Many geoscience students pursue their degrees thinking that they will remain in academia or will become researchers at other public or private ventures. By the time they graduate, however, some students have re-evaluated their initial career ideas and are looking for alternatives that meld their scientific backgrounds with other interests. When those interests include communicating the novelty, excitement and value of a wide scope of modern science to the public, science writing can be an extremely rewarding path for geoscience graduates. But how does one become a science writer?

Geoscience is clearly a global science and with increasing concerns about global issues such as climate change, sustainability, and energy, it would seem the geosciences are ideally poised to lead as a global professional community. However, regional and national differences over the priorities of geoscience, legal requirements, and the mobility of geoscientists--especially new graduates--make for a much more complex picture than most realize.

For the past several decades, community college students have comprised approximately one-third of the total college student population enrolled in credit courses within the United States. In 2008, underrepresented minority students comprised 33 percent of total community college enrollments, and earned 26 percent of all associate degrees.

Community colleges served over 7.5 million students in 2009, and have a more diverse student population than four-year institutions. In 2008, 58% of community college students were women and 33% of students were underrepresented minorities. Community colleges provide a large diverse pool of untapped talent for the geosciences and for all science and engineering disciplines. The most recent data from NSF's 2006 NSCRG database indicate that within the physical sciences, 43% of Bachelor's, 31% of Master's and 28% of Doctoral recipients had attended community college.

In 2011, the American Geological Institute (AGI) launched the first pilot of a National Geoscience Exit Survey in collaboration with 32 geoscience university departments. The survey collects data about demographics, high school and community college coursework, university degrees, financial aid, field and research experiences, internships, and when and why the student chose to pursue a geosciences degree.

The "Great Crew Change" in the geosciences workforce is already underway based on demographic and employment data for government agencies and academia, and for the resource industries, the great loss of existing professional experience will begin to "cut to the bone" within the next five years. In addition to this loss of professional experience, the profession's demographics do not allow for traditional mentoring and employee development programs to completely fill the gap.

Little is known about geology and geography terminal Master's degree programs' curricula, students' career paths and faculty mentoring and advising practices. With the recent reports indicating a great need for more trained geoscientists in the workforce, understanding these aspects about departments is important because they will inform our community about best practices on aligning programs with workforce demand.

Demographic trends within academia, government, and industry indicate that approximately half of the geoscience workforce will be retiring over the next 10-15 years, and a much smaller number of younger geoscience professionals will be ready to step into these positions. Geoscience degree data from the American Geological Institute (AGI) indicate that in 2009, 2,832 undergraduate and 1,683 graduate students earned geoscience degrees. However, only 32 percent of geoscience graduates work in the core profession.