Report on Future of Graduate Geoscience Education Released

September 18, 2023

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has published a new report “Vision and Change in the Geosciences: Shaping the Future of Graduate Geoscience Education.” The report builds on the landmark 2021 “Vision and Change,” by articulating a vision for the future of geoscience graduate education — encompassing Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences — and identifying strategies for transformative change in graduate geoscience education.

Since 2018, more than 300 geoscientists in the academic and employer communities have collectively developed a vision for the future of geoscience graduate education. This report explores the societal needs and strategies for preparing future generations of geoscience graduate students and geoscience professionals to meet global challenges.

The report addresses a wide range of issues, including the skills and competencies needed for graduate students to be successful in the workforce, the best means of developing these skills and competencies in graduate programs nationally, and the implementation strategies that departmental and program leaders can use to integrate these skills and competencies into graduate programs.

“The geoscience community has come together and reached consensus on the universal skills and competencies needed for future success by graduate students in Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and how changes in graduate education and collaboration with external stakeholders can best prepare our students for the broad and expanding spectrum of geoscience careers available now and in the future,” said Sharon Mosher, Dean Emeritus of the Jackson School of Geosciences, the principal investigator across all phases of the project. “I hope this report will lead to positive changes in geoscience graduate programs and better preparation for addressing societal challenges.”

The full text of the report and a freely downloadable PDF version are available at https://graduate.americangeosciences.org/

In addition to the report, the website features a collection of recommendations to academic departments and references to works cited in the report. Additionally, hard copies of the report can be purchased through Amazon.com.

The development of this report was supported through funding provided by the National Science Foundation (Award #ICER 1740844). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the report and related materials are those of the authors and the results and interpretation of the survey data are the views of the American Geosciences Institute; neither are those of the National Science Foundation.

About AGI
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), a federation of scientific and professional associations representing over a quarter-million geoscientists, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to serving the geoscience community and addressing the geoscience needs of society. AGI headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia.

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This news release has been adapted from materials produced by AGI.