NAGTNews - Vol 16 - No 11 - November 2017
An archive of past NAGTNews messages is available to members at http://nagt.org/nagt/news/nagtnews.html.
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- On the Cutting Edge Celebrates 15 Years of Impacts on Geoscience Education
- NAGT Award Winners Celebrated at GSA
- A Message from NAGT's Past President, Anne Egger
- Consider an End-of-Year Donation to NAGT
- NAGT Events at AGU Meeting December 12-16
- Announcing the Newly Redesigned InTeGrate Website and New InTeGrate Teaching Materials
- The InTeGrate Fall Webinar Series Continues
- InTeGrate in the News
- Science of Science Communication III Livestream Opportunity
- Apply to Co-Author a GESTI Module—Deadline November 6
- Save the Date—Abstract Deadline for VIII Geoscied is November 30
- NAGT Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards—Nomination Deadline December 15
- Next Traveling Workshops Program Deadline is January 15
- Save the Date—Abstract Deadline for Resources for Future Generations Conference is January 15
- Nominations for AAPG Foundation Teacher of the Year Award due January 15
- Assistant Professor Tenure-Track Position - Tarleton State University - Structural Geology
1. On the Cutting Edge Celebrates 15 Years of Impacts on Geoscience Education
Since its establishment in 2002, On the Cutting Edge has engaged more than 3,000 faculty, post-docs, and graduate students from over 900 institutions in 109 face-to-face and virtual workshops and community-based research projects. In addition, On the Cutting Edge has produced a website that has more than 9,000 pages of content and is visited by more than 1,000,000 users annually. On the Cutting Edge celebrated these accomplishments at the 2017 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA with an oral session titled "On the Cutting Edge: Fifteen Years of Impacts on Geoscience Education" (104:T122) and an associated poster session (163:T122) of the same name.
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Convened by three On the Cutting Edge Principle Investigators (David W. Mogk of Montana State University, Heather Macdonald of the College of William and Mary, and Michael E. Wysession of Washington University in St. Louis), the session began with six oral presentations that described the development and evolution of On the Cutting Edge program elements. An additional eight oral presentations and twelve posters discussed the impacts of On the Cutting Edge across the geoscience education community. Every presenter had stories to share about how the On the Cutting Edge program has enhanced their teaching, offered career guidance, and improved teaching and learning about the Earth.
The reach, impact, and success of On the Cutting Edge would not have been possible without an investment of more than $9.8 million by the National Science Foundation over a fifteen-year period. To thank the National Science Foundation for their support, more than 500 On the Cutting Edge community members contributed to a collective note of thanks to NSF. These comments were presented in book-form by all eight On the Cutting Edge Principal Investigators to National Science Foundation former program officers Jill Singer and Jeff Ryan at the GSA session.
On the Cutting Edge continues strong under a management committee with representatives from the three primary contributing professional societies (AGU, GSA and NAGT). The robust programming offered by On the Cutting Edge includes a virtual webinar series, the Workshop for Early Career Geoscience Faculty, the Traveling Workshop Program, the Earth Educators' Rendezvous, and more.
For more information, see the full announcement about celebrating 15 years of On the Cutting Edge.
2. NAGT Award Winners Celebrated at GSA
Winners of the 2017 NAGT Awards were recognized during the NAGT, GSA Geoscience Education Division & CUR Luncheon and Awards Program at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington on October 24.
This year's NAGT award winners include:
The Neil Miner Award, given to precollege teachers who have made exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth sciences and who are outstanding teachers, was awarded to Katherine Ellins of the University of Texas at Austin.
The James Shea Award, given to an individual for exceptional contributions in the form of writing or editing of Earth science materials that are of interest to the general public and/or teachers of Earth science, was awarded to Michael E. Mann of Pennsylvania State University.
The Robert Christman Distinguished Service Award, given in recognition of individuals who have provided long, distinguished service to NAGT at the national and/or section level, was awarded to Gene Pearson of the University of the Pacific.
