2007 NAGT Awards
These awards will be given to their recipients either at the 2007 Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, CO or at state or regional NESTA meetings around the country in the near future.
Learn more about NAGT activities at GSA 2007.
Neil Miner Award
Michael A. Gibson received his B.S. in Geology from the College of William and Mary in 1979, his M.S. in Geology from Auburn University in 1983. Upon completion of his M.S. Gibson served as an instructor at Auburn for the 1983 academic year. He then moved to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where he obtained his Ph.D. in Geology in 1988. Since 1988 he has been on faculty at the University of Tennessee at Martin, currently holding the rank of Full Professor. He is an Associate Curator for the Pink Palace Museum & Coon Creek Science Center. Gibson was the 2003 Higher Education Science Teacher of the Year and the 2006 Distinguished Educator of the year for the Tennessee Science Teachers Association. Gibson has served as Southeastern President of NAGT (2000-2003); Councilor-at-Large on the NAGT Executive Committee (2003-2006) and helped to pen the NAGT position statement on teaching evolution. He was Secretary (1989-1994) and President (1994-1996) of the Southeastern Section of the Paleontological Society and currently serves on the PS Executive Council as National Chair of Education. Additionally he has served as the Southeastern Section Education Coordinator (2003-2005) for GSA; and is the Geology Editor for the Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science. Gibson was instrumental in Tennessee establishing the Cretaceous bivalve Pterotrigonia (Scabrotrigonia) thoracica as the Official State Fossil of Tennessee in 1998. He helped to found the Tennessee Earth Science Teachers (TEST) and serves as one of their higher education advisors. Gibson routinely runs development programs and field trips for Tennessee educators and serves on several State of Tennessee Department of Education committees, including the committee writing the state science standards. Gibson pioneered a dual credit geology course for high schools and teaches this course yearly Westview High School in Martin, TN. Gibson has published over 75 articles and is currently working on a book about Tennessee's state fossil. Gibson's research includes: 1) Silurian - Devonian paleoecology and taphonomy; 2) Paleoecology of the Late Cretaceous of the Mississippi Embayment; 3) Floral paleoecology of the Claiborne Formation of West Tennessee; and 4) Geology and paleontology of Belize, Central America.
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Jim Shea Award
Julie Libarkin is currently an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Geological Sciences and the Division of Science and Mathematics Education. Julie began her career studying geology and physics at the College of William and Mary, and received a PhD in geosciences from the University of Arizona with emphasis in paleomagnetism and cosmogenic isotopes. Upon graduation, she immediately began a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education. This fellowship provided an opportunity for Julie to switch her research emphasis from tectonics to geocognition, the investigation of how people perceive and understand the Earth and Earth phenomena. During this time, Julie moved to the Science Education Department at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, served for a short time as a research scientist at the Center, and worked for three years as an Assistant Professor at Ohio University. Julie has also served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Geoscience Education since 2002, and co-authors a column on science education research for the journal. Julie has authored or co-authored over thirty articles, book chapters, and opinion pieces in geoscience education, and is the PI on two grants to develop and expand the Geoscience Concept Inventory. Currently, Julie's research focuses on the conceptions and cognition of college students, the nature of behavioral and biological expertise, and the development of valid and reliable quantitative assessment instruments.
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Dorothy LaLonde Stout Awards
- Jennifer Anderson, Orting High School, Tacoma, WA
- Debbie Dogancay, Newbury Park High School, Newbury Park, CA
- Janson Petula, Tunkhannock Area High School, Tunkhannock, PA
- Lorraine Tsutsui, Washtenaw Christian Academy, Jackson, MI
Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Awards
- Central Section: Mr. Paul Varsho—Menomonie, Wisconsin
- Eastern Section: Debra Faulkner
- Far West Section: Diane Kelsey
- Midcontinent Section: No Award
- New England Section: David Eatough
- North Central Section: No Award
- Pacific Northwest Section: Clay Good
- Southeastern Section: Patricia Royle
- Southwest Section: Carol Ticho
- Texas Section: No Award