News
- 2020 Online Rendezvous: Registration and Updates
- Participate in AGI's Geoscience COVID-19 Study
- GSA Geoscience Education Seeks Nominations for 2nd Vice-Chair Position
- NAGT Endorses the Call to Action for an Anti-Racist Science Community from Geoscientists of Color: Listen, Act, Lead
- Vote in NAGT Officer Elections - Open through July 1, 2020
Awards and Recognition
Upcoming Workshops and Webinars
- GSA/NAGT Webinar Series "Using Digital Field Tools for Remote Teaching" - June 16, 23, and 30, 2020
- Workshop: Teaching Computation Online with MATLAB - October 11-13, 2020
Deadlines
- June 15: Outstanding Teaching Assistant Nominations
- June 15: JGE Editor-in-Chief Applications
- June 15: Traveling Workshop Program Applications
- July 1: MATLAB Workshop Applications
- Career Hub: Ongoing
Section and Division Highlights
From Our Members
Keep in Mind
NAGT Career Hub
Rock and Mineral Exchange
2020 Online Earth Educators' Rendezvous: Registration and Updates
Have you registered for Online Rendezvous yet? NAGT members receive $100 off Rendezvous registration. The Online Rendezvous will be held online from July 13-17, 2020 and will feature a mix of multi-day (M-W and Th-F) workshops with synchronous and asynchronous aspects, afternoon mini-workshops, roundtable discussions, plenaries, and a contributed program. Below are just a few of the exciting highlights of this year's online event. Register today!
- The Program maximizes synchronous times across multiple time zones, and affords a one-hour break between morning and afternoon programming. The Contributed Program features Oral, Poster, Teaching Demonstration, and Share-a-Thon Sessions.
- Two plenary speakers are included within the formal program; all participants will be able to attend the plenaries as long as they're registered for at least one day of the Rendezvous.
- We have added a morning workshop Teaching your upper-level course online: A Community Collaboration to build robust online Geoscience courses, as well as a roundtable discussion on transitioning to teaching online, in an effort to address the challenges we are facing due to the pandemic.
- The Preparing for an Academic Career workshop is designed specifically for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and others interested in pursuing academic careers in the geosciences.
- After registering for Online Rendezvous, participants will be emailed a link for workshop(s) and afternoon event selections prior to start date; sign up to receive Online Rendezvous updates to stay in the loop!
Participate in AGI's Geoscience COVID-19 Study
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is conducting a year-long study to capture the nature and extent of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the geoscience workforce and academic programs. This study aims to understand how geoscience employers and educational institutions are changing their workplace and instructional environments and to discover which of these changes will become permanent. A brief online survey will be sent to study participants twice a month and will only take a few minutes to complete. Results from the study will be reported only in aggregate and in a manner that ensures the confidentiality of the responses. This study is open to those who lead geoscience companies, organizations, or academic departments, and to all geoscientists, including students, retired, and those not currently employed, who reside in the United States, and are at least 18 years old. Learn more about this survey.
GSA Geoscience Education Seeks Nominations for 2nd Vice-Chair Position
GSA Geoscience Education is seeking nominations for the 2nd vice-chair position. This is a four-year commitment, serving as Second Vice Chair in year one, Vice Chair in year two, Chair in year three, and Past Chair in the final year. The Second Vice Chair will assume duties if the Chair and First are not available. The Second Vice Chair will be chair of the Awards Committee. Nominate by June 30, 2020.
NAGT Endorses the Call to Action for an Anti-Racist Science Community from Geoscientists of Color: Listen, Act, Lead
NAGT would like to share that we support the Call to Action for an Anti-Racist Science Community from Geoscientists of Color: Listen, Act, Lead which specifically calls on scientific professional societies, in particular those in the Geosciences, which have one of the lowest representations of Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian/Pacific Islander students and faculty in the scientific community to: a) Develop robust and meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion strategic plans, b) Fully implement strategic plans with all necessary resources, c) Track progress against traceable metrics that hold professional societies accountable, d) Diversify their leadership and staff with scientists drawn from underrepresented racial/ethnic, cultural, and ability groups, e) Diversify the selection process for invited speakers and invited papers with respect to underrepresented racial/ethnic, cultural, and ability groups, f) Examine why the awards are not diverse and make an effort to encourage nominations for awards, especially the early career awards to be diverse with respect to underrepresented racial/ethnic, cultural, and ability groups. NAGT endorses this statement and we encourage all members to read and endorse as an organization or individual.
