NAGT News - Vol 23 - No 11

Initial Publication Date: November 9, 2023

Renew your NAGT Membership for 2024

Thank you to all who have already renewed their membership! If you haven't yet, now's the time! Renew your NAGT membership and continue to receive benefits for 2024. Membership in NAGT comes with many benefits, including:

Discounted registration rates on NAGT Professional development workshops, including the Earth Educators' Rendezvous
The monthly NAGT e-newsletter, featuring articles, updates, and deadlines in the world of Geoscience Education
A subscription to the Journal of Geoscience Education, the premier peer-reviewed publication for geoscience education research, curriculum, and instruction
Online access to In the Trenches, our quarterly magazine focused on improving geoscience education at all levels
A voice in the development of Teach the Earth, NAGT's portal to online teaching and professional development resources for geoscience educators
The ability to recognize your colleagues and students through NAGT's awards
Opportunities to volunteer in NAGT committees and offices, from advocacy to professional development

Renew Your Membership!

Support Earth Education for All with a Donation to NAGT

Help us celebrate NAGT's 86th year with a donation! You can donate at any time and in any amount. Or, participate in one of two upcoming giving holidays.

Minnesota's Give to the Max Day - Did you know that NAGT's executive office is located in Northfield, Minnesota? Support this Minnesota-based nonprofit with a donation on Give to the Max Day - November 16, 2023! Give to the Max Day is Minnesota's annual giving holiday, generating donations and excitement for Minnesota causes that are working to improve the quality of life for all Minnesotans.

GivingTuesday - GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. On November 28, 2023, show your generosity by helping a neighbor, advocating for an issue, sharing a skill, or giving to causes like NAGT.

Thank you for supporting NAGT!

NAGT at the AGU Fall Meeting 2023

NAGT is sponsoring a variety of geoscience education sessions and activities planned for the Fall 2023 AGU meeting, held in San Francisco, CA, and online from December 11-15, 2023 and continuing virtually in late January 2024. The meeting theme this year is Wide.Open.Science.

Learn more on the AGU Fall Meeting web page.

Seeking OER Users for NAGT Webinars

In response to collected webinar evaluations and feedback, the NAGT Webinar Committee is soliciting volunteers for Spring 2024 webinar(s) on open educational resources (OERs). We welcome educators at any academic level (K12, 2YC, 4YC, informal education settings) willing to share how they are using any type of OER resource in their geoscience teaching. OER resources may include materials such as textbooks, virtual field trips, virtual museum collections, government data sets. We plan to develop "share-a-thon" events that will include brief presentations from a range of OER users, then open discussions to help inspire others to adopt these resources. Please fill out this survey to indicate your interest by Dec 1.

Nominations open for Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards

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 in NAGT, which includes an online subscription to the Journal of Geoscience Education and the In The Trenches quarterly online magazine. The next deadline to nominate students is December 15, 2023.

Please consider nominating your top teaching assistants. The process is not cumbersome and means a great deal to the recipients. For any questions, please contact Katherine Ryker (kryker@seoe.sc.edu).

Nominate yourself or your colleagues for an NAGT committee

Help to guide the work of the organization: NAGT committees are seeking new members. For more information about each committee and to nominate yourself or a colleague, please visit NAGT's Get Involved in NAGT Leadership web page. The following committees are seeking new members:

Nominate yourself or a colleague

Apply to be NAGT's Social Media Editor

Do you enjoy making connections across the geoscience education community? Are you interested in learning about and sharing timely information and resources with the NAGT community and beyond? Do you make a point of staying connected to geoscience education through social media? If you answered yes to these questions, then you might be a good fit for the NAGT Media Editor.

The Social Media Editor would be involved with creating this NAGT monthly newsletter, which serves as a means to inform our members about relevant events and activities within and beyond the organization. In addition, the Editor would have the opportunity to expand our impact and reach in social media through NAGT's Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X accounts.

Learn more about the position and, if it sounds like a good fit, apply using this form.