The Dorothy LaLonde Stout Professional Development Awards, given in honor of Dottie Stout's outstanding work and lifelong dedication to Earth science education, was awarded to Jessica Cruz of Modesto Junior College; Janet Davis of Heartland Community College; and Peter Ower of Wilmette Junior High School.
The Journal of Geoscience Education Awards recognize a reviewer and author who have made exceptional contributions to the journal. The JGE Outstanding Reviewer Award was given to Kim Kastens of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The JGE Outstanding Paper Award was given to Kathryn A. Stofer for her paper When a Picture Isn't Worth 1000 Words: Learners Struggle to Find Meaning in Data Visualizations (Vol. 64, No.3, pp. 231-241).
The 27 winners of the 2017 Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Awards have been announced on the NAGT website and recently highlighted in the latest issue of In the Trenches.
These awards provide the NAGT community with the opportunity to recognize colleagues and students in a tangible way that communicates respect for their outstanding efforts and lets them know the work they've put into teaching substantially contributes to our organization's mission.
Please join us in congratulating this year's NAGT award winners for their incredible efforts toward advancing Earth science education.
3. A Message from NAGT's Past President, Anne Egger
NAGT's Past President, Dr. Anne Egger, shares her thoughts on the vital role of NAGT in today's world, discusses the value of participating in a community of peers as an Earth educator, reflects on her recent term as President of NAGT, and looks forward with enthusiasm to the association's future. Remember, now is the time to renew your NAGT membership for 2018 to continue being a part of this vibrant and important community. Watch the full video of Anne discussing her appreciation of NAGT .
4. Consider an End-of-Year Donation to NAGT
5. NAGT Events at AGU Meeting December 11-15
Planning on attending the AGU Fall Meeting in New Orleans December 11-15? Don't miss the wide range of NAGT education activities taking place at the meeting, including a topical session on amazing technologies that contribute to STEM, hands-on teaching demonstrations and activities, several sessions on diversity in geoscience education, and so much more! For the full list of NAGT-sponsored events at the Fall 2017 AGU meeting, see NAGT's AGU webpage.
Also be sure to stop by our booth (#1527) in the exhibit hall to learn about recent NAGT activities and connect with other NAGT members. We hope to see you there!
Seeking Volunteers for the NAGT Booth at AGU - We are actively soliciting NAGT members to help staff the booth during the AGU meeting in New Orleans. The vendors area will open at 6:00PM on Monday, December 11, and there are opportunities to volunteer each day until the showcase closes at 1:30 PM on Friday, December 15. This is a great way to meet other NAGT members from around the country and share your excitement about geoscience education. Your commitment and enthusiasm is critical to help bring new members on board. If you've never volunteered at the booth before, rest assured that it is both easy and fun! There will also be experienced NAGT officers and staff on-hand to guide and assist you as needed. If you're able to give even a little time to representing NAGT, please contact Krista Herbstrith (kherbstr at carleton.edu) in the Executive Director's Office and she can add you to the schedule.
6. Announcing the Newly Redesigned InTeGrate Website and New InTeGrate Teaching Materials
InTeGrate is pleased to announce the publication of the complete Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability course. In this 14- to 16-week, 11 module course, students explore a variety of sustainable technologies with emphasis on understanding the fundamental scientific properties underlying each. Students will also examine appropriate applications of the technologies and evaluate their use with environmental and economic considerations. By the end of this course, students will have learned basic geosciences principles through an exploration of environmentally sustainable technologies. Pedagogy will stress hands-on experimentation and learner-centered approaches. The design will minimize the role of lecturing and promote a variety of active learning approaches in a flipped classroom setting.
InTeGrate has also published a new 3-week, 3 unit module on Food as the Foundation for Healthy Communities. This module is designed to position students to have engaging conversations about the social, economic, and environmental relationships between food, food producers, and health outcomes. Engaging students in meaningful conversations about these relationships will inspire them to participate in the capacity-building of their own communities with the goal of seeing fresh, affordable, accessible foods and improved health as commonplace. Through Food as a Foundation for Healthy Communities, students will gain experience in systems-thinking by using real-life examples of challenges related to resource management and collaborative problem solving.
