African American earth scientists ponder strategies to attract more students of color to a field with growing opportunities
Reston, Va. — Their work is essential to the production and
preservation of things we take for granted every day — resources like
water, natural gas, and petroleum. Yet, if you asked the average person
what geoscientists do, most would be stumped.
And if you asked the average geoscientist why so few among them are African American, the reaction wouldn’t be much different.
Last month, a group of roughly fifty African American geologists,
geophysicists, students, and corporate recruiters convened here on the
campus of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to discuss the future of
their profession and strategies for expanding their numbers. The theme
of the seventeenth annual conference of the National Association of
Black Geologists and Geophysicists (NABGG) was “Diversity in
Geoscience.”
“Within five years, approximately 25 percent of our current staff
will be eligible for retirement,” said Cynthia L. Quarterman, director
of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service, a
major federal employer of geoscientists.
“MMS has a five-point strategic plan for diversity,” Quarterman adds.
Noting that five different world records for offshore resource
production were set on the outer continental shelf in the Gulf of
Mexico in the past year, she said that resource production is expected
to double there in coming years.
