Geoscience is facing an impending crisis.

The number of students choosing to study geological or Earth sciences at A-level and university is at record lows, and the perception of geoscience in our wider society is at rock bottom. Do we need to face up to the fact that we have failed in communicating the true value of our science, our profession and our skills, right when society needs us the most?

The climate is changing, both in the UK and globally and with it, comes a collective and determined call for change to more sustainable energy and food sources, travel and trade as well in our manufacturing industries and natural resource consumption. We know that geoscience is integral to combatting climate change, in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and in meeting an ever-increasing global population’s want and need. However, our challenge is to now change the narrative within the public eye, within the mainstream media and within our schools to ensure there are future generations of geoscientists and they are valued for the role they play within our society.

This free-to-attend virtual summit will attempt to delve into the detail of the perception of geoscience, within the public, within the media, within our businesses and within our schools. It will bring together a mix of professionals, entrepreneurs, teachers and lecturers, public speakers and civil servants in a series of panel sessions that will take your questions and debate the statements and opinions you raise over the coming weeks. The outputs from this summit will be taken into a more focused Geology Student Enrolment Summit on the 24th June and from there a working group/committee, with representation from across our society, will be formed.

This is your opportunity to engage with this challenge and it is our collective responsibility to change the narrative. Geoscience is quite literally our past, present and future.

Call for Contributions:

We would like this event to be as interactive and inclusive as can be practically allowed. Although it will not be possible to stream live questions from the attendees during the summit, before the event, we are asking for all attendees to send in questions, opinions and dicussions points, relavent to each session. A selection of the contributions will be put to the panelists and will form the basis for discussion and debate.

As we get closer to the event and we release further details around each of the three sessions, we will ask for more specific questions and opinion, however, initially we would like contributions to be more generalised. Any and all contributions will be hugely valuable and even if they are not put to the panel in the event on the 10th June, they will be collated and utilised in the Geology Student Enrolment Summit and the subsequent action plan.

Please email your contributions to: tom@terrafirmaidc.co.uk.

Agenda, Speakers and Panelists:

8.45am - Zoom Room opens

9 - 9.10am - Introduction and Overview of Virtual Summit: Nick Rogers

9.10 - 10.10am -First Session: The Perception of Geoscience in Society

• 9.10 - 9.20am - Introduction to Session

• 9.20 - 9.40am - Key note Speaker: Lucy Crane
  

• 9.40 - 10.10am - Panel Q&A / Debate
  

10.10 - 11.10am - Second Session: The Perception of Geoscience in Business

• 10.10 - 10.20am - Introduction to Session

• 10.20 - 10.40am - Key note Speaker: Tom Backhouse
  

• 10.40 - 11.10am - Panel Q&A / Debate
  

11.10 - 12.10pm - Third Session: The Decline of Geo/Earth Science Students

• 11.10 - 11.20am - Introduction to Session

• 11.20 - 11.40am - Key note Speaker: Professor Iain Stewart
  

• 11.40 - 12.10pm - Panel Q&A / Debate
  

12.10 - 12.15pm - Closing remarks: Nick Rogers

12.30pm - Zoom Room closes

Following the event, the recording will be circulated to all attendees.

Login and Meeting Details will be sent to all confirmed attendees before the 8th June 2020.