This week, Core Elements enters its third year. I’d like to thank our editorial team at AAPG for their contributions to the geoscience community!
For this third-year benchmark edition, I have selected topics related to the profession of geosciences, and in celebration of Geologists’ Day, I will also answer last week’s quiz about the AAPG Bulletin.
Rasoul Sorkhabi
Editor, Core Elements
Geologists’ Day and Professional Licensure
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5 April (yesterday) was Geologists’ Day.
Do we need Geologists Day?
Let me tell you a true story:
On August 20, 1897, Ronald Ross (who later won the Nobel Prize for Medicine), then working in India, discovered that female Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria to humans.
20 August has been observed, each year, as World Mosquito Day.
So, yes, if the mosquitoes of the world get a designated day, we definitely deserve a Geologists’ Day 🙂
How did Geologists’ Day start?
It started in 1966 in the former Soviet Union to honor the contributions of geologists, particularly after oil and gas were discovered in West Siberia.
Geologists’ Day was assigned a national holiday on the first Sunday in April, in part to celebrate spring.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Geologists’ Day survived and was unofficially adopted internationally—especially (and obviously) by geologists.
How to celebrate:
Start reading a popular geology book
Watch a nature documentary film
Visit a natural history museum
Donate to a geological society (You can donate to AAPG here) to show your appreciation for the work of geologists who study how our planet functions and find all sorts of natural resources for society.
Professional Licensure for Geologists
Ester Sztein has a report in GSA Today on professional geology licensure around the world.
In the United States, Professional Geologist licenses are issued by the Geology Board of individual states. Those with a geology degree must take an examination that is coordinated by the Association of State Board of Geology (ASBOG). You can also get professional certificates (but not licenses) from some associations.
Here are some ways to become certified in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom:
AAPG’s Division of Professional Affairs issues the Professional Petroleum Geologist Certificate after a review and endorsement process.
In Canada, to become a Professional Geoscientist, you have to be registered in a Canadian province after passing the National Professional Practice Exam (NPPE).
In the United Kingdom, the Chartered Geologist certification is issued by the Geological Society of London to its fellows after a review process.
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The March 2026 issue of Episodes is a special collection of seven articles on “Empowerment of Women in Geoscience.” Here are some key takeaways:
Development goal: In the editorial article written by four women geoscientists, the authors mention that the special issue was prepared to strengthen the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5, which underscores gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in various areas of society.
Women at IUGS: From 1980 to 2028, 20 women have served as vice-president or councilors of the International Union of Geological Sciences.
Historical perspective: Martina Kölbl-Ebert has reviewed the history of women geologists. Here are some highlights:
In the 19th century, several women were “active as fossil collectors and taxonomists, as field geologists, scientific draftswomen, and as popularizers of geology, mineralogy, and paleontology.”
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, geology professors used to take female students on geological excursions, usually accompanying their wives “to maintain societal correctness and avoid damaging gossip.”
Mary Anning (1799–1847) collected and supplied fossil specimens to famous geologists of her time.
Catherine Raisin (1855–1945) was among the first professional female geologists with a university degree.
In 1890, she became head of the Geology Department at Bedford College for Women.
In 1893, she became the first woman to receive the Lyell Fund from the Geological Society of London, but she was unable to accept the award in person as women were not permitted to enter the premises.
In the late 19th century, four female students at Newnham College at Cambridge rose to become professional paleontologists:
In the 19th century in the United States, Radcliffe and Bryn Mawr colleges trained the first female geologists.
The first female American geologist with a PhD was Florence Bascom (1882–1945), who graduated from Johns Hopkins and trained many female geologists while teaching at The Ohio State University and Bryn Mawr College.
Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann (1888–1993) discovered the Earth’s inner core.
Marie Tharp (1920–2006) helped Bruce Heezen with the first detailed topographic map of the ocean floor, which paved the way for plate tectonics.
Micropaleontology began to boom in the 20th century after the petroleum industry realized the importance of microfossils for correlating borehole stratigraphy. Women were pioneers of micropaleontology.
Go deeper:
Robbie Gries’s book Anomalies is a definitive volume on pioneering women in petroleum geology.
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To celebrate the 110th year of the AAPG Bulletin, last week I asked: What is the longest paper ever published in the AAPG Bulletin?
My research shows it to be the following paper: “Geology of Maracaibo basin, Venezuela,” by F.A. Sutton, AAPG Bulletin (1946), 30: 1621–1741. That is 120 pages!
Here is another AAPG Bulletin quiz for next week: Which researcher has published the most papers in the AAPG Bulletin? Any guesses? Write me at editorial@aapg.org.
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