by Susan Eriksson | Mar 30, 2022
We scientists live immersed in data. It’s what most of us do – gather it, interpret it, and report on what we find. Where does the data come from and what does it tell us? Think about all the data we can get from a single mineral grain. A rock might sit around for...
by Susan Eriksson | Mar 30, 2022
The person who asked this question is very smart and very well educated and a real activist on climate change. My first response was ‘Really?’ But then I had to think about this. Not everyone is a geoscientist and certain, we geoscience types don’t always know what is...
by Susan Eriksson | Mar 30, 2022
My colleague walked into my office and said “I’m engaged.” “Wow” I replied, “I’m so happy for you.” After the celebratory hugs and laughter, she said, “I want to have a ring of sustainably harvested platinum.” I’m sorry to say that I couldn’t help but laugh....
by Susan Eriksson | Mar 30, 2022
The Earth has a mass of 5.972 × 10 24 kg and moves around the Sun at a speed of 30,000 meters per second. The temperature at its center is around 5,200o Celsius. Earth is a thing with these qualities. I’ve never particularly cared about the planets, but one night I...
by Susan Eriksson | Mar 30, 2022
Geoscience persists as having one of the lowest percentages of underrepresented minorities as students and as professionals. I sat as the only white person in a room at Virginia Tech to tell them about a new project to increase representation in the sciences. The...
by Susan Eriksson | Mar 30, 2022
A very few years ago, the director of the organization where I worked said, “We need to be more interdisciplinary in our research. Let’s do something with geophysics and geology.” I metaphorically rolled my eyes. (I do that a lot.) The scientific world had moved...
