The GEO Forum 2004:
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The goal of the Forum is to increase the number of graduate students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, in the geosciences. The recent trend of decreasing numbers of U.S. students entering graduate programs in the geosciences, the increased difficulty for foreign students to obtain visas since the terrorist attacks of September, 2001, and the advancing median age of geoscientists and geoscience leadership makes it imperative that efforts be of made to build the numbers of future geoscientists and leaders in this field.
Careers in the geosciences, including weather, climate, hydrology, atmospheric chemistry, oceanography, volcanology, seismology, geology, geochemistry, and solar physics, deal with environmental processes and the Earth system that affect every person on this planet every day of the year. Geosciences affect society and public policies at the local, national, and international levels having to do with the health and safety of our citizens and our environment. For the good of the country, the numbers of students choosing careers in the geosciences cannot be allowed to decline. The GEO Forum is an important part of the effort to bolster numbers to an effective critical mass.
The Forum audience will be recruited from
the Consortium of Universities,
an impressive group of institutions of higher learning in the Washington,
D.C. area that includes American University, The Catholic University
of America, Gallaudet University, Georgetown University, George Mason
University, The George Washington University, Howard University, the
Joint Military Intelligence College, Marymount University, the National
Defense University, Southeastern University, Trinity College, the University
of the District of Columbia, and the University of Maryland at College
Park. The Consortium’s top 200 scientifically inclined undergraduates,
many from underrepresented groups, will attend the one-day Forum. The
Naval Academy, Millersville University at Pennsylvania, the University
of Virginia, and Johns Hopkins University will participate also.
The GEO Forum will explore the opportunities
and challenges in careers in
the geosciences by involving accomplished and diverse professionals
in a personal dialogue with students. Presenters will be chosen for
their ability
to communicate the reasons they were drawn to their careers, the surprises
and rewards of well planned as well as unexpected career paths, the
excitement of the field, the relevancy of the geosciences to society,
and
the importance of the field to the quality of life on Earth.