You can browse the whole collection of InTeGrate materials on the newly redesigned InTeGrate website. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses. Through the development of these modules, InTeGrate (Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future) strives to infuse Earth literacy across disciplines, engage younger students in the geosciences, and develop a new vision for how geoscience is positioned in higher education. InTeGrate is a sponsored project of NAGT.
7. The InTeGrate Fall Webinar Series Continues
Join the next webinar in the InTeGrate Fall Webinar Series:
Ways to Support All Students, Monday, November 13
9:00 am PT | 10:00 am MT | 11:00 am CT | 12:00 pm ET
Presenters: Diane Doser (University of Texas at El Paso) and Joshua Villalobos (El Paso Community College).
In order for geoscience to appeal to a more diverse group of students, we need to build programs that understand our current students and their communities, encourage development of the whole student, and support students from all contexts and cultures. Participants in this webinar will explore examples of activities that support "multicontextual" student populations (Ibarra, 2001) and highlight the "capacity-engagement-continuity" model of Jolly et al. (2004).
By the end of this webinar, participants will have:
- the ability to evaluate the appeal of your program to multicontextual learners and make modifications to enhance its appeal
- tools to build a program that supports all students through strategies that build engagement, capacity and continuity through curricular and extra-curricular activities
The deadline to register for this webinar is Saturday, November 11.
8. InTeGrate in the News
The positive impact of InTeGrate materials continues to be demonstrated in a broad range of institutions and settings. Most recently, InTeGrate was cited for its valuable contributions to programs at Wittenberg University and Pennsylvania State University.
On October 25, The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) named Wittenberg University among 22 institutions across the country that are modeling how to make civic learning and democratic engagement an expectation for all students. According to an article in Wittenberg's Around the Hollow, the AAC&U announcement specifically praised Wittenberg's Environmental Science and Geology Departments for their leadership in civic learning. In the article, associate professor of geology and environmental science Sarah Fortner acknowledges the role of InTeGrate in achieving this recognition: "Our courses are designed to inspire students to continue to support their communities. They also provide direct training for future work on earth and environmental challenges. We are grateful to our many community partners and the growing linkages between class, internships, and decision-making in our community. These are rich experiences for our students. We are also thankful to the NSF InTeGrate Project for showing us how to design around shared goals for our students and the Springfield Community. We have been lucky to collaborate with many faculty across disciplines to the benefit of our students." Congratulations to Wittenberg University!
Kudos are also in order to Tim Bralower and the Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University on the approval of an undergraduate minor in Earth and Sustainability. This new minor, available in-residence as well via Penn State World Campus, incorporates two InTeGrate developed courses: Coastal Processes, Hazards, and Society and Water: Science and Society. Penn State's Undergraduate Certificate in Earth Sustainability increases geoscience literacy and can help prepare students to become stewards of the green movement in education, politics, business, or law. Students may also use this credential to jump-start a career in geosciences, emergency preparedness, environmental health and sustainability, land management and conservation, or natural resource management. Congratulations to InTeGrate author Tim Bralower and Pennsylvania State University!
Learn more about the impacts of InTeGrate.
9. Science of Science Communication III Livestream Opportunity
With so many complex and sometimes uncertain scientific issues facing our society, there has never been a more critical time to communicate science effectively. Watch the National Academy of Sciences' Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia on the Science of Science Communication III live online November 16 - 17 to hear from researchers, practitioners, content experts, and philanthropists, all vested in ensuring that evidence-based science communication thrives. Register to watch the livestream
Deadlines
1. Apply to Co-Author a GESTI Module—Deadline November 6
GETSI is seeking proposals from faculty and instructors to author undergraduate-level teaching modules. All modules will be developed, tested, and published by collaborative author pairs drawn from two different institutions. They will each encompass about two weeks of instruction. Three modules will be entirely new and three will draw partially from existing modules and be adapted for a different student level. Authors will receive $7500 stipend for new modules and $4000 for adapted ones for their work authoring, testing, revising, and publishing the student teaching materials and supporting instructor materials. Stipends are limited to US citizens and permanent residents. Read more about geodetic methods and applications and apply to co-author a GESTI module.
