Revised December 14, 2024

Applied Ethics Resources for Geoscience Students and Professionals

A Few Basic Resources To Get You Started

Highly recommended books and special publications

Listed in chronological order, oldest first.

• Andrews, G.C., Shaw, P., and McPhee, J., 2018, Canadian Professional Engineering and Geoscience — Practice and Ethics [6th Edition]: Toronto, Nelson College Indigenous, 504 p.
• Gauch, H.G., Jr., 2012, Scientific method in brief: Cambridge University Press, 288 p.
• Gunderson, L.C., [editor], 2018, Scientific integrity and ethics in the geosciences: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, 327 p.
• Hoose, S., [Editor], 1993, Professional Practice Handbook: Association of Engineering Geologists, Special Publication 5, 191 p.
• Johnson, W.B., and Ridley, C/R., 2008, The Elements of Ethics for Professionals: New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 213 p., ISBN 978-0-230-60391-2.
• Martin, M.W., and Schinzinger, R., 2005, Ethics in Engineering [4th Edition]: New York, McGraw Hill, 339 p., ISBN 0-07-283115-4. Copies of this edition are available as used (and some unused) books. The current edition is by Zhu and others, 2022 (see below)
• National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, 2009, On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research [3rd edition]: Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 63 p., https://doi.org/10.17226/12192.
• National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, 2017, Fostering Integrity in Research: Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 309 p., https://doi.org/10.17226/21896.
• Prichard, M.S., 2006, Professional Integrity, Thinking Ethically: Lawrence, Kansas, University Press of Kansas, 195 p., ISBN 978-070061557-5.
• Tepel, R.E., 1995, Professional Licensure for Geologists -- An Exploration of Issues: Special Publication 7, Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, accessed August 2, 2023 via https://aeg.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/Publications/SP7_Professional%20Licensure%20for%20Geologists.pdf
• World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, Our common future: Oslo, Norway: United Nations General Assembly, Development and International Cooperation: Environment, accessible via https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
• Zhu, Q., Martin, M.W., and Schinzinger, R., 2022, Ethics in Engineering [5th Edition]: New York, McGraw Hill, 311 p. (click for info from publisher). This is an accessible and practical university-level textbook on professional ethics in engineering that Vince Cronin has used in my engineering geology courses since the 1980s.

Some web resources

• The Ethics Centre
• Ethics Unboxed
• Teaching geoethics across the curriculum
• Professionalism
• International Association for Promoting Geoethics

Sources of some case studies related to geoscience, other areas of science, and engineering

• San Franciscito Dam Disaster
• Teapot Dome
• Toronto Bridge Disaster
• Vaiont
• Bre-X
• Meehan
• The Contol of Nature
• Shuirman and Slosson

Some Peer-Reviewed Geoethics Papers

Some Fundamental Ethics Documents

Listed in chronological order, oldest first.

1. United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948),
   • UDHR homepage: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
   • Text of the declaration (PDF): https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/03/udhr.pdf
2. Belmont Report on Biomedical Research (1979): www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.html
3. Report on GSA Presidential Conference on Ethics in the Geosciences (1997): prepared by Heidi Horten for convenor David Stephenson, 23 p., accessible via https://croninprojects.org/Vince/GeoEthics/GSA_Ethics_in_the_Geosciences.pdf
4. World Integrity Conference, Singapore Statement on Research Integrity (2010), accessible via https://www.jsps.go.jp/file/storage/general/english/e-kousei/data/singapore_statement_EN.pdf or
   https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2969133/
5. International Council for Science Statute 5 - Principle of Universality of Science (2011): https://council.science/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Academic_freedom_ICSU_CFRS_principle_document.pdf or
   https://council.science/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CFRS-brochure-2014.pdf
6. Montreal Statement on Research Integrity in Cross-Boundary Research Colaborations (2013) https://frq.gouv.qc.ca/app/uploads/2021/05/montreal-statement-english-1.pdf or
   https://www.forskningsetikk.no/en/resources/the-research-ethics-library/legal-statutes-and-guidelines/montreal-statement-on-research-integrity-in-cross-boundary-research-collaborations/
7. Responsible Conduct of Research , from Teaching GeoEthics Across the Geoscience Curriculum : Science Education Resource Center (2014), accessible via https://serc.carleton.edu/geoethics/rcr_responsible.html
8. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (2015)
   • SD homepage: https://sdgs.un.org
   • SD goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals
9. Cape Town Statement on Geoethics (2016), accessible via https://www.geoethics.org/ctsg
   Also read...
   Di Capua G., Peppoloni S. and Bobrowsky P.T., 2017, The Cape Town Statement on Geoethics. Annals of Geophysics, Vol. 60, Fast Track 7, doi: 10.4401/ag-7553, accesssible via https://www.geoethics.org/ctsg
10. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017, Fostering Integrity in Research, accessible via www.nap.edu/catalog/21896/fostering-integrity-in-research
11. Allington, R., Cronin, V.S., Correia, V., Hori, R.S., and Tapias, J.G., 2024, Guidelines for Ethical Conduct at IUGS/IGC Meetings and Events (2024): IUGS Commission on Geoethics, 1 p.; https://www.geoethics.org/_files/ugd/5195a5_ac27372223574744bec3f322f22c36bf.pdf?index=true

Introduction to global warming as a critical geoethics issue

1. Charney, J.G., Study Group Chairman, 1979, Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment: Washington DC, National Academies Press, https://doi.org/10.17226/12181, https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12181/carbon-dioxide-and-climate-a-scientific-assessment.
2. Nierenberg, W.A., Committee Chairman, 1983, Changing Climate -- Report of the Carbon Dioxide Assessment Committee: Washington, D.C., National Academy Press, doi 10.17226/18714, https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18714/changing-climate-report-of-the-carbon-dioxide-assessment-committee.
3. Weart, S.R., 2008, The Discovery of Global Warming [revised and expanded edition]: Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 230 p., ISBN 978-0-674-03189-0. Also refer to the associated website, A hypertext history of how scientists came to (partly) understand the problem of climate change, https://history.aip.org/climate/index.htm (2003-2024), for a more complete account.
4. Rich, N., 2018, New York Times Magazine article Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change: New York Times Magazine, accessible via https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/01/magazine/climate-change-losing-earth.html
5. Mann, M., 2023, Our Fragile Moment, How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis: New York, Public Affairs Books of Hachette Book Group, 306 p., ISBN 978-1-5417-0289-9.
6. Hansen, J.E., and 17 others, 2023, Global warming in the pipeline: Oxford Open Climate Change, v. 3, no. 1, kgad008, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfclm/kgad008.
7. Hansen, J.e., 2024, Climate Change at the International Court of Justice: International Court of Justice Proceedings in The Hague, accessible via https://mailchi.mp/caa/international-court-of-justice-proceedings-in-the-hague?e=8dbc336a13.

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