NAGT News - Vol 23 - No 10

Initial Publication Date: October 12, 2023

Last Call - Help Shape the 2024 Earth Educators' Rendezvous

Save the date for the tenth annual Earth Educators' Rendezvous! NAGT and the Rendezvous Planning Committee are pleased to announce that next year's Rendezvous will be held July 15-19, in Philadelphia, PA!

Interested in leading a workshop or roundtable?

Submit your workshop or roundtable proposal. The deadline for workshop and roundtable proposals is October 23. The Planning Committee will review all proposals received following the submission deadline with the aim of creating a balanced program that serves diverse audiences and community needs.

Have general ideas for programming?

Submit your ideas and suggestions for the 2024 program by October 23.

Get your proposal in soon-- the Rendezvous is moving to every other year starting in 2025 (more below)!

Want to stay in the loop?

Exciting changes coming to the Earth Educators' Rendezvous

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Earth Educators' Rendezvous (EER), and a time for us to reflect on what we've learned over the past ten years about running a conference and the evolving needs of the geoscience education community. Based on what we've learned, NAGT is adapting our approach. Starting in 2024, the EER will move to an every-other-year schedule. We will host the 2024 EER in Philadelphia as planned, and then the next EER will be in 2026 and every other year thereafter. The extended timeline gives us the opportunity to host a high-quality meeting that also makes best use of the financial resources, dedicated staff, and generous volunteers that make the meeting run. In addition, we are excited to move to this model in which we have more time to coordinate and develop synergies between EER and all of NAGT's other professional development programming. Read more about the scheduling transition. We look forward to seeing your ideas and proposals for the 2024 Earth Educators' Rendezvous in Philadelphia, and we'll let you know more about EER 2026 soon!

If you have ideas to make connections among NAGT programming or want to take a more active role in NAGT programming, let us know and/or consider nominating yourself for a professional development committee.

Earth Science Week is Happening Now: Teaching about Geoscience Innovation

AGI Earth Science Week 2023 Logo NAGT is proud to be a part of AGI's Earth Science Week, October 8-14. We've selected resources that align with this year's theme: Geoscience Innovating for Earth and People, from our Teach the Earth