22 GEOSCIENCE AND CANADA UNDERST ANDING OUR EARTH THE VIT AL ROLE OF CANADAS GEOSCIE NTISTS DI D Y OU KNO W that there are about 1 5 000 geoscientists 7 in Canada The y work across the countr y in cities remote locations kilometres underground and in the air offshore on rigs and ships in the feld and in laboratories and offces In Canada ge oscie nce is a r e gula t e d pr ofe ssion and al l ge oscie nt ist s m ust de monst ra t e t ha t t he y ar e ab le t o apply t he principle s of ge ological scie nce safe ly e fe ctiv e ly and e thically b y r e gist e ring as a P r ofe ssional Ge oscie nt ist P Ge o Ge oscie nt ist s Canada is t he na t ional or g aniza t ion of t he pr ofe ssional ge oscie nt ist s associa t ions in Canada s pr o vinces and t e r rit orie s It coo r dina t e s t he de v e lopme nt of na t ional admission st andar ds and pr ofe ssional pract ice r e quir e me nts t o e nsur e t ha t Canada is se rv e d b y a skille d v er sa t ile r e put ab le and account ab le ge oscie nce pr ofe ssion Most ge oscie nt ist s ar e al so me mbe r s of se v e ral t e c hnical and le ar ne d scie nt ifc socie t ie s T he Canadian F e de ra t ion of Ear t h Scie nces CFES is t he na t ional umbr e lla or g aniza t ion of Canada s ge oscie nt ifc socie t ie s W it h 13 me mbe r socie t ie s CFES is t he coo r dina t e d v oice of Canada s e ar t h scie nce comm unit y and r e pr e se nt s it s Canadian me mbe r socie t ie s in t he Int e r na t ional Union of Ge ological S cie nces IUGS and a t UNES CO Ge oscie nt ist s Canada in t ur n is t he Canadian r e pr e se nt a t iv e in t he IUGS s T ask Gr oup on Global Ge oscie nce P r ofe ssional ism C OL L A BOR A T ION Collabora t ion is fundame nt al t o scie nce and is a cor ne r s t one of ge oscie nce R e g ar dle ss of t he t ype of w or k a ge oscie nt ist doe s collabora t ion and t he shar ing of da t a and kno wle dge acr oss al l st age s of r e s e ar c h and applica t ion is e ss e nt ial T his t ake s place b y pub lishing scie nt ifc pape r s Society needs geoscience in formation to make informed decisions about local and global issues Geoscience information is critical to environmental protection climate change adaptation and ensuring resilient communities and infrastructure as well as the provision of mineral commodities and energy resou rces both fossil fuels and renewable energy Our well being relies on a robust geoscience knowledge base and the expert interpretation and advice of geoscientists GEOSCIENCE COMMUNITY SH ARING TH E KNOWLEDGE J Nelson J RyanN RCan