Morphology of a Geoscience Career: Meanders, Eruptions, and Stories

The enormous scope of the geosciences provides space for innumerable career niches in all workforce sectors; however—much like the natural systems a geoscientist investigates—the journey towards a dream job is rarely a straight line. There are diversions, fractals, migrations, confluxes, eddies, phase transformations. These processes are typically hidden from view, which impedes students’ ability to see themselves working in the geosciences. What place is there for a mathematician at a geomorphology lab? A historian at a climate research center? An earth scientist at NASA?   This session aims to make a geoscience career accessible to any interested student, regardless of background, by sharing personal stories of journeys to/within/through the geosciences. The presenters bring a diverse array of starting and ending points with the hope of demystifying the dynamics of a geoscience career and helping students see where they could fit into this field.