Students attracted to GEO after exposure

When the list of admitted freshmen for the Class of 2005 was circulated to department chairs last week, professor Samuel Philander, chair of the geosciences department, was thrilled. Two of the 1,675 admitted students expressed an interest in majoring in geosciences — a record for the department.

Typically, not one student among entering students intends to major in geosciences. "We don't just start with students having zero exposure to geoscience. But in negative territory . . . students don't come to Princeton to study geoscience," Philander said. "It's up to us to come up with the right courses and seduce them into joining us."

Philander says the department suffers from a "serious image problem," originating from the 1960s stereotype of it being a haven for environmentalists. "Students are unaware that [geosciences] is a scientifically challenging and highly interdisciplinary field," he said.

The department has tried to combat this image by focusing on classes and fields that most interest students.

"The department and the direction have changed significantly over the last five to six years," Philander said. "We are now effectively an environmental sciences department. While we used to be only solid earth, we have switched to solid earth plus ocean plus atmosphere."

In addition, the department offers the popular course, GEO 299: Setting the New Environmental Agenda, and a freshman seminar that is usually oversubscribed.

Those who have taken the freshman seminar have described the course and the accompanying trip to the Sierra Mountains as a valuable experience, inducing the department to expand the number of freshman seminars offered.

The geosciences major offers two tracks: science and policy. The policy track, in collaboration with the Wilson School, has been increasingly popular, allowing students to write a senior thesis on policy issues within a geosciences major.

"We try to persuade students that, given how ubiquitous environmental problems will be, it doesn't matter what you do, as a lawyer, politician or in business, sooner or later you'll be involved in some environmental issues," Philander said. "Even if you're not going to be a scientist or researcher, geosciences may be a useful degree. We're trying to get this message out."

Four members of the Class of 2001 heard this message and decided to major in geosciences. They are planning to use their degrees after graduation in very different ways.

Emily D. Johnson '01 switched from physics to geosciences after taking a course in igneous petrology and plans to pursue a career as a magazine journalist or editor.

A mineralogy course convinced Jennifer Adler '01 to change her major from physics to geosciences, and she said she plans to continue her studies in graduate school next year.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"I've been able to get a good look at some of the many directions geoscience research can go in and take classes that really interest me and get me thinking about the science behind different geological/geophysical/geochemical processes," Adler said. "The downside is that I don't have the general geology background that a classical curriculum would have provided, but I can probably pick up anything I need as I go."

Trevor Walsh '01 pursued the Earth policy option and will work for JP Morgan next year.

"To me that was the best of both worlds — keeping my hand in the policy world but ultimately having a strong ground in the scientific aspects of the key issues," Walsh said. "I think this is important for people interested in science policy because there's no way you can make the hard decisions required unless you have a good understanding of the related data and facts."

Philander cited the example of former N.J. governor and current Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman in mixing up the ozone hole and global warming at her first press conference as evidence of the low level of environmental knowledge in society.

Comparing Whitman's gaffe to the surgeon general confusing the heart and the lungs, Philander said, "We expect educated people to be knowledgeable about the body, but it's okay to be completely ignorant about the earth and how it works."

Philander said he hopes that renovations to Guyot Hall, the University's commitment to the program and the changes within the department will attract more students.

Elinor Keith '04 is a freshman who has already been attracted away from chemistry toward geosciences. "One of the major things drawing me toward geosciences is that it does not need to be theoretical," she said. "I can look at a weather map and find features I am familiar with . . . instead of looking at an NMR spectrum and slowly deducing a molecule. While I know abstractly that that molecule may be important, it never seemed all that important to me."

She said she also likes the wide range of options the geosciences department offers to majors. "It has several tracks ranging from geological engineering to geophysics to geochemistry to oceanography and atmospheric science. If I want to do more chemistry, it would be easy for me to do geochemistry."

Though Walsh will not likely use his earth science knowledge in his work in financial services, he still thinks he made the right choice of a major.

"It teaches you to think analytically and really be able to have a scrutinizing eye for any kind of data," he said. "I think more undergraduates should realize that just because you major in geosciences doesn't mean you're going to be looking at rocks for the rest of you're life — there's a lot of cool stuff — that's why its geosciences and not just geology."