All Earth

Advancing Geoethics: Current Challenges and Future Directions for Ethics in the Geosciences

For as long as humans have studied the earth system, they have had a normative impact on the discipline. Today, particularly set against the backdrop of the Anthropocene era, there is an increasing awareness that geoscientists do not conduct their work in isolation, and that there is an interplay between scientific research, the environment, and wider society. The emerging field of geoethics aims to ensure that research fulfils certain responsibilities, addressing “the ethical, social, and cultural implications of geoscientific knowledge, education, research, practice, and communication, providing a point of intersection between geosciences, sociology, philosophy, and economics.” (Di Capua G. and Peppoloni S. (2019). Defining geoethics. Website of the IAPG -International Association for Promoting Geoethics, http://www.geoethics.org/definition.)

There is therefore a pressing need to provide an introspective view of the ethical problems which exist in the geosciences, and their associated impacts on the scientific community and wider society. There is an obligation to scrutinize current practices, but also to understand the historical problems which have helped shape today’s research landscape, and to address, and redress, injustices, by:

• Raising awareness of unethical activities in order to bring them to the attention of the geoscientific community
• Creating an environment in which painful topics can be discussed and debated in a respectful way
• Providing a platform to address and discuss taboos
• Helping researchers to understand both the impact of their research on the wider community, and also the ‘upstream’ issues which may have impacted (positively or negatively) scientific research
• Understanding how advances in technology can hinder, as well as help, research in the geosciences

The aim of this Article Collection is to offer a forum for everything related to ethics within the realm of geosciences. In this context , we welcome submissions on a range of topics which are broadly grouped into the following areas : Equity, inclusivity, and accessibility, the impact of (commercial) trade on geological collections or objects, the role and use of AI in geoethics, decolonization, repatriations (restitution), and reparations in the geosciences (including paleontology), ethics in science outreach, fieldwork practices and citizen science, the ethical aspects of digitalisation and geoethics in the communication of geohazards.

Submissions are welcomed on any of the following subjects and subtopics:

• AI
  • The role and use of AI or AI-based tools in publication, research and outreach
• Decolonization
  • Dealing with objects specimens and (public)collections from a colonial past
  • Provenance research
  • Diversification, colonial bias, deconstruction
  • Repatriations (restitution process) - specific cases
  • Fossils from indigenous lands and the implications
  • Oral and non-written history or cultural significance
  • Historical record of indigenous geological objects
• Fieldwork issues
  • Good and bad practices in the field
  • Inclusion and exclusion of minorities (incl. LGBTQ+ and ethnic minorities)
  • Personal and group safety
  • Environmental impact and awareness
• Scientific inclusion, Equity & diversity
  • inclusion of minority groups (incl. LGBTQ+)
  • Ethnic, racial, sexual, religious, exclusion
  • Constructs of power and misconduct
  • The role of learned societies and the community in safeguarding and being equitable for all
• The commercial market for geological fossil specimens
• *Western colonisation of geo-objects - fossils (blood diamonds, skeletons)
  • Low-end & High end commercial trade and auctions
  • Using environmental precedent to maintain disingenuous ownership  of Geo-objects
  • Exploitation of ethnic groups for commercial  gain
  • Non-scientific restorations and enhancement of geo-objects
  • Value of Geo-objects and collections
• The role of collections in the geosciences
  • Private and Public collections
  • Bringing private collectors and museums closer
  • Ethical considerations on new and historic collections
• The valorisation of citizen science
  • Inclusion and exclusion of Citizen-science-driven research
  • Exclusion of research contributions of citizen scientists in journals / papers / academia
  • Citizen-Science and big data acquisition
  • Prejudices and discrimination
• Fraud - Scientific falsifications
  • Dealing with misinformation - fraud
  • Case studies of (historical) fraudulent actions
• Responsibility and liability in view of natural disasters

Article Collection Guest Advisors

Cassius Morrison is currently a Royal Society Career Development Fellow at the University of Leeds, investigating how past severe ecological perturbations affected terrestrial ecosystems. He completed his PhD at the Department of Earth Sciences at University College London on the palaeoecology of theropod dinosaurs. He strives to be novel in his research by bridging the gap between modern ecosystems and palaeontology to investigate palaeoecosystems in deep time, while simultaneously building mutually beneficial collaborations with colleagues in other parts of the world such as Argentina and India. The relevance and interdisciplinary nature of his work has been authenticated through receiving funding from multiple learned societies. Cassius is a vocal advocate for increasing diversity, inclusion, participation and retention within Geosciences and the STEM subjects and was the inaugural recipient of the UCL Marguerite T Williams Award for his work. He has considerable public engagement and scientific outreach including TV, radio and media appearances.

Anthonie Hellemond: Is a Belgian paleontologist and chairman of the Palaeontologica Belgica research organisation. His interests are aimed towards the valorisation of Belgian paleontology and regional geology. He is a passionate advocate for citizen science and is currently working on geoethics and inclusion in earth sciences. Furthermore, he also specializes in the curation and conservation of geological collections.

Mrinalini (Nalini) Kochupillai is currently Professor of Sustainability & Business Law at the Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki. With over 15 years of experience across 3 continents, her research & teaching span law, ethics, and the governance of emerging technologies, including blockchain, AI, and Earth observation. Her current research also explores the links between mental health and ethical decision-making. She serves as an expert member of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) Working Group 3, the Task Group on AI and Geosciences of the Geoethics Commission, International Union for Geological Sciences (IUGS), and a member of the ethics board of MI4People.

Paul Cleverley is a Geoscientist and Computer Scientist by background. He has worked for numerous companies in the IT and energy sectors over the past 30 years. Based in Oxford in the UK, Paul founded the disruptive Tech Startup Infoscience Technologies Ltd in 2018, pioneering Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms for the Subsurface and Geo-Resource sectors. The company was recognised nationally in 2022 by the British Computer Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. In 2023 the company received the King’s Award for Enterprise Innovation. He has several unpaid roles, including serving as Visiting Professor of Information Science & Technology at RGU in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Taissa Rodrigues has been Professor at Federal University of Espirito Santo (UFES), Brazil, since 2011. She is the Postgraduate Program in Biological Sciences (PPGBAN) at UFES, where she supervises Master's and PhD students in Animal Biology.  Her research focuses primarily on the anatomy and systematics of pterosaurs and the evolution of the Cretaceous biota. I have also worked on gender diversity in paleontology and on fossil trafficking.  She has been an elected member (term 2022-2025) of the Executive Committee (board of directors) of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, and currently serves on the Government Affairs Committee (since 2016), and the Ethics Committee (since 2022). She is a member of the Brazilian Paleontological Society, where she served as First Secretary between 2017 and 2019.

Further information

­­All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisors for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 31 May 2027

Please contact Alex Johnson at alex.johnson@tandf.co.uk with any questions or requests for discount codes relating to this Article Collection.

Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.

Please select the section Planetary Change and Paleosciences from the list of available sections during submission. Failure to select the appropriate Article Collection or Section name can result in delays.