Tech fills in for absent geoscientists

Software career alternatives are being examined to take up some of the demand created by declining tertiary student take-up of geoscience courses. In a report released in November, The Australian Geoscience Council, Australian Geoscience Education Profile 2002-2021, said that year one Earth science enrolments in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia started falling dramatically from 2012, the peak of the last mining boom. The mining-tech sector was grappling with trying to attract geoscientists from an increasingly small pool said Mining Technology company IMDEX Chief of Product Management and Marketing Dr Michelle Carey. IMDEX Chief of Product Management and Marketing geoscientist Dr Michelle Carey. The reaction of universities to the collapse in income from international students had been evident for a couple of years, but the effect had become clearer in the past six to 12 months, Dr Carey said. “Everyone is trying to get geologists and mining engineers and can’t. What’s happening in parallel is that universities are cutting their geology courses. Over the past couple of years some universities have shut geology departments. “Macquarie University shut their entire geology department in the past 12 months. It was the highest-ranking geology department from a research perspective in Australia. “There is a complete disconnect between those actions and the needs of the industry. “You have the universities’ reaction, the impact of COVID on us as an industry, the industry going through a boom because of net zero and electrification, mining not considered an attractive employment option and then someone is chopping off our pipeline for reasons of their own.” The shortage may precipitate the faster adoption of technology within the sector said Dr Carey. “We have to accept we are not going to get the volume of geoscientists and mining engineers that we once had,” she said. “In that respect, adoption of technological innovation and improvement is non-negotiable. “The mining sector doesn’t actually have a choice. They have to accept technological change because they won’t be able to do things the way they always have.” As a result, geoscientists’ work would change, with a greater emphasis on data collection and analysis that would be more diverse and rewarding Dr Carey said. And a clear career path was now available that involved innovation and the development of technology to deliver the tools that infield geoscientists will use. “We are part of the mining industry, but you don’t have to work in the typical mining environment,” Dr Carey said. “The work you do as a software engineer or product manager, or geoscientist is helping to build the products that, increasingly, resource companies will need as they respond to the demand for sustainable mining.” She said mining-tech related employment enabled geoscientists to use all their skills without the need to necessarily work in the field. The Australian Geoscience Council report said the lack of exposure and awareness of geoscience in Australian secondary schools remained an issue. On staffing, the said some Australian university departments made significant cuts to Earth science academic support staff in response to actual or perceived reductions in university budgets due to COVID-19. Geologists and mine managers are on the Federal Government’s Skilled Occupation List in the hope that those with the skills can be lured to Australia. Photo: Bianca Wills – Production Processing Superintendent at BMA’s Caval Ridge Mine mentoring Dysart State High School students

Tech fills in for absent geoscientists

Industry Queensland

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