It is time to vote for officers of the Geoscience Education Research Division of NAGT. The ballot includes President and Vice President. Voting begins on May 30 and ends on July 1, 2018.
Officer Candidate Biographies
President
Katherine Ryker is an Assistant Professor in the School of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of South Carolina. Katherine's research interests revolve around inquiry and student learning in introductory geoscience lectures and labs, the relationship between teachers' beliefs and practices, and implications for professional development. Katherine has ten years of high school and college teaching experience, with teaching awards from NAGT, NC State and Eastern Michigan University. She enjoys putting her geoscience education research into practice in her own classes, as well as through professional development opportunities like the Earth Educators' Rendezvous and university-wide workshops on improving practices in STEM lectures and labs. At her previous institution, Katherine's teaching focused on pre-service teacher training in the Earth sciences. She has served as the NAGT GER Secretary from 2014 to 2017, overseeing the creation of the monthly newsletter and other division communications, and as Vice President from 2017-2018, leading GSA sessions on GER research methods.
Education: B.S. in Earth and Ocean Sciences, Duke University; M.S. in Sedimentology and Ph.D. in Geoscience Education from the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University.
Teaching experience: College-level: Physical Geology; Earth Science for Elementary Educators; Essentials of the Geosphere for Elementary Teachers; Secondary Methods for Earth Science Education; Nature of Science; Nature of Science for Elementary Teachers; Geology of NC for Teachers. High school-level: Biology, AP Biology, Earth Science, Astronomy, Intro to High School Math, and Algebra I for Durham Public Schools; Durham, NC.
Memberships: NAGT, GSA, IAGD, NSTA, ASTE, AEG.
Vice President
Kelsey Bitting is the Associate Director for the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Her research has investigated the effects of active learning techniques on conceptual geoscience knowledge and skillsets such as critical thinking and writing, student and instructor perceptions of course redesign and the implementation of active learning in introductory geoscience courses, and the dynamic landscape evolution of the Delaware River Valley in the context postglacial climate change. Since 2015, she has developed and facilitated workshops on a variety of topics, guide and mentor faculty conducting Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) projects, and provide consultations to faculty on all aspects of their teaching practice. Her current areas of specialization include STEM teaching and course transformation, contemplative pedagogy for deep learning and transfer, and project-based learning. Previously, Dr. Bitting was a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow for Course Redesign in the Geology Department at the University of Kansas, where she helped faculty implement active, student-centered teaching methods into their large introductory courses, provided professional development in pedagogy for graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, and mentored undergraduate researchers conducting geoscience education projects. She is a long-term contributor to the Geoscience Education Research Division through leadership of the Communications Committee. Her GER Division service includes producing a monthly newsletter that highlights new GER-related funding opportunities and research publications.
Education: B.A. in anthropology and Earth and environmental sciences, Vanderbilt University; Ph.D. in geoscience, Rutgers University.
