2014 GERD Officer Elections

It is time to vote for officers for the new Geoscience Education Research Division of NAGT. The ballot includes President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. The voting begins on the morning of Tuesday, May 6th and ends on Friday, June 6th.

President

As a member of the Geoscience Learning Process Research (GLPR) team at North Carolina State University (led by David McConnell), Laura Lukes has been actively involved in two NSF-funded collaborative, interdisciplinary geoscience education research networks (GARNET and INTEGRATE). Her current research is centered on student motivation and learning in introductory geology courses and the use of qualitative methods in geoscience education research. She regularly presents her research at GSA and currently has two articles under consideration for publication in JGE and one in preparation.

Prior to joining the team at NCSU, Laura Lukes served as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the National Science Foundation (2010-2011). While there, she served as director of the Joint Science Education Program (JSEP; a collaborative international science education program on the Greenland ice sheet for teachers and students from Greenland, the U.S., and Denmark). Laura Lukes also has over 10 years of experience teaching geoscience in a variety of learning environments (university, community college, and high school) and formats (in person, online, in the field). She has been recognized for her excellence in teaching by NAGT, GSA, Rio Salado Community College, and North Carolina State University.

Laura Lukes is actively involved in the geoscience education community. She has served as an officer in the SW section of NAGT and is currently serving as a member of the Geological Society of America's Education Committee. Additionally, she participated in the 2014 Summit on the Future of Geoscience Education and served as co-chair of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS)'s research communication workshop at the 2014 Arctic Science Summit Week in Helsinki.

In late June, Laura Lukes will be leaving the GLPR team to start a position as Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Faculty Excellence at George Mason University (GMU). There, she will focus on effectively communicating education research to faculty to positively influence teaching practices and student learning experiences. She will also continue to teach geoscience, designing and implementing the first geoscience course taught in GMU's Active Learning Technology classroom.

Vice President

Nicole LaDue is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at Northern Illinois University. She is a recent graduate of a discipline-based education research Ph.D. program where she studied spatial ability and visual representations in the geosciences. Her research incorporates methodologies from the learning sciences and education research to address geoscience-specific learning challenges. In addition to visuo-spatial processing, she has studied factors affecting the recruitment of geoscientists. Nicole hopes the newly formed Geo Ed Research Division fosters a sense of community within NAGT and extends the reach of Geoscience Education Research (GER) beyond existing disciplinary boundaries.

Education: B.S. Geology, SUNY Albany; M.A.T., Cornell University; Ph.D. in Geology, Michigan State University. Teaching Experience: 9^th grade Earth Science at 2 public high schools in New York State (6 years), dual-credit physical geology through SUNY Oneonta, Global Change introductory geoscience course at MSU, science teaching methods classes at NIU. Professional Experience: 2 years as an Einstein Educator Fellow in the Directorate for Geosciences, NSF; Member of Earth Science Literacy Initiative Organizing Committee; Panel reviewer for NSF, NOAA, NEEF; Reviewer for JGE; Member of SILC (NSF Spatial Intelligence Learning Center), NSTA, NAGT, GSA.

Treasurer

Kim Cheek is an assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Services at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. She teaches courses in science methods for elementary and early childhood education majors. She is interested in how students understand both deep time and the durations of geologic processes across a range of temporal scales.

Education: BA elementary education (minor special education) Goucher College, Towson, MD; M.Ed. elementary education, Towson University, Towson, MD; MS, geoscience, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS; Ph.D. education: science, Durham University, Durham, UK. Relevant teaching experience: science methods for elementary and early childhood majors, introductory earth science. Activities include: Professor in Residence at urban elementary school; text writer for Earth Science exhibit at Singapore Science Centre; curriculum consultant for Sekola Ciputra, Surabaya, Indonesia; critical stakeholder reviewer for A Framework for K-12 Science Education and NGSS; 11+ years full-time K-12 teaching experience; member SILC (Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center), GSA, NAGT, NARST, and NSTA; Phi Beta Kappa member.

Secretary

Kathy Ellins is the Program Manager at the Institute for Geophysics in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Kathy's current work in geoscience education addresses geoscience learning and public engagement through: (1) curriculum development for the earth/ocean/climate sciences; (2) teacher professional development; (3) multi-institutional collaborations to promote diversity in the geosciences at the K-12 and undergraduate levels; and (4) interdisciplinary projects that focus on connecting the geosciences to the visual arts. This work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Texas Education Agency, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and carried out in collaboration with researchers at UT-Austin, UT-Tyler, UTEP, Texas A&M University, Michigan State University, North Carolina State University, SERC, and TERC. Kathy is the Chair of the EarthScope Education and Outreach Subcommittee.