“It takes a village to raise a new generation of Earth scientists, and our societies are our village.”
Those words are not engraved on the door of the East Texas Geological Society, nor any other geological society in America, but if you talk to Julie Bloxson, assistant professor of geology at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nagadoches, they should be.
Bloxson, who is on ETGS’s board of directors, said that at their best, geological societies, “Create a space to share information, socialize and pass along information to the next generation of geoscientists.”
“I think for industry to actually impact students, the relationships cannot hinge on the indoctrination of petroleum geology from professors to students, or even associations to students. This is not the way to go about fostering these necessary external links between academia and the profession.”
That’s been her mission ever since she came to SFA in 2018 – not only to teach undergraduate courses in fossil fuels, petroleum exploration techniques and reserve fluid analysis (to name just a few), but to bring together the external world of geologic professionals and associations to her students.
As head of the East Texas Core Repository at the school’s Science Research Center, where she is creating the Black Shale Research Facility, she said one of her early goals when she got to Nagadoches was to strengthen the bond between the school and ETGS.
Escape from Academia
She said her approach is experiential learning, which is “a hands-on, active learning as opposed to memorization and regurgitation.”
She is convinced the best thing for students majoring in geology is to “get out of those buildings” – in more ways than one.
“A research colleague,” she said, “called professors a ‘group of clucking chickens.’”
She agrees.
“In many programs they talk at each other, not with each other, speaking of what they would like done in matters of diversity, inclusion, new programs, integrating industry, new research interests and changes to curriculum.”
She wonders, though, if all that expertise and specificity circling around each other is too myopic and if it impedes the ability to make the necessary changes in academia so as to keep up with the changing geologic landscape.
“Do we have too big of ego in academia? Maybe we just like to hear ourselves talk, but are overwhelmed by the overburdened system itself to actually make changes. I think that is where the external relationships come in, to help relieve that burden a bit and delegate some tasks,” said Bloxson.
She said that while she and other SFA professors make the initial entries in those external relationships, ETGS members know those relationships are not the point.
“Every time I meet someone that wants to donate or contribute to research, they want to benefit students, not professors,” she said.
Building Bridges from Industry to Academia
Bloxson, who was once a chemist as well as a geologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, thinks the profession as a whole will benefit when it starts utilizing the full potential of geologic societies.
It is a potential she benefitted from when she first visited SFA.
“When interviewing for this job, I was asked if I would mind attending conferences, expos and monthly talks,” she said.
As she already had such experience with the Ohio Geological Survey – during both her undergraduate and graduate work at University of Akron and Kent State University, respectively – she knew how important such a connection would be.
At the time of her interview at SFA, the school did not have a petroleum geologist on the faculty. Unbeknownst to her, members of ETGS were pushing for the department to hire one. It hadn’t had one since the 1980s.
“Not directly,” she said when asked if ETGS got her the job. “They didn’t know anything about this person from Ohio, but because they were alumni of SFA and in the region, they were personally invested in the department.”
She said that, because of that input, along with pressure from inside the department for another professor, the university agreed to hire a petroleum geologist.
And it turned out to be her.
It was a heady time.
“I am not sure I was the geologist that those retired major geologists in Tyler (where ETGS is located) were expecting. I was a thirty-something-year-old that has studied conventionals, unconventionals (which they taught me were also called ‘resource plays’), from a small private university, walking into their meeting, with no industry experience,” recounted Bloxson.
After being hired, though, she made herself invaluable by increasing her participation in the Society.
“(After) a year or so of attending meetings at ETGS, I was asked to be a part of the board,” she said.
She was not only comfortable being the liaison between the SFA Geology Department and ETGS, she relished it.
“I brought students to the meetings and advertised ETGS scholarship opportunities. Keep in mind, we are a 1.5 hour-drive from Tyler. A meeting in Tyler is a full-day adventure. In the end, I think everyone was excited to see young blood at the meetings and to see directly how ETGS is contributing to the students. I felt at ease to ask for contributions when we need them: money for travel, information on wells, help with theses, speakers at seminars,” she said.
She’s not shy about the need.
“I’m going to air out some laundry that some might find offensive or cringy. We have $5,000 for professional development,” she said of the budget at SFA, which consists of nine professionals and support staff.
She recounts the cost of the recent IMAGE 2022 in Houston – and this was for transportation, hotels, registration – was about $1,350.
And this was for a conference held in the same state.
But – and this is her point, that single event cost 27 percent of the budget.
“So, when I was asked by alumni and friends of the department at the event why we didn’t have a booth, it was because we did not have an extra $1,500 to spend on a booth,” she said.
Specifically, ETGS has helped SFA with money for scholarships, knowledge sharing, workshops, lunches, internships, providing feedback, and, yes, even the occasional booth.
“I think for industry to actually impact students, the relationships cannot hinge on the indoctrination of petroleum geology from professors to students, or even associations to students. This is not the way to go about fostering these necessary external links between academia and the profession.”
She said it is vital to build a community that will help catch those who need help getting started or maintaining a presence in geology.
Social Responsibility
She said that attitude is already in the profession’s DNA.
“Most of us did not get into geology to simply find oil, but to help make a difference in society,” she said.
Personally, considering her time at SFA and ETGS, she is overwhelmed and fulfilled, both by the profession and her career.
“I was not expecting to learn so much in my four short years of being here. Or realize how much I don’t know about geology,” said Bloxson.
“I love geology because it combines all the sciences in a creative, chaotic, applied way to help solve the needs and desires of our society,” she explained. “Do we need more energy? Ok, let’s find sources. Perhaps fossil fuels aren’t feasible? Let’s look at geothermal and other avenues. These are all determined using geologists, who are integral parts of our society, no matter what others think.”