
Among the early career cohort, most individuals resided in either the western US (39%) or southern US (26%), with similar percentages living in the northeastern and midwestern US (15% and 14% respectively). Individuals in the early-to-mid career cohort predominantly resided in the southern US (29%), the northeastern US (24%), and the western US (24%). Mid-to-late career individuals were mostly found residing in the western US (31%) or southern US (26%), and those in the late career cohort predominantly resided in either the southern US (36%) or the western US (29%).
When asked if they had always lived in the location they currently reside in, most individuals across all cohorts indicated that they had not done so. In addition, individuals in the early-career cohort had the highest percentage of individuals residing in the same place their entire life (17%) and the late-career cohort had the lowest percentage at 7%.
When asked where the safest place from climate-related impacts was in the US, the Midwest was identified by the highest percentage across cohort followed by the northeastern and western US. Over 30% of respondents specified descriptions of locations rather than specific states or regions within the US, and these were categorized in the “other” category. A large proportion of answers in this category emphasized the importance of living away from coastal areas, living in areas with higher elevations, and living in areas with mild climates and ample water resources. Some participants also mentioned the importance of living in or near wealthy communities with the assumption that those communities and the surrounding areas would have more resilience to hazards than communities with less resources.
We also examined if participants were currently living in the state, division, or region that they identified as safe from climate-related impacts. Over half of those in the early-to-mid career cohort currently live in the same US Census division and / or region as what they deemed a safe place to live, and just under 40% are currently living in the same state. Across cohorts, over 40% of individuals were living within the same US Census region as what they identified as a safe place to live.
For reference, here is a map representing the US Census regions and divisions.
| Region |
Division |
Map Color |
| Northeast |
New England |
pink |
|
Mid-Atlantic |
dark pink |
| South |
South Atlantic |
light yellow |
|
East South Central |
gold |
|
West South Central |
bright yellow |
| Midwest |
West North Central |
dark green |
|
East North Central |
light green |
| West |
Pacific |
dark blue |
|
Mountain |
light blue |
When asked about how their earth science education changed because of a natural hazard, participants across all cohorts most commonly mentioned specific hazards. Educational impacts were noted by more early career participants than other cohorts, while emotional impacts from hazards were more commonly reported by mid-to-late career participants. Although specific hazards were most noted by all cohorts, physical impacts were noted by only a small percentage of individuals. Also notable is the percentage of participants, particularly in the late career stage, that reported no impacts from natural hazards on their earth science education.
Across cohorts, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and volcanic activity were most commonly mentioned as specific natural hazards that altered educational experiences for survey participants. Many participants noted direct experience with one or more hazards, and common among the responses were comments about how hazards shaped the career and educational pathway for study participants.
Mention of specific natural hazard events were different among cohorts, with those in the late-career cohort mentioning the 1980 Mount St. Helen’s eruption and the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. Specific events named by mid-to late career participants focused predominantly on hurricanes, specifically Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Alex (2010), and Hurricane Sandy (2012). There were few specific events named by the early-to-mid career participants, with Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Sandy (2012) most notable. For early-career participants, specific events primarily focused on earthquakes, and hurricanes, such as the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and the 2010-2011 New Zealand earthquakes, as well as Hurricane Sandy (2012), Hurricane Harvey (2017), and Tropical Storm Debbie (2012).
"A lava flow at home made me a volcanologist."
"Coastal hazards - growing up on the ocean and seeing sea level rise - inspired career in geoscience"
"Flooding of my home during undergrad pushed me towards geoscience and hydrogeology."
"I wanted to become a meteorologist following Super Storm Sandy."
"My interest was sparked by a hurricane"
"Tropical Storm Debbie impacted my desire for a geosciences degree."
"The Chi-Chi Earthquake drove my PhD."
"Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina made hazards real and human."
"I became more interested in earthquakes after Northridge."
"Flooding allowed me to see catastrophe in action."
"Hurricane Hugo informed coastal processes."
"A hurricane sparked my interest."
"I decided to go back to graduate school because of climate change."
"I lost my office at Stanford when the 1989 quake destroyed much of geology corner."
"My earth science education was changed when I experienced a hurricane."
"Mt. St. Helens made hazards relevant."
"The Mt. St. Helens eruption drove home the reality of such events."
"Mt. St. Helens got me interested."
"Seeing landslides and fault scarps opened my eyes."
"A tornado and hurricanes resulted in my pursuing taphonomic research."
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