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2018–2019 GSA-USGS Congressional Science Fellow Report

A Geologist’s Role in Congress

On 25 Sept. 2018 I started my year- fields to work on tangentially related earth-science policy issues.
long GSA-USGS Congressional Science During the time that I’ve been on Hill, I’ve been involved in con-
Fellowship in the office of Senator Tom versations related to water security (e.g., Colorado River Drought
Udall (D-NM), working on both the Contingency Plan Authorization Act of 2019), wildlife and public
energy and environment portfolio and land conservation (e.g., America’s Public Land Act of 2019), cli-
the wildlife, natural resources, and pub- mate change (e.g., Green New Deal Resolution), data availability
lic lands portfolio teams. Thus far, the (e.g., Geospatial Data Act of 2017), etc., and none of these topics
best compliment I’ve received from a were part of my dissertation. I have also reviewed legislation for
congressional staffer was not for me, but increased investment in clean and renewable energies to mitigate
Caitlin Keating-Bitonti rather for our geoscience community at climate change and analyzed policy for hard rock mining reform
large. I was told that “geologists make to preserve our nation’s cherished public lands.
for some of the best congressional fellows.” I was immediately Particularly unique to our field is our ability to grasp the con-
flattered after being told that geoscientists were great to work cept of deep time and geologic rates. Thinking of cyclical pro-
with on Capitol Hill. Then, on reflection, it became obvious why cesses that occur on decadal timescales to those that occur on
members of our community would be sought after and so valued hundreds of million-year timescales comes second nature to
by congressional personnel and committee offices. geologists, whereas the average person likely thinks of time on
Geology is inherently interdisciplinary. Earth and its pro- the scale of years to months to the number of hours left in the
cesses are dynamic, requiring a command of the core, basic sci- work day. Once at a GSA Annual Meeting I overheard someone
ences to understand all of Earth’s interacting physical, chemical, refer to the Cenozoic as “recent,” remarking that it was “too
and biological aspects. This leads geologists to generally be young of a time interval” to be of interest to them. The Cenozoic
comfortable with tackling a variety of issues outside our exper- spans the past 65 million years of Earth’s history!
tise. Our geology undergraduate degrees required introduction Our broad and long-term perspective of earth processes has
to physics, chemistry, calculus, and sometimes biology and sta- value in policy making. When considering new methane venting
tistics. Although our undergraduate schedules were overloaded and flaring regulations, geologists can reflect on the rates of
with labs and our backpacks weighed down with oversized text- global warming associated with the hypothesized dissociation of
books, I appreciated the opportunity to broaden my overall oceanic methane clathrate and its oceanographic consequences
knowledge of the sciences. in the early Eocene. When confronting PFAS water contamina-
To answer our research questions, we collaborate heavily with tion issues, geologists can examine the rates and directions of
geologists specializing in different fields from our own and with groundwater flow to anticipate impacted communities and miti-
scientists across disciplines, ranging from computer scientists to gate timely clean-up efforts. When anticipating the next “big
material scientists to engineers. Often, our research and collabora- one,” geologists can advocate for improved transportation and
tions involve travel to attend conferences, use labs, or collect sam- building infrastructure. My favorite story from a congressional
ples. Through these travels, we experience new cultures and inter- natural-hazard briefing was about the 2002 M7.9 earthquake on
act with a diversity of individuals. I’ve often found that geologists the Alaska Denali fault—“the biggest natural hazard that no one
are genuinely interested in getting to know others and spending heard about.” The reason this large earthquake did not make the
time together—GSA’s Annual Meeting feels more like a reunion news was that geologists projected fault movement up to 20 feet,
of friends instead of a society conference. Our ability to commu- and when engineers built the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline they
nicate, engage, and navigate within our community and among mounted it on steel beams that allowed it to freely slide where
foreign colleagues, rural communities, private landowners, gov- it crossed the fault. Thus, when the rupture crossed the pipeline,
ernment agencies, etc., in our travels are highly transferable skills. there was no structural damage or oil spill associated with the
A day in Congress might have you meeting with the Frankfurt earthquake. Thus, geologists have the foresight to include this
Zoological Society to discuss preservation needs in the Serengeti type of research in the drafting of energy and infrastructure
National Park, sitting down with World Wildlife Federation repre- legislation. Thus, our knowledge of deep time and geologic rates
sentatives who flew in from Brazil to raise concerns regarding the is essential for understanding what is and, perhaps more relevant
violation of indigenous people’s rights in the Amazon, or inviting to today, is not normal in Earth’s history.
academic forest ecologists to brief Hill staff on the increasing Our investigations use a variety of data sources and analytical
intensity and frequency of wildfires occurring in western states. approaches. We ask our colleagues both thoughtful and demand-
Our willingness to travel makes us in tune with how intercon- ing questions. We readily critique data and statistics and under-
nected Earth is, and our effective communication skills have stand the verbal, written, and visual information presented to us.
prepared us to hold crucial, needed conversations. (Trust me, people will try to gloss over or omit key data when
Geologists care deeply for our planet’s well-being, and our speaking with policy makers!) Geologists know how to make
research on Earth’s past, present, and future states reflects this. persuasive arguments—we spend a good chunk of our office
Thus, I believe geologists are more willing than scientists in other time writing competitive grant applications and letters to editors

50 GSA Today | July 2019