News & Announcements
- Important Information for 2019 Earth Educators' Rendezvous
- Honor your Colleagues by Nominating them for JGE Awards: Deadline is August 1
- Get Involved in NAGT! NAGT Seeks In the Trenches Editor-in-Chief, and Volunteers for Diversity and Donor Committees, Rendezvous Travel Challenge
- Check Out AGU's New Community Science Details
- Submit Your Abstract for AGU's Fall 2019 Virtual Poster Showcase
Upcoming Workshops
- Apply by October 15 for Your Institution to Host an NAGT Traveling Workshop
- MATLAB Workshop: "Teaching Computational Thinking Skills with MATLAB" October 20-22
- Project EDDIE: "Module Development Workshop" October 28-30
Deadlines
Section and Division Highlights
NAGT Career Hub
Rock and Mineral Exchange
1. Important Information for Earth Educators' Rendezvous
Participant Information
- Please look over the Participant Information page for information on arriving at the Rendezvous including ground transportation options and registration check in, during the Rendezvous including campus locations and evening events, and after the Rendezvous including information on local attractions and highlights.
- If you've registered to stay in on-campus housing, please check in directly at the New Residence Center between 8am-8pm. We will send more information in a separate email.
Earth Educators' Rendezvous Challenge
- Last year, NAGT received $4,000 in pledges for the first ever NAGT Challenge. We are repeating this Challenge for 2019 to raise funds for travel stipends to the 2020 Earth Educators' Rendezvous. The only way we can 'unlock' these funds is to raise an additional $4,000 for a dollar-to-dollar match. If we are successful, we will have $8,000 to provide travel stipends for participants to attend the 2020 Rendezvous. Give now through your NAGT Membership account and select the Professional Development Fund.
Connect Via Social Media and our Rendezvous Digital Message Board
- Message Board
- Looking to share a ride to and from the airport? New to the Rendezvous and looking for lunch/dinner companions? Do you want to follow up with folks following discussions started in your workshop or poster session? Please utilize our digital message board to continue the conversations and networking.
- If you know of something that you think other participants should know about, just send a tweet to @nagtgeo and include the hashtag #EarthER19. We'll be gathering all those tweets together on a page so that we can all benefit in near-real time.
- The Rendezvous will also be sharing images and posts of interesting things happening via the NAGT Facebook page. Be sure to "Like" NAGT so you'll get these updates as well.
2. Seeking Nominations for JGE Awards: Deadline is August 1
Outstanding Paper Award
Papers in all categories published by the Journal of Geoscience Education (Research, Curriculum & Instruction, Commentaries, and Literature Reviews) in the previous year (2018) are eligible to be nominated for the 2019 Outstanding Paper Award. In order to be nominated, a paper must exhibit, as relevant, at least some of the following characteristics: (1) innovative enhancement of student learning, which is documented and assessed, (2) advancement of the discipline of geoscience education, and (3) broad societal impact of vital and significant high-quality geoscience education. Any JGE reader, author, reviewer, associate editor, or editor may submit a nomination for Outstanding Paper. To submit a nomination, send an email to the Editor-in-Chief (jge-editor@nagt.org) with a complete citation and a discussion of how the nominated paper is an outstanding scholarly contribution, exhibiting one or more of the characteristics described above.
Outstanding Reviewer Award
The Outstanding Reviewer Award recognizes a reviewer who: (1) provided reviews of exceptional quality, (2) completed reviews more quickly than average, and/or (3) completed more reviews than average. The award will be based on the quality and quantity of reviews completed in the previous year. JGE authors, associate editors, and editors may submit a nomination for Outstanding Reviewer. To submit a nomination, send an email to the Editor-in-Chief (jge-editor@nagt.org) with the name and contact information of the nominee and a discussion of how the reviewer made an outstanding contribution to the peer-review process of JGE, highlighting the criteria described above. Recipients of both awards will receive a plaque and a $500 cash prize, and will be recognized at GSA and in NAGT publications. For more information about the selection process and to see past recipients, click here.
3. Get Involved in NAGT! NAGT Seeks In the Trenches Editor-in-Chief and Volunteers for the Diversity and Donor Committees
Apply to be In the Trenches Editor-in-Chief
Join the NAGT Diversity and Donor Committees
Are you or someone you know interested in getting further involved in NAGT? The Diversity Committee and Donor Development Initiative Committee seek nominations for new committee members.
The Diversity Committee promotes the development of a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive geoscience education committee and is looking first within NAGT and its programs. Learn more about this committee and its current members.
The Donor Development Committee guides the fundraising and development operations of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. Learn more about this committee and its current members.
If you are interested or would like to nominate someone to serve on either committee, please use this nomination form. Self-nominations are welcome.
4. Check Out AGU's New Community Science Details
- Are you interested in managing diverse teams, working across disciplinary boundaries and connecting science to action? The Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Fellowship Program offers individuals of all backgrounds the opportunity to build project management and community science engagement skills. Interested applicants are encouraged to reach out now for cohorts launching in September and December 2019. Learn more and apply here.
- AGU invites you to join a new cohort of 98 communities that are advancing priorities related to pollution, sustainability and environmental health issues! For more information about our program and to apply to be considered in the September cohort, visit the Thriving Earth Exchange. Applications will be considered for the September cohort on a rolling basis through August 15, 2019. We are also considering applications on a rolling basis for a December cohort until November 15, 2019.
