A report from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) predicts that there will be a growing national need for geoscientists to address the problems of climate change, resource depletion, energy sustainability and environmental degradation. GEO Vision: Unraveling Earth's Complexities through the Geosciences, released on 15 October by the NSF's Advisory Committee for Geosciences, says geoscientists will increasingly be called on to assess how human behaviour is affecting Earth and its systems. Tim Killeen, NSF assistant director for geosciences, predicts that the 4,000 US geoscientists who graduate each year will not be enough to supply these needs.
Published in Nature 461, 1307 (28 October 2009) | 10.1038/nj7268-1307d
In Brief
Geoscientist shortfall
US needs more researchers to address environment and climate-change issues.
