Decolonizing Geology: A Discussion

Decolonizing geology was a discussion held on July 3, 2020, hosted by the New Earth Histories Research Program at the University of New South Wales. It was moderated by Adam Bobbette and included Ruth Gamble (La Trobe University), Cin-Ty Lee (Rice University), and Christopher Wilson (Flinders University). The discussion was about how researchers from different fields—history, earth sciences, and archeology—understand the relationship between geology and society, time, cosmology, Indigenous knowledges, and what it means to decolonize geology. The discussion began with a welcome to country, the convention of recognizing Aboriginal land and its traditional custodians in Australia. Because the event was held over Zoom, with speakers in four locations on two continents, welcome to country acknowledged the Aboriginal and Indigenous land of each place.