JGE Commentaries Will Soon Be Called "Position Articles"

A Journal of Geoscience Education (JGE) manuscript that is organized around making evidence-based recommendations to the geoscience education community will soon have a different name. It will be called a "Position Article," rather than a "Commentary." The term "Commentary" is used in different ways by other journals, which has led to confusion in our publisher's classification system. The language will be updated on the NAGT website, in the Instructions to Authors, and in the submission portal.

Submit Article Suggestions to In the Trenches

Are you doing something creative, innovative, or inspiring in your geoscience teaching? In the Trenches (ITT) would like to spread the word! ITT articles are short (2500 words or so) pieces that describe what you're doing and how others can try your techniques. Submit ITT article suggestions and check out the October Issue!

Apply for a Traveling Workshop: Bring our experienced leaders to you

The NAGT Traveling Workshops Program (TWP) connects you with experienced facilitators to design a two-day workshop that meets the needs of your department, program, or group. The TWP has well-tested workshop sessions on adapting to change, (re)designing your courses and curriculum, inclusive mentoring, supporting all students, and more. Are you preparing for a program review or responding to the feedback from one? Have you seen changes in the faculty in your department through new hires or retirements? Do you feel you could do a better job serving your students? We can help you. Apply to bring facilitators to you for a Summer 2024 workshop by January 15, 2023.

Apply for a Traveling Workshop

Welcome to the New NAGT Officers

NAGT officer transitions take place during the annual Geological Society of America meeting, which took place in October. Welcome to the newly elected officers, including NAGT President, Reginald Archer; 1st Vice-President, Rory McFadden; 2nd Vice-President, Katherine Ryker; Past-President, Christy Visaggi; and new Councilors-at-Large Nancy Chen and Cody Kirkpatrick. Thank you to all who serve in NAGT leadership and on committees!

Do you have good news related to your geoscience education work that you would like to share with the NAGT community? Submit it to NAGT's Community Kudos!

NAGT Webinar: Hands-on with PolarPASS: Teaching with 360° Interactive Environments

November 17, 2023, 10am Pacific | 11am Mountain | 12pm Central | 1pm Eastern (60 minutes)

In this webinar, participants will engage with virtual fieldtrips (e.g., 360° Interactive Environments) that explore the polar environments of Greenland. We will discuss how the 360° Interactive Environments were designed using data and insights from NSF-funded polar research expeditions and implemented with students as part of the broader PolarPASS curriculum to address specific learning outcomes like enhanced geospatial skills and development of a sense of polar place. We will go through a basic workflow for best practice in 360IE implementation and engage with an example so that participants can experience them as their students would. This webinar is led by Spruce Schoenemann (University of Montana Western) and Emily Ward (CIRES Education and Outreach, University of Colorado Boulder). Register by November 16, 2023.

2024 Workshop for Early Career Faculty

Applications are now being accepted for the 2024 Workshop for Early Career Faculty! Join us for NAGT's highly-rated, annual multi-day workshop in a stimulating and resource-rich environment where you will participate in sessions on topics including effective teaching strategies, course design, establishing a research program in a new setting, working with research students, balancing professional and personal responsibilities, and time management. This year's workshop will take place June 23-27, 2024, at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN. Learn more about and apply for the workshop by March 3.

2024 Earth Educators' Rendezvous

Mark your calendar and save the date for the tenth annual Earth Educators' Rendezvous, taking place July 15-19, 2024, in Philadelphia, PA! The Rendezvous brings together researchers and practitioners working in all aspects of undergraduate Earth education, including a mix of college faculty, graduate students, and K-12 teachers from all disciplines who are interested in improving their teaching about Earth.

GEO2YC Division

Nominate an Outstanding Adjunct 2YC Faculty today!

The Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award (OAFA) is an opportunity to showcase the efforts of you or one of your adjunct colleagues who is doing great work in geoscience education. Nominations are accepted on a rolling basis. See the information page for more details about the award.

Nominate an Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member