Draft version 1.2 beta — Revised March 14, 2026

A Geoethics Primer for Geoscientists

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Common Morality and The Common Good
  3. Science Ethics
  4. Codes: Ethical standards, norms, and obligations of geoscientists as reflected in published codes and regulations.
  5. Other Issues
  6. References and selected bibliography for your continued development.
  7. Glossary

Preface

This Primer was written in its first edition by Vince Cronin — a geoscientist with experience as a researcher, university educator, and licensed professional geologist who has been involved in developing geoethics since the late 1980s.

Geoscience publications usually favor a depersonalized, passive voice meant to project objectivity and authority. That convention is not followed here, and deliberately so. Learning how to lead an ethical professional life is a deeply human endeavor, and it calls for a human voice.

The personal pronoun "I" used throughout this Primer belongs to more than any single author. Even in this first edition, the voice of this work is a composite of many people who have thought deeply about geoethics and who want to help you develop your own understanding of it. As you read, that voice will introduce you to published resources through which you can glimpse what the broader geoscience community believes it means to be an ethical geoscientist — and begin forming your own answer to that question.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments, including author information, are available here.

Please notice that underlined words like this — References — are links to other web resources.