2013 Officer Elections

2nd Vice President Candidate Randall Richardson

Randall Richardson is a Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona. He has recently returned to research and teaching after serving in several capacities in the Office of Undergraduate Education at the University of Arizona, including Vice-President, for five years. In the future, he intends to focus more on undergraduate education. His current activities include curricular reform at the university level and service at the national level through, for example, Project Kaleidoscope, and he recently served one term on the Education and Human Resources committee of the American Geophysical Union.

Randall M. Richardson, Educ: BA Mathematics, UC San Diego, PhD Geophysics Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Prof Exp: faculty at the University of Arizona (UA), UA administrative experience including associate dean of the college of science and vice president for undergraduate education, PI or co_PI of four NSF grants in education; Teaching Exp: geology, geophysics, honors courses, and general education at the UA; Service has included: statewide UA representative on transfer issues; member and chair of several AGU committees, including Outreach, member of two AIP outreach committees and chair of an AIP taskforce on public policy, workshop presenter for several On the Cutting Edge workshops, organized workshops at AGU and GSA meetings, member of AGU, GSA, and NAGT.

Council Candidate John Taber

John Taber is the Education and Outreach Director at Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). The E&O Program is one of four core programs of IRIS, a university consortium that provides seismic data and equipment for seismologists worldwide. His charge is to advance awareness and understanding of seismology and earth science while inspiring careers in geophysics. The IRIS E&O Program provides products and activities for a variety of audiences, including the general public, K-12 students and educators, and post-secondary students and college faculty. Activities include museum displays, teacher and college faculty workshops, educational seismographs and data analysis, a public lecture series, undergraduate summer internships, and publications (educational posters, classroom modules, website materials).

John Taber, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
Education: BA Physics, Swarthmore College, PhD Geophysics, University of Washington;
Appointments and Professional Experience: Associate Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University (84-89), Post-doctoral Fellow, Research Fellow, then Earthquake Commission Fellow, Victoria University of Wellington (89-01), Program Manager, then Director, IRIS Education and Public Outreach Program (01-Present).
Service: Led InTeGrate curriculum workshop on Engineering, Sustainability and the Geosciences (13), Co-chair, IASPEI Commission on Education and Outreach (03-Present), UNAVCO E&O Advisory Committee (05-Present), EarthScope E&O Steering Committee (05-present), Deep Earth Academy review panel (11), Co-PI, Earth Science Literacy Initiative (08-09), Geo-Education review panel (06), E&O program plan creation team for NEES Consortium (04), Past president: New Zealand Geophysical Society, Management Committee, New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (99-01), Initiated the Quake Trackers project, a New Zealand national earthquake education program for schools (97-01).

Council Candidate Basil Tikoff

Basil Tikoff is a Professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He views himself as a quantitative field geologist. He uses a simultaneous combination of field geology, geophysical methods, physical (analog) models, and numerical models to understand three-dimensional deformation. His ongoing projects are on a range of scales and crustal levels in order to consider deformation of the entire lithosphere.

Basil Tikoff, Education: BS. Physics (Minor: Geology), Oberlin College, PhD, Geology, Univ Minnesota; Geological Sciences Faculty, Univ Wisconsin - Madison (98-present). Service: Departmental Undergraduate and Graduate study committees; Teaching Academy (Univ Wisconsin - Madison); Faculty in Geological Engineering and Integrated Liberal Studies programs; Co-organizer of 2 Pardee sessions GSA, 1 GSA Field Forum, 2 GSA Field trips; Member of NSF SILC (Spatial Intelligence Learning Center); Co-author NSF EarthScope Science Plan (10); Published over 90 Peer-reviewed scientific papers; Supervised 7 PhD and 15 Masters degrees. Awards: Donath Award, Geo Soc Am (00), Packard Fellowship, Outstanding Paper Award SG&T div GSA (11).

Geo2YC Division Vice President Candidate Benjamin A. Wolfe

Benjamin Wolfe is a full-time faculty member having taught introductory geology, environmental geology, physical geology, energy science, and physical science as well as interdisciplinary field based courses for Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City. He is also graduate student at the University of Kansas in the School of Education. He is focusing his graduate studies on addressing the transition that community college science majors face when they transition from a community college to a four year institution. He is researching how institutions can successfully prepare STEM students for this transition, through both curriculum and policy decisions.

Benjamin A Wolfe, Educ: BS. Geology, Univ Nebraska-Lincoln, MS. Geology Univ Alaska Fairbanks, current PhD student, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Univ Kansas; Teaching Exp: Geology/Geography Faculty, Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City, MO (03-present); Prof Exp: Environmental Geologist, Tetra Tech EM Inc., KS (01-03). Service: Faculty representative MO Dept of Higher Ed. Curriculum Alignment (08-09), Member NAGT Geo2YC Division Organizational Committee (10-11), NSF Grant Reviewer (11), Participant Preparing Students in 2YCs for Geoscience Degrees and Careers workshop (12); Awards: Missouri Governor's Award in Teaching Excellence (08), Midwest Chair Academy graduate (10).