The Geoprofessional

Value Accord

SIGN THE ACCORD

This non-binding accord, drafted October 28, 2021, recognizes the concurrence and commitment of geoprofessionals (signatories), to elevate our value to the organizations, clients, and communities we serve through engagement of guiding principles.

Enka, NC - in this photo, Laura Beth Slagle is preparing a soil sample to be shipped to an analytical lab. Laura Beth collected five grab samples from a stockpile of stumps and soil created during clearing in preparation for installation of a natural gas pipeline. The proposed route of the pipeline crossed through two North Carolina Brownfields sites, so per the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) Environmental Management Plan, S&ME collected soil samples from any generated material to be disposed off of site for characterization and disposal purposes.


Geoprofessionals encompass various earth-related technical disciplines including engineering, geologic, hydrologic, and environmental sciences applied to below-ground (“subsurface”), ground-surface, and ground-surface-connected conditions, structures, or formations.

The signatories to this accord share a desire to achieve the following mission and value proposition through the framework of its guiding principles.

  • Geoprofessionals are essential experts that create opportunities and solve challenges at the intersection of human enterprise and the earth’s resources; we advance understanding and influence outcomes that enhance and sustain the aspirations of our clients, our communities, and our world.

    Geoprofessionals make lives better, knowing and “engineering” our connections to the earth.

  • Our value is advanced when we…

    • Are visible as leaders in our communities

    • Are open to change, through a lifelong commitment to learning and teaching

    • Are curious, embrace innovation, and lead technical advancement

    • Act as trusted advisors that enhance outcomes rather than simply providing deliverables

    • Communicate about risks and technical issues using familiar and transparent language

    • Recognize, promote, and celebrate with passion the life-changing, heroic aspects of our work

    • Stay involved with the entire life cycle of our projects

    • Include the “long-view” in our thinking

    • Support our professional societies through active participation

    • Contribute to public policies through commentary, as advisors, in appointed positions or elected office

    • Maximize our opportunities to lead projects

    • Are selective about the projects and clients that we engage

    • Seek diversity, equity and inclusion

    • Hold paramount the health, safety and welfare of the public; and

    • Serve as stewards of the earth

  • The multi-phase campaign to gather Signatories to the Accord was launched in January 2022. We are focusing the initial phases of the campaign on individuals practicing in the geoprofessions. We believe support for the Accord among individuals will steadily build over time and serve as a guiding light for the geoprofessions in efforts to advance value. Achieving a critical mass of support and engagement from individuals will ultimately compel geoprofessional firms, affiliated organizations and clients to better recognize the contributions of our profession. The results will be transformational.

SIGN THE ACCORD