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Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Volume 51, 2023

Estella Atekwana: Autobiographical Notes

  • Estella A. Atekwana1
  • Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, California, USA; email: [email protected]
  • Vol. 51:1-23 (Volume publication date May 2023)
  • First published as a Review in Advance on November 01, 2022
  • Copyright © 2023 by the author(s).
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See credit lines of images or other third-party material in this article for license information

Abstract

I describe my career journey from a young girl in Cameroon, West Africa, to a trailblazing geophysicist to my current role as dean. I chronicle my time as a student, the transition to being an early career faculty, launching my research career, and ultimately finding my way to administration. Along the way I helped pioneer biogeophysics as a subdiscipline in geophysics while simultaneously maintaining an international research program in continental rift tectonics. I also describe the many intersectionalities in my life including being the first Black woman in many spaces, being a champion for student success, developing a diverse talent pipeline by enhancing diversity in the geosciences, and navigating academic job searches as part of a dual-career couple. Finally, I acknowledge all those who helped shape my career including the many students I had the opportunity to mentor.

  • ▪  Many underrepresented minority geoscientists lack the social capital and professional networks critical for their success.
  • ▪  Geoscience departments must be intentional and deliberate in promoting and ensuring more inclusive workplace environments.
  • ▪  Dual-career couples remain a major challenge, impacting retention and recruitment of top talent; universities should provide resources to alleviate this challenge.
  • ▪  Biogeophysics has untapped potential for advancing understanding of subsurface biogeochemical processes and the search for life in extreme environments.
  • ▪  To date, considerable speculation remains regarding the fundamental geodynamic processes that initiate and sustain the evolution of magma-deficient rifts.
Keyword(s): autobiography, biogeophysics, continental rifts, DEI, dual-career couples, student success
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2023-05-31
2025-06-22
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Estella Atekwana: Autobiographical Notes
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 51, 1 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-080322-082343
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-080322-082343
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-080322-082343
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