Vote in NAGT Officer Elections - Open through July 1, 2020
NAGT uses an election process that includes a nomination committee which reviews all of the nominations for officers and makes a recommendation to the membership. The individuals on the ballot are being recommended to the membership for office. You may also write in a candidate for any office. Learn more about the process. Your participation is very much appreciated. Vote by July 1, 2020.
Carol Ormand, NAGT Member and Science Education and Research Associate at the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) recently authored a blog post SAGE Musings: Working from Home and was named as a featured author in Tomorrow's Professor. The post provides excellent advice on working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Carol's post is part of SAGE Musings: the SAGE 2YC Project Blog which addresses topics related to supporting geoscience faculty, broadening participation in the geosciences, and catalyzing change. Although written for geoscience faculty at two-year colleges, most posts are relevant for any STEM faculty member. SERC's SAGE 2YC Project works to build a national network of self-sustaining local communities of 2YC geoscience faculty and administrators who use evidence-based strategies to improve all students' academic success, broaden participation, and facilitate students' professional pathways into the STEM workforce.
Congratulations, Carol!
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 presentation or resource you developed or helped develop to share with your fellow Earth educators? Submit to NAGT's Community Kudos!
June 2020: GSA/NAGT June webinar series Using Digital Field Tools for Remote Teaching
- Using Google Earth for Remote Teaching, June 16, 2020 at 10:00am PT | 11:00am MT | 12:00 am CT | 1:00pm ET
- Using Gigapan for Remote Teaching, June 23, 2020, at 10:00am PT | 11:00am MT | 12:00 am CT | 1:00pm ET
- Using Virtual Landscapes for Remote Teaching, June 30, 2020 at 10:00am PT | 11:00am MT | 12:00 am CT | 1:00pm ET
October 11-13, 2020: Teaching Computation Online with MATLAB workshop will be held at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. This workshop will bring together educators teaching quantitative thinking and computational skills who are interested in strengthening their courses, teaching materials, and student uptake with programming, with a particular focus on transitioning courses to partially or fully online. Workshop participants will work with faculty peers and MATLAB experts to develop MATLAB related curriculum while sharing strategies, tools, and challenges teaching computational courses in the new virtual and distance learning reality. The application deadline has been extended. Apply by July 1, 2020.
June 15: Outstanding Teaching Assistant Nominations
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards are presented to outstanding teaching assistants in geoscience education, with up to 30 awards given annually. Both undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants are eligible for the award. Nominations must be submitted by the department chair or faculty member coordinating teaching assistants. Nominate by June 15, 2020.
June 15: JGE Editor-in-Chief Applications
The search for the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Geoscience Education (JGE) application deadline has been extended to June 15. The JGE Editor-in-Chief provides the overarching vision for JGE while paying attention to the details involved in maintaining a high-quality peer-reviewed publication. This individual will continue to expand the stature, reach, and impact of the journal, be responsive to the needs and interests of NAGT and the geoscience education research communities, and stay abreast of changes in the dynamic landscape of scientific publishing. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact the search chair in advance of the application deadline with any questions. The new Editor-in-Chief will assume responsibility for the journal beginning December 1, 2020. Questions? Contact the search committee chair, Margaret Crowder, margaret.crowder@wku.edu. Apply by June 15, 2020.
June 15: Traveling Workshop Program Applications
NAGT's Traveling Workshops Program (TWP) brings national leaders in geoscience education to your campus, regional event, or virtual format. TWP offers workshops on strengthening cross-campus environmental and sustainability programs as well as supporting the success of all students. Applications are being accepted for the 2020-21 academic year. NOTE: The timing and modality (virtual/in-person) of accepted workshops will be determined at the mutual convenience of host groups and workshop facilitators. Apply by June 15, 2020 to host a Fall 2020/Winter 2021 Workshop.
July 1: MATLAB Workshop Applications
Workshop: Teaching Computation Online with MATLAB. This 3-day workshop will be held at Carleton College in Northfield, MN from October 11-13, 2020. NOTE: Conveners are monitoring the COVID-19 situation and will make adjustments to the workshop plan as needed. Accepted and registered participants will be notified of any changes to workshop plans. See the workshop overview for more information. Apply by July 1, 2020.
