NAGTNews - Vol 13 - No 6 - June 2014
An archive of past NAGTNews message is available to members at http://serc.carleton.edu/mailman/listinfo/nagt.
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- NAGT Election Results
- NAGT Outstanding TA Awards
- NAGT Summer Intern
- 2014 Dottie Stout Award Winners
- NAGT Events and Activities at the 2014 GSA Annual Meeting
- May JGE Issue
- Far West Section Fall Conference
- Seeking volunteers for a usability study
- 2014 USGS/GSA Best Student Geologic Map Competition Special Session
- COMPRES 2014/2015 Distinguished Lecturer Series
1. NAGT Election Results
The 2014 NAGT Officer Election has concluded and the results are in! Between the Association and the 3 Divisions we have a bunch of new and familiar faces in leadership.
Check out the new 2014-15 officers on the NAGT website.
2. NAGT Outstanding TA Awards
Each year, NAGT recognizes outstanding teaching assistants in geoscience education with up to 30 awards annually. Both undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants are eligible for the award. Award winners receive an one year membership in NAGT, which includes an online subscription to the Journal of Geoscience Education and the new In The Trenches quarterly magazine.For more information about the award and how to nominate your teaching assistant, see the program page.
Deadline for nominations is June 15.
3. NAGT Summer Intern
Welcome to Ellen!
4. 2014 Dottie Stout Award Winners
The National Association of Geoscience Teachers is pleased to announce the winners of our 2014 Dorothy (Dottie) Stout Professional Development Grants. Dottie Stout was the first female president of NAGT and was active as a strong supporter of Earth science education at all levels. In honor of Dottie's outstanding work and lifelong dedication to Earth science education, NAGT awards grants to faculty and students at two-year colleges and K-12 teachers in support of the following:
- Participation in Earth science classes or workshops
- Attendance at professional scientific or science education meetings
- Participation in Earth science field trips
- Purchase of Earth science materials for classroom use
This year's grant recipients are:
Joel Aquino, West Hall High School, Oakwood, GA
The Dorothy Stout Professional Development grant will allow Joel Aquino to attend the 2014 Geological Society of America conference in Vancouver, Canada. Joel is in a unique situation in that he teaches the cross-disciplines of geology and physics/physical science in a K-12 high school (West Hall High School), introductory college (University of North Georgia) and graduate-level education (Piedmont College). Joel's attendance and participation at GSA will assist him in achieving his goals of remaining up-to-date on current Earth science pedagogy and Earth science research. This grant will allow Joel to update his professional knowledge, skills, and connections in order to better serve his broad spectrum of students and future science educators.
Ella Bowling, Mason County Middle School, Maysville, KY
The Dorothy Stout Professional Development grant will allow Ella Bowlingto attend the History of Life—In the Fossil and Rock workshop with the Geoscience Adventures of the Bighorn Basin. Currently, Ms. Bowling teaches a wide array of Earth science concepts including the rock cycle, plate tectonics, and weathering and erosion. This grant will allow her to experience this type of geology first hand in a field study basis that would enhance her content knowledge, improve her skill set, and greatly expand what she is currently doing regarding Earth science education in her 7th grade classroom.
Andrew Buddington, Spokane Community College, Spokane, WA
The Dorothy Stout Professional Development grant will allow Andrew Buddington to facilitate an undergraduate student research project involving a combination of field and laboratory research on newly recognized (and geologically important) Precambrian rocks of the Inland Northwest region. The area of study (Cougar Gulch) was recently age dated by researchers from Washington State University. The geologic ages produced were completely unexpected and represent some of the oldest known rocks in the Pacific Northwest (1.86 to 2.64 billion years old). This grant will provide funding for sample preparations and analysis needed to complete an important phase of the project.
5. NAGT Events and Activities at the 2014 GSA Annual Meeting
NAGT is pleased to sponsor a variety of symposia and sessions at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America meeting held in Vancouver, BC, October 19-22, 2014. Please submit an abstract and attend workshops and sessions highlighting key issues of importance to geoscience educators at all levels. You can also come by the NAGT booth to meet officers and other NAGT members and to learn more about you can be involved in your organization. More information about NAGT activities at GSA will be added to this page as it becomes available.
Workshops
NAGT is putting on the 4-Pack of workshops again this year. Registering for one is $50, but if you register for a morning workshop and an afternoon workshop, it's still just $50!
- Teaching Geoscience in Society: Building Relevance and Interest in the Geosciences by Adding InTeGrate Resources to Your Class
- Improving Spatial Thinking in the Geological Sciences
- Student Learning Outcomes and Program Assessment
- Extreme Makeover Geosciences Style—Infusing Existing Curricula with the Spirit of the New Next Generation Science Standards
Field Trips
There are a number of fantastic field trip opportunities being planned for the 2014 Annual Meeting, but two may be of particular interest to geo-educators. Read more details and descriptions on the website.
- Full Access to the Geology of the Sea-to-Sky Highway
- Sea-to-Sky Geotour for Teachers
Topical Sessions
NAGT is sponsoring almost half of the education sessions at this year's meeting (15/34) and you can read about them on the NAGT Website. You can read about all of the education session on the GSA website. The deadline for abstract submissions is July 29, 2014.
6. May JGE Issue
The May issue of the Journal of Geoscience Education is available via the JGE website. Members can access the full-text of the articles by logging into their NAGT Account and clicking on Journal Access in the lefthand navigation menu.