5. AGU's Fall 2019 Virtual Poster Showcase Now Accepting Abstracts through October 1
AGU Fall 2019 Virtual Poster Showcase (VSP) is now open for abstract submission through October 1.
- Now is a great time to encourage your undergraduate and graduate students to submit an abstract. Students can submit abstracts here. To learn more about the benefits of participating in VPS you can watch this video in which a student and a faculty member share their experiences, or view a recording of the webinar "Introducing Virtual Poster Showcase into Your Curricula and Research Programs." Don't have students ready to take part now? Make plans to incorporate the Virtual Poster Showcase into a course, research, or capstone experience. Learn more about available accommodations for students with hearing disabilities. For more information please contact Pranoti Asher, AGU Higher Education manager at pasher@agu.org.
1. NAGT's Traveling Workshops Program (TWP)
- The TWP brings environmental, sustainability, and geoscience education leaders right to your campus, regional, or national event. In April, leaders from the Traveling Workshops Program (TWP) convened a highly successful workshop on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Earth and Environmental Sciences, focused on supporting the success of all students. Workshop sessions addressed the diversity of undergraduate student populations, evaluating and strengthening program design, and incorporating inclusive and equitable teaching practices. If you interested in addressing these or other topics in your department, program, or course, we invite you to apply to host a Traveling Workshop sponsored by NAGT.
- Application deadline is October 15, 2019 for Spring/Summer workshops.
2. MATLAB Workshop, October 20-22
Teaching Computational Thinking Skills with MATLAB
October 20-22, 2019 at Carleton College, Northfield, MN
For students to succeed at research and careers in STEM, they require quantitative thinking and computational skills. This workshop brings together faculty who teach computation in their courses and are interested in strengthening and developing their teaching skills and MATLAB based materials. Working in sessions and 1-on-1 with faculty peers and MATLAB experts, participants will discuss teaching strategies, tools, and resources. Participants will spend time during the workshop evolving and improving their course materials based on give-and-take with and colleagues. Because the workshop includes educators from multiple disciplines, from Biology to Engineering to Math; the workshop enables sharing of ideas and best practices across fields of study. The workshop sessions include a keynote speaker, presentations of effective lessons and teaching methods, panel discussions, and working in groups. The deadline for the MATLAB workshop has passed.
3. Project EDDIE Workshop on Module Development, October 28-30
October 28-30, 2019 at Carleton College, Northfield, MN
This 3-day face-to-face workshop will focus on the design and development of teaching modules that address the community identified needs and barriers associated with environmental content and quantitative reasoning. Module topics will span topics such as ecology, limnology, geology, hydrology, and environmental sciences. Each module will focus on specific scientific concepts and address a set of quantitative reasoning or analytical skills, using high-frequency datasets that are publicly available online. Workshop attendees will include faculty members from different disciplines and institution types and will be selected through an application process. Application deadline is August 25, 2019.
NAGT Career Hub: Ongoing
We welcome advertisements of geoscience education related job openings, postdoctoral positions, internships, assistantships, and undergraduate research opportunities that might be of interest to the wider NAGT community. Distribution of these postings include posting the ad on the NAGT Career Hub web page, distribution via the NAGT Facebook page, inclusion in the monthly NAGTNews email newsletter to members. The cost of posting a job opening or a postdoctoral position to the Career Hub is $75 per month (multiple months can be purchased at one time). Payment must be received before these postings will be published. It is free to post an internship, assistantship, and undergraduate research opportunity to the Career Hub. You can use this form to submit a posting for the Career Hub.
GEO2YC Division
- GER/GEO2YC/TED Divisions Social: The GER, GEO2YC and TED Divisions are excited to be sponsoring the Wednesday evening Social at Rendezvous! We invite everyone to join us in Nashville on Wednesday, July 17 from 6:45 - 8:45pm at Saltine restaurant located at 1918 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203. We look forward to seeing you there!
Do you have good news related to your geoscience education work that you would like to share with your NAGT Community? Would you like to call attention to a paper, presentation, or resource you developed or helped develop to share with your fellow Earth educators? Submit to NAGT's Community Kudos!
Available Samples
Retired Amateur Geologist Seeks Donation Recipient for Valuable Rock and Minerals Collection
Dr. Phillip Ellis Jackson Ph.D. (University of Chicago, Retired; Amateur Geologist) is requesting applications from Colleges and University Geology Departments across the U.S. to become the recipient of his extensive private rock and minerals collection. This collection consists of over 1000 samples (to date) of geographically-diverse rocks and minerals from the continental United States. The recipient institution may wish to keep the entire collection intact, or select a smaller number of representative samples for each site to constitute the permanent collection. Any remaining materials could be utilized for classroom research or demonstrations (which might include their partial or full destruction), or made available to deserving faculty or students to utilize for their individual research or future teaching purposes. Read more about the collection here.
Contact Dr. Jackson directly for more information:
Phillip Ellis Jackson, Ph.D.pejackson@outlook.com
(972) 816-6371
Ophiolite, Tertiary sedimentary, misc metamorphic
Desired Specimens
Precambrian chert. Stromatolites.
Are you looking for new specimens for your collection? Do you have extra samples to share with colleagues? Post in the Rock and Mineral Exchange.
