"In general geology is one of the forgotten natural sciences"
Forgotten or hidden? Almost all the good jobs involve working for the fossil fuel industry, which then treats discoveries as industrial secrets. If you want to be a well paid geologist, you will end up working for an oil company, but for the most part you won't be allowed to talk about your research, except when the research is discovering a negative. For instance, in the 1970s, the oil companies decided they would no longer look for deposits in layers dating to the 50 million years after the Permian Triassic extinction -- there is nothing for them to find at that level, because there wasn't enough life to create fossil fuels. That kind of research is released to the public, but positive finds are not.
>in the 1970s, the oil companies decided they would no longer look for deposits in layers dating to the 50 million years after the Permian Triassic extinction -- there is nothing for them to find at that level
You’re pretty spot on. Oddly, the Permian is one of the prolific source rocks in the US now!
Forgotten or hidden? Almost all the good jobs involve working for the fossil fuel industry, which then treats discoveries as industrial secrets. If you want to be a well paid geologist, you will end up working for an oil company, but for the most part you won't be allowed to talk about your research, except when the research is discovering a negative. For instance, in the 1970s, the oil companies decided they would no longer look for deposits in layers dating to the 50 million years after the Permian Triassic extinction -- there is nothing for them to find at that level, because there wasn't enough life to create fossil fuels. That kind of research is released to the public, but positive finds are not.