Electron microscopes used to be the size of a car and cost $1/2 million or more. Now, Hitachi has a table-top model that plugs into a standard wall outlet, sends the view to your laptop, costs about $60,000 and is very easy to use.
Next week is Earth Science Week. You still have time to visit their website for teaching ideas, see what’s happening or to download their free calendar of events.
California Assembly Bill No. 20, 4th Extraordinary Session will abolish the Board for Geologists and Geophysicists effective October 23, 2009. More details and references at Arizona Geology Blog.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has an article that looks at diversity in the geosciences. A quote: “The statistics are stark: From 1973 to 2003, only 313 Hispanic Americans, 135 African Americans, and 49 Native Americans earned Ph.D. degrees in geosciences. That’s a sprinkle in the ocean compared with the more than 21,000 people in that time span who received Ph.D.’s in geosciences.”
Here’s where you can get a variety of free printable graph papers in easy to use .pdf files. Grid paper, axis paper, isometric paper, ternary paper, polar paper and more.
A new AGI Geoscience Currents looks at the provenance of geoscience students in university geoscience departments. Do those departments attract students from the same geographic locations as other departments at their institution or are they attracted from a different geography?
The number of oil and gas rigs operating in the United States was up to 966 at the end of last week. This is the third consecutive week of increase after a long series of declines from the high of 1606 in September of 2008. The Baker Hughes website has lots of data, charts and maps to illustrate the history of US drilling activity back to 1944.
The number of oil and gas rigs operating in the United States was up to 948 at the end of last week. This is the second week of increase after a long series of declines from the high of 1606 in September of 2008. The Baker Hughes website has lots of data, charts and maps to illustrate the history of US drilling activity back to 1944.
An experiment is being done at the State University of New York College at Oneonta. Their Earth Science Outreach Program enables high-school teachers to teach courses at their home high school that are equivalent to college courses in geology, meteorology, oceanography or astronomy. High-school students who complete them receive undergraduate credit through SUNY-Oneonta at a nominal fee. Students who enroll in the courses often select a geoscience major in college.
An article at GSA Journals (pdf) reports that United States universities do not have a vigorous program for economic geology. Many economic geology professors are no longer active in the field and fewer than 40 graduate-level economic geologists are graduating each year. That is the status for a nation that has a very high demand for metals and a declining resource base.
Here is an article that provides a definition of earth science, explains why it is important and points to a few career opportunities in the Earth Sciences.
Geologists constantly deal with fragmentary data. It’s what we are supposed to be good at. One drill hole per mile, a liter of water from a river, a bag of coal from a mine…. A post on QuoteSnack.com features an interesting quote from Charles Darwin on the relationship between confidence and knowledge. If you enjoy quotes you will like this one.
Schlumberger, Halliburton and Baker Huges all report that they are cutting jobs in their oil field services divisions. Forbes.com reports that together these companies have cut 10,000 positions.
Issue 7 of the OneGeology newsletter has been published. “The prime focus of OneGeology is improving access to geological data and scientific advancement. OneGeology should be as free from political and commercial influence as is possible.”
A new Geoscience Currents posted by the American Geological Institute reports that the number of students enrolled in geoscience programs at the undergraduate level rose 8% during the 2008-2009 academic year.
A new Geoscience Currents charts student debt levels for bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients in the Geosciences. They tend to have higher debt levels than students in other fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
NSF and other organizations have released a report on earth science literacy importance. The report is entitled: Earth Science Literacy Principles: The Big Ideas and Supporting Concepts of Earth Science.
Photography has advanced to the level of gigapixels, and anyone with a digital camera can take advantage of this technology. It is useful for many different applications, particularly scientific research. This article includes two zoomable GigaPan panoramic photographs.
Geology is on the minds of political leaders across our planet. Our “Politics and Geology” category tracks this activity with posts about laws, policies, nationalization, regulations, taxes, trade agreements, stimulus packages, lease sales, appointments and more. Perhaps a course in political science should be required of undergraduates?
Oil and gas executives speaking at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston warned companies not to cut valuable staff during the current downturn. Cutting staff now will repeat the mistakes made in the 1980s and 1990s.
Green jobs in the UK grew by 58 percent during calendar year 2008, even while employment in most other sectors declined. The demand has exceeded the number of potential employees who have specific credentials for these jobs.
The American Geological Institute has a new Geoscience Currents on their website. This one reports on geoscience and science and engineering employment at the state level with maps showing the geographic distribution of science and engineering employment.
An article on the Canada.com website explores green jobs and reports that demand for employees to do green work will increase this year. Engineers, geologists, public relations specialists, computer scientists and biologists are among the occupations that will benefit.
Are you an Earth scientist who wants to help educate young people about the field – but you’re just not sure how to start? Check out “Visiting Geoscientists: An Outreach Guide for Geoscience Professionals,” a handbook recently co-produced by the American Geological Institute and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
The Society of Exploration Geophysicists, an Earth Science Week partner, offers programs for educators and students. Their lecture series enables students to meet professional geophysicists, learn about groundbreaking research, and obtain valuable career information.
Protect your important field notes by writing them in a waterproof notebook with waterproof ink. You work hard to collect important field data, don’t take chances with it. Available in spiral and cloth-bound formats.
This CNN video explores how supply and demand influence the price of oil and oil industry employment. The impact can be most severe in areas where oil production carries a high price tag.
The American Geological Institute’s Workforce Program has a new Geoscience Currents posted on their website. This one is titled: “Effects of the Global Economic Crisis on Geoscience Departments.” It reports that most departments expect to see budget reductions in the next two years and some are worried about being shut down.
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Hobart King
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