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2018–2019 Richard H. Jahns

Distinguished Lecturer

Deborah Green has been named You Don’t Look Like a Geologist: A Conversation On Diversity
the 2018–2019 Richard H. Jahns (Or the Lack Thereof) in Our Profession
Distinguished Lecturer in Applied According to recent statistics from the American Geological
Geology. The lectureship, established Institute, at least 40% of geology graduates are women. However,
in 1988, is sponsored by the Association the same report indicates that fewer than 12% of geology graduates
of Environmental and Engineering identify themselves as belonging to underrepresented minority
Geologists (AEG) and the GSA groups. These statistics will serve as a starting point to talk about
Environmental and Engineering Geology why there is so little diversity in our field.
Scientific Division. It funds distinguished
Deborah Green engineering geologists to present lectures How to Build a Geology Career You Love
at colleges and universities in order to From consulting work in small shops to mega companies, to
promote student awareness of applied geology. It is named in being an in-house geologist for private industry, to staffing regula-
honor of Richard H. Jahns (1915–1983), an engineering geologist tory agencies from municipalities to the federal government, to
who had a diverse and distinguished career in academia, consult- teaching STEM subjects from middle school grades up to the uni-
ing, and government. versity level—there are myriad possibilities to build a fulfilling
career.
Born in Queens, New York, USA, Green traveled and camped
throughout the United States and Canada with her family during A Tale of Two Waste Sites
her childhood summers, doing much of her growing up in the Once upon a time, a consulting geologist was contracted to eval-
National Parks. She now makes her homes in a passive solar adobe uate a site for a low-level radioactive waste facility. The geologist’s
house at the north end of the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico report summarized the geology and hydrology. He concluded, if
and on a sailboat in British Columbia during the summer. operated properly, the site would be safe and effective.
Unfortunately, that ending to the tale was fictional. In the non-fic-
Green’s earth-science–teacher father informally taught her geol- tional story, the operational constraints outlined by the geologist
ogy on their summer adventures, and she fell in love with it. She were not followed, and the facility’s last chapter was written when
holds geology degrees from the University of Rochester and Texas it was listed as a Superfund site. We’ll talk about how more sites
A&M University. She worked as an environmental and engineer- can have happy endings when the tale the geology tells is heeded.
ing geologist for 30 years in more than 35 states, with 20 of those
years as a self-employed consultant. Active in the AEG, Green has Let’s Talk: A Conversation on How We Communicate
mentored many young professionals. She also champions the about Science
Norman R. Tilford Field Studies scholarships, named in honor Geologists love to talk with each other about our work, but
of her late husband, an internationally recognized engineering speaking with those who don’t know or understand our geologic
geologist, who died in a small plane crash on his way to lead a “language” isn’t necessarily comfortable, and doing it well isn’t
student field trip in 1997. The awards provide support to students easy. We need to embrace communicating science well as much as
learning geology in the field. we embrace the work itself. Advocating effectively for our work
makes it possible to do more of the science we value, and for soci-
Having written poetry as a girl, Green rediscovered her love ety to realize that value. In this presentation, we’ll talk about the
for creative writing after establishing herself in her professional challenges of conversing with non-scientists about science, and why
career. As the GeologistWriter, Green strives to understand and we must face those challenges head on.
convey the wonder of the landscape and the complexity of earth
processes while also exploring the mysterious terrain of the human Always Book a Window Seat: The Lens through Which We
heart and relationships through compelling stories and essays. View the World as Geologists
The best geologists “read” the landscape, and “geologist”
Interested institutions can contact Green via http://geologist- becomes the lens through which they observe the wider world. A
writer.com/contact/ to schedule a presentation on one or more of sense of curiosity and desire to learn, not just in the classroom or
the following topics from now to September 2019. Read more lab or on a job site, but every day, are traits to cultivate. In this
about Green and her writing projects, and find the complete presentation, there will be plenty of pictures through a geologist’s
abstracts for the following lectures at http://geologistwriter.com/ lens, and some of the stories those views tell.
distinguished-lecturer/.

10 GSA Today | November 2018