Promoting earth sciences among youngsters

By James Pebam *

Let me begin this way - Earth Sciences is an ideal choice for those boys and girls who don't want to spend their career sitting in a cubicle, but would rather be out and perform a wide variety of interesting tasks.

This subject has different branches and wide varieties of career scopes, details of which are given in an earlier article "Geology as Career" by Ramesh Laishram. Here let me focus on points that tell you why this subject is the most interesting, challenging and promising direction of your career ahead.

Earth science is the multi-disciplinary science that studies the earth, the materials of which it is made, the structure of those materials, and the processes acting upon them. A very important part of geology is the study of how Earth's materials, structures, processes and organisms have changed over time.

Central to this is the study of the formation and distribution of minerals and rocks. So being a geologist means getting involve in lots of varieties and never getting bored. If you enjoy the outdoors, you will have many opportunities to work and travel different places, making maps, taking samples and analysing them in laboratories and making scientific and social decisions. Besides, you will be reading, re-evaluating and researching your observations and findings to understand the dynamics of the earth. Many times we wonder how fast could a Dinosaur run or why did they become extinct? How and where are diamonds formed?

Tethyans (Sea bed rocks of the past – older than 250 million years): Arial photograph taken during one of the geological expeditions to NW Himalayas, Ladakh, J&K, India)

Likewise there are several unanswered questions. These are some of the facts that can be best explained through rocks and preservations in them. Connecting the evidences to see the overall picture is both the joy and the challenge of Earth Sciences. James Hutton rightly propounded "Present is the key to past".

Geology is important because virtually all the natural materials our society needs - such as oil, gas, metals, building materials, and so forth - are found by geologists. Geologists evaluate roads, buildings and dams for geologic stability and hazard potential.

Environmental protection and remediation are important geologic issues faced by contemporary society. Besides performing the routine task we can carry out our own side hobbies such as adventure sports, hiking, photography, gem collection, writing etc. Besides, you get chance to mix and mingle with people of diverse caste and cultures. You are exposed to various social conditions starting from tent life experience in the chilly mountain peaks to the luxuries of five star hotels.

We can work in a variety of settings. These include natural resource companies, environmental consulting companies, government agencies, non-profit organizations, research institutes and universities. Many earth scientists do field work at least part of the time. Others spend their time in laboratories, classrooms or offices.

Employment opportunities for earth scientists are very good. Most geology graduates with a strong academic background and good grades have no trouble finding employment if they are willing to move to a location where work is available. With the boom in upstream business and present trend of infrastructural activities the number of earth science job openings is expected to exceed the number of students within a couple of years. Think and decide.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the things you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore .... dream.... discover".
Mark Twain.

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* James Pebam (Senior Research Fellow (SRF) at Department of Earth Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, ) contributes to e-pao.net for the first time. You can contact the writer at pebamcha(at)gmail(dot)com . This was webcasted on March 13, 2009.

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