Show Table of Contents - JGE v62, n2
Hide7. Far West Section Fall Conference
Oct 10th-12th, California State University Sacramento
The fall 2014 Far West Section NAGT conference is open to anyone who has an interest in Geology. This year's conference field trip opportunities include trips to the Sierra, Sacramento Delta, local Sacramento outcrops. and a Research Forest. Workshops offered include topics such as mineral use, reptiles in California, atmospheric circulation modeling for the "Next Generation Science Standards", and more! Workshops offer an opportunity to LEARN & EARN professional development hours.
More information about the conference and registration instructions are available on the Section Website.
8. Seeking volunteers for a usability study
An evaluation and research team from the University of Colorado at Boulder is seeking volunteers who are willing to participate in a usability study of a web portal that features climate science content. NAGT members are part of one target audience for this website. If you are willing to participate, we will compensate you for your completion of this study with a stipend of $50.
The usability study will take place virtually – you will need access to the internet and a phone line. The study will take up to 60 min. The information you are providing as part of this web-based interview and any data collected will be treated as confidential.
Goal of this study: This usability study will help improve the layout and navigation of the website. The website is a U.S. government website (we are not sharing details about which web portal we are evaluating to ensure the best possible research set-up).
If you are interested and available to participate in a usability session, please complete a short 3 min survey the following address:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/webportalusability
We will be in touch by email to set up a convenient day and time.
Best regards,
Karin Kirk and Anne Gold
9. 2014 USGS/GSA Best Student Geologic Map Competition Special Session
Please join us at the second annual USGS/GSA Best Student Geologic Map Competition Special Session. The competition, hosted by the US Geological Survey National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) and the Geological Society of American (GSA) with sponsorship from GSA Foundation, Association of American State Geologists (AASG), American Geosciences Institute (AGI), American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG), and the Journal of Maps will bring together student geologic mappers from around the world who have submitted their geologic maps into the competition and those interested in geologic mapping. Come and share your mapping stories, techniques, and maps.
Submission instructions, awards, and map judging criteria can be found at: http://community.geosociety.org/GSA2014/students/mapcompetition
Students must submit their abstract by 29 July 2014 to any GSA Session or Discipline using the GSA Annual Meeting abstract submission form (https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/cfp.epl) and select the appropriate box on the form to be considered for the geologic map competition. Your abstract must be accepted to be eligible for the competition.
Please submit your geologic map today!
Dr. Douglas A. Howard, P.G.
Geologist / Associate Program Coordinator
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program
U.S. Geological Survey
10. COMPRES 2014/2015 Distinguished Lecturer Series
COMPRES, the Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences, announces the speakers for its 2014-2015 Distinguished Lecture series in the field of Mineral Physics. The talks feature topics that emphasize the exciting high-pressure geoscience research being conducted within the COMPRES community and its significance for understanding fundamental Earth and planetary processes.
We are pleased to announce that the COMPRES Distinguished Lecturers for 2014-2015 are Dr. Przemyslaw (Przemek) Dera of the University of Hawaii, and Dr. Lowell Miyagi of the University of Utah. Their lecture titles and brief descriptions are given below. Titles, abstracts and bios may be viewed on the COMPRES Home Page at: www.compres.us. We invite you to request a visit of a COMPRES lecturer to your institution during the next academic year by following the instructions below.
The primary target audience for these lectures is undergraduates in departments of geology and related sciences. Non-PhD granting institutions will be given priority in scheduling the Distinguished Lecturer series but applications from all academic institutions in the U.S. are welcome. COMPRES will fund all travel costs for the speaker, including transportation, accommodation and meals. There is no cost to the hosting institution. The host colleges or universities will be expected to arrange the talks and provide local logistical support.
If your institution is interested in requesting a visit, please send your request to Jay Bass, President of COMPRES [jaybass@illinois.edu] with a copy to Heather C. Watson (watsoh2@rpi.edu) and Mark Frank (mfrank@niu.edu).
The Lecture Program is designed to run from September 2014 through May 2015. Lecturer requests received by July 1, 2014 will be given priority. Later applications will be considered on an as-available basis. In making your request please include:
- The name of a contact person at your institution for the months of June to August. This is when schedules will be assembled.
- Contact e-mail addresses and phone numbers.
- Lecturer preference and flexibility.
- Preferred semester and/or month for the visit, including flexibility. Also, if this is to be part of a regular lecture series, tell us the day of the week and time of the series.
- Airport proximity and travel time to your institution
The COMPRES Distinguished Lecturers for 2014-2015
Dr. Przemek Dera , University of Hawaii and Hawaii Institute of Geophysics: (1) High-pressure Adventures with Metastability and Subduction: Many environments in the Earth contain metastable phases that have been preserved beyond their stability field due to kinetic barriers. These phases may carry significant energy that could be released to trigger earthquakes and other events. This lecture will review recent exciting discoveries of metastable polymorphism in major mantle minerals. (2) Tales of Rock & Sand: A Crystallographic Journey From Hades to Heaven: This presentation will review the most exciting recent experimental results and experimental methodology advances achieved at synchrotron high-pressure facilities, providing new insights into the properties, behavior and transformations of minerals in the context of deciphering the puzzles of both meteorites and deep Earth processes.
Dr. Lowell Miyagi, University of Utah: (1) Anisotropy at the core mantle boundary: A marker for geodynamic process. An overview of recent-high pressure and temperature experiments on preferred orientation and anisotropy development in lower mantle mineral phases, and what this can tell us about mantle flow above the core mantle boundary. (2) Rheology experiments at extreme conditions: Understanding the mechanical properties of Earth's interior. This talk will cover experimental advances in rheology studies of mineral phases in the mantle transition zone and lower mantle. Implications for large scale processes like mantle convection and slab subduction will be discussed.
Rock and Mineral Exchange Posts
- Available: Fossilized rouse and massive limestone
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