Monday, 1 September, 2025/ Edition 74

Education is the foundation of science and technology. This issue of Core Elements is on Earth Science Education. We will first discuss the GEO GIRL, then learn about various AAPG activities related to geoscience education, and end with good news about the popularity of Earth science among the public.

Rasoul Sorkhabi

Editor, Core Elements

GEO GIRL: A Success Story in Geoscience Education

GEO GIRL shares educational geoscience content for students and the general public

Meet Rachel Philips! A PhD in geology from the University of Texas at El Paso, and currently a National Science Foundation STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellow and instructor at the University of South Carolina. She’s also the creator of the popular YouTube channel GEO GIRL, inspiring audiences worldwide.

How it started: Rachel explains, “I originally started the YouTube channel GEO GIRL in 2020, when the pandemic forced classes online. It started as remote lectures for my students but quickly grew into a larger geoscience outreach project.”

Rich Content: With nearly 300 videos and more than 3.5 million views worldwide, Rachel has greatly advanced the accessibility and visibility of geoscience. Here are some of her video series:

• Field Videos: Example, “100-Million-Year-Old Fossil Reefs Indicate Ancient Ocean Covered Texas!”

• Careers in Geoscience: Example, “Working in the Field as an Environmental Consultant with Grace Suden”

• Interviews with Geoscience Experts: Example, “Exploration of a Metal World! With Dr. David Williams”

• Physical Geology: Example, “The Rock Cycle”

• Earth History: Example, “Where Did Earth's Water Come From? & How Do We Know?” 

Milestones:

• In August, the GEO GIRL YouTube Channel exceeded 100,000 subscribers.

• Rachel was elected a GSA Science Communication Senior Fellow for 2025-26.

Congratulations, Rachel, and keep up the good work!

Support Rachel’s YouTube Channel: Watch, Like, and Recommend.

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Geoscience Education in AAPG

Vincente Lorenz, 2024 AAPG Foundation Teacher of the Year

As a long-time AAPG member, I was pleasantly surprised to see the breadth of educational programs while preparing this edition of Core Elements. Let’s take a look.

In-person training at AAPG Annual Conferences: For decades, AAPG has offered short courses, workshops, and field trips in conjunction (pre or post) with national and international conventions. This tradition continues at IMAGE, jointly organized by AAPG, SEG, and SEPM.

• In the upcoming AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, 30 September–3 October in Rio de Janeiro, seven short courses will be offered.

Geoscience Technical Workshops: These Workshops, spanning one to three days, focus on real case studies encompassing both scientific research and field applications.

• An upcoming workshop is the AAPG/EAGE Petroleum Systems of the Middle East to be held from 28-30 October 2025 in Kuwait.

Short courses: These one- to two-day short courses are designed to deepen the expertise around specific, advanced geological topics.

• An upcoming short course is the “Integrated Basin Modeling” to be held on 28 September 2025 in Tunisia.

Field Seminars: The Field Seminars are held around the world and provide practical knowledge and experience via field work and real-world case studies.

• An upcoming field seminar is “Structural Styles of the Middle East” to be held from 6-8 April 2026 in Muscat, Oman.

AAPG Distinguished Lectures: The distinguished lectures are led by subject matter experts from both industry and academia. The recent lectures are available to watch on demand, but speakers can also be invited by universities.

AAPG Academy Webinars: The one-hour virtual webinars on timely topics and cutting-edge technologies by experts from industry and universities are offered every month, for free.

👀By the way, I'll be speaking on the upcoming webinar, “Geoscience-Energy Nexus: Changing Times, New Paths,” on 10 September.

AAPG Awards: Some of the AAPG awards given annually go to those who contribute to geoscience education, both formal and public. These include “Geoscience in the Media Award” and “The Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award.”

AAPG Foundation: The AAPG Foundation – a non-profit organization established in 1967 – supports several educational programs, including Field Camp Scholarships, Military Veteran Scholarships, Teacher of the Year Award (for K12 teachers), and the Inspirational Educator Award (for college professors).

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Earth Science is Popular

Earth science led Discover’s annual science news rankings in 10 of the past 12 years (2012–24)

Since 2019, I have written “Educator’s Corner” for the Professional Geologist – a quarterly magazine published by the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG).

In the April-June 2025 issue of Discover magazine, I reported on a survey that shows Earth Science developments and discoveries are among the most popular science news. Let’s review this.

Discover Magazine’s Annual Survey of Science: The popular science magazine Discover, in its January-February issue each year, reports on the major science discoveries of the previous year.

The Discover’s science stories fall under nine categories: (1) Mathematics and Physical Sciences, (2) Space Science and Astronomy, (3) Earth, Environment and Energy, (4) Archeology and Paleontology, (5) Medicine and Life Sciences, (6) Neuroscience and Behavioral Sciences, (7) Technology as related to Culture and Entertainment, (8) Policy issues, and (9) Other.

The results showed that

• Earth Science category topped the list for the years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 (9 out of 13 years)

• It was second to Medicine and Life Science for the years 2012 and 2013

• It was even with Medicine and Life Sciences for the years 2020 and 2025.

Bottom-line: A survey of science news items covered in these annual reviews of Discover for the period 2012-2024 (13 years) shows that earth science news occupies top rank relative to other sciences in ten out of the twelve years.

Why it matters:

• Commercial magazines gauge the interests of their readers (clients). Vast coverage of Earth science news in the Discover indicates huge popularity among the public.

• Earth science educators should tap into this public interest and specific areas of interest as a way to build bridges between geoscience and people.

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✉️ To get in touch with Rasoul, send an email to editorial@aapg.org.