Geologic Publications for Mount Rainier

A career in coalitions: Forging linkages among scientists, society, and the natural world

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Author(s): Carolyn L. Driedger

Category: PUBLICATION
Document Type:
Publisher: Frontiers in Earth Science
Published Year: 2023
Volume: 11
Number:
Pages: 5
DOI Identifier: 10.3389/feart.2023.1206197
ISBN Identifier:
Keywords: stakeholder engagement coalitions analysis glaciology volcanology early-career researchers (ECR) science communication women in science transdisciplinarity

Abstract:
Geology through a child’s eyes

My home state of Pennsylvania is ribbed by interlocking ranges of the Appalachian Mountains and flanked on its southeastern corner by gentle hills and coastal plain. A lifelong fascination with geology began with family camping trips to rugged terrain in the American West. Observing geological features was a joy that became a hobby and then a career aspiration. My decisive career moment happened at the age of 12 while charmed by the complexities of upturned and faulted sedimentary rock layers at the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah/Colorado, United States.

Journey out of restrictive cultural norms

During the 1950s and 1960s, a perception persisted that professional career opportunities for women were limited to nursing, secretarial work, or school teaching. I was accepting of that arrangement because through the narrow lens of school studies, cultural norms, and as the daughter of an educator, earth science secondary school teaching appeared achievable and acceptable. Adjacent to university courses required for degrees (BS and MS degrees at Bloomsburg and Shippensburg State Universities of Pennsylvania), I enrolled in multiple field courses in geology and glaciology. The additional coursework raised my confidence in the ability to conduct scientific work. Yet, the immediate need to earn a living led me to teach eighth-grade earth science for three long years before the imperative to conduct science eclipsed my desire to teach it. In the Summer of 1978, at a time when few articles published in two seminal glaciology journals had female authorship (Hulbe et al., 2010), I began a summer of glaciology fieldwork for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and unknown at the time, a 44-year multi-disciplinary career. My recent retirement affords time for reflection.

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Suggested Citations:
In Text Citation:
Driedger (2023) or (Driedger, 2023)

References Citation:
Driedger, C.L., 2023, A career in coalitions: Forging linkages among scientists, society, and the natural world: Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol. 11, 5 p., doi: 10.3389/feart.2023.1206197.