Canada

Think back to how you first decided to become a geoscientist. Odds are good that it was because of an interaction with someone who you admired and who encouraged you to consider it. That was certainly my experience as a freshman political science major, taking geology to satisfy my general education laboratory science requirement. “What are you going to do with a political science degree?” my professor asked when I finished that first semester. “You should take historical geology next semester.” And that, as they say, was that.

I have read with genuine excitement about new technologies for direct air capture of CO2, electrolytic conversion of water to hydrogen and then using the H2 to make ammonia and using CO2 from direct air capture and combining it through electrolysis to make jet fuel. These technological advances are truly impressive from a scientific perspective. However, you will need to forgive me for being rather simple-minded as I look at these impressive accomplishments.