Career Hub: Ongoing
The NAGT Career Hub allows institutions and organizations to advertise geoscience education related job openings, postdoctoral positions, internships, assistantships, and undergraduate research opportunities. All Career Hub postings are also featured in the NAGTNews e-newsletter and on NAGT's social media. Learn more about posting your opportunity to Career Hub.
GER Division
The nominations deadline for the GER Transformation and Collaborations Awards is June 15, 2020. These awards recognize those who have made significant contributions to the development of and capacity for geoscience education research, including non-GER colleagues (e.g. geophysicists, educational psychologists, education researchers, etc.) who have infused the GER community with new ideas. Find out more about both awards and make your nominations by June 15, 2020 for both the Transformation and Collaboration Awards.
Submit to the GER Exchange! NAGT-GER provides monthly updates on professional opportunities, funding, articles of note, researcher profiles, and other content of interest to our membership. Please consider contributing items of interest for inclusion in future editions of the Exchange! For questions, or to join the GER Communications Committee, contact Media Director, Lauren Neitzke Adamo at lauren.adamo@rutgers.edu.
New England Section
The NSF-funded Incorporating Climate Change into Your Classroom will be offered as a 1.5 day online workshop for K-12 teachers this on July 7, 2020 from 9am-4pm ET and July 8, 2020 from 9am-12pm ET. There is no charge for this online workshop, but registration is required. For more information or to register, contact Lori Weeden at lori__weeden@uml.edu.
TED Division
TED officers (Metlay, Hollister & Ellins) have an oral presentation during the 2020 Online EER Oral Sessions. Seeking Feedback on Proposed Geoscience Teacher Leaders Criteria will be held July 15 at 1:45pm PT | 2:45pm MT | 3:45pm CT | 4:45pm ET. We invite you to participate and help us move forward our proposed Geoscience Teacher Leader Standards.
NAGT members are welcome to participate in the next meeting of the TED Executive Committee on June 17, 2020 at 2:00pm PT | 3:00pm MT | 4:00pm CT | 5:00pm ET. For meeting details, please contact Suzanne Metlay at suzanne.metlay@wgu.edu.
Do you have news items for the TED Newsletter? Send news, photos, and updates to: suzanne.metlay@wgu.edu. You can also post time-critical information on the TED Facebook page.
Eastern Section
Check out the Eastern Section's Spring 2020 Bulletin for news and updates.
Pacific Northwest Section
The Pacific Northwest (PNW) Section 2020 Annual Conference originally scheduled to be held June 16-19, 2020 has been cancelled. The section plans to resume the annual field conference in 2021, and Philip Schmitz and Blue Mountain Community College (Pendleton) have graciously volunteered to host. For more information, contact conference organizer Philip Schmitz, pschmitz@bluecc.edu. View all PNW section updates and information on PNW Spring 2020 News.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 629kB Jun9 20).
AMS's DataStreme Program Provides Helpful Materials for Courses in Oceanography, Weather, Water, and Climate
AMS/NSF/NWS DataStreme program helps energize classes with information and techniques. Courses include teacher-tested products, activities, textbook and online services. The program is approved nationally for college credit. For more information, contact Stephen Carlson at scarlson@pdx.edu.
Share Your Creativity in the Real Ground Conversation
The Natural History Institute has initiated Real Ground, an open journal of field notes, images, and ideas that offer up hope, community, and connection. Real Ground provides an opportunity for the extended community to share stories, insights, observations, and creativity. Share your writings, photos, and videos, or read and enjoy contributions from the community.
NAGT does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on an externally-linked website. NAGT does not necessarily endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, nor endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
Contribute Your Online Materials to the Teach the Earth Collection
Do you have activities or assignments that transitioned particularly well to the online environment? Share them with the geoscience teaching community by submitting through the Contribute Activity Form found on the Teach the Earth (TTE) portal. If you are attending the Online Rendezvous, consider participating in the afternoon mini-workshop Navigating and Contributing to Teach the Earth, which will present what is available on the TTE website and provide tips on navigating and searching efficiently.
Get Involved in NAGT!
NAGT offers an abundance of opportunities for new members and veteran members alike to get involved in a variety of activities and deepen your connection with the Association. We invite you to explore the ways to get involved, including leadership roles, committees, and so much more!
Do you need to advertise a position opening, event, or field trip? Submit your posting to the NAGT Career Hub!
Available Samples
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.
