Where is geoscience going?

Abstract

Abstract This short article provides my views – and not necessarily views that are shared by the British Geological Survey, where I was executive director from 2006–19, or by the Earth science community in general. I have outlined some of the trends that I see as important for the geosciences, largely from a solid-Earth perspective. I stress that fundamental discovery science in this sector must be, and will largely continue to be, led by the academic community but that Earth sciences research needs to be more focused on problem solving rather than refining our knowledge of the problems that face the Earth system. Academics and government laboratories have distinct but complementary roles in the pursuit of discovery and in applied geoscience research and training of geoscientists.