Learn more about the benefits to being a GETSI author
Learn more about the expections for authors and the GETSI materials development and testing process.
2. Save the Date—Abstract Deadline for VIII Geoscied is November 30
The VIII Geoscied Conference, an international meeting of geoscientists concerned with education and training in Geosciences, will take place July 22-27 in Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil. The deadline for submitting abstracts is November 30, 2017. More information is available on the Geoscied website.
3. NAGT Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards—Nomination Deadline December 15
NAGT recognizes outstanding teaching assistants in geoscience education with up to 30 awards annually. Both undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants are eligible for the award. Award winners receive a one year membership to NAGT, which includes an online subscription to the Journal of Geoscience Education and our In The Trenches quarterly magazine. The yearly membership starts January 1st of the upcoming year.
The undergraduate student awards are the gift of Thomas Hendrix, Grand Valley State University. Tom was the recipient of the 1994 Neil Miner award and he also served as President of NAGT as editor of the Journal of Geoscience Education. The graduate student awards are funded by NAGT.
4. Next Traveling Workshops Program Deadline is January 15
The Traveling Workshops Program (TWP) brings national leaders in geoscience education to your campus or regional event. Designed for departments, institutions, or groups of institutions with shared interests, TWP offers workshops on strengthening cross-campus environmental and sustainability programs as well as supporting the success of all students. The TWP is a part of NAGT's integrated Workshop Program.
Application deadlines for the 2017-2018 academic year:
- January 15, 2018 (for Summer 2018 Workshops)
- March 15, 2018 (for Fall 2018 Workshops)
- October 15, 2018 (for Spring 2019 Workshops)
5. Save the Date—Abstract Deadline for Resources for Future Generations Conference is January 15
Please consider attending the Resources for Future Generations Conference (a meeting associated with IUGS) which will be convened in Vancouver British Columbia June 16-21, 2018. Registration is now open, and the abstract deadline is January 15, 2018. Over 20 topical sessions on Education and Knowledge are scheduled on topics related to the public, future impacts on society, indigenous ways of knowing, teaching and career. Other sessions related to resources and society address social and ethical values, indigenous and community collaborations, and global change and sustainability. This is a great opportunity to extend to an international audience the recent work on sustainability and workforce development from InTeGrate activities and from Cutting Edge programs such as Teaching Environmental Geology. Details of this conference can be found at http://rfg2018.org/rfg/2018/home.
6. Nominations for AAPG Foundation Teacher of the Year Award due January 15
The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Foundation Teacher of the Year award is part of AAPG Foundation's Excellence in Teaching Awards program. The TOTY award is funded and given annually by the AAPG Foundation to a deserving K-12 Earth science teacher within the United States who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the field of geoscience education. The award includes a commemorative plaque, an expense paid trip to the next AAPG Annual Convention & Exhibition in Salt Lake City, and a $6,000 monetary award. The deadline for this application cycle is Jan. 15, 2018. You can nominate a teacher here.
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Assistant Professor Tenure-Track Position - Tarleton State University - Structural Geology
Posted: Nov 6 2017
The Department of Chemistry, Geosciences, and Physics at Tarleton State University, in Stephenville, Texas, invites applications for an Assistant Professor tenure-track position in structural geology to start Fall 2018. The successful candidate will support the geosciences program by providing engaging, student-centered teaching; develop an active research program that involves undergraduates; and actively contribute to service and outreach initiatives that advance the department, college, and university. Review of applications will begin February 1, 2018, with a position start date of September 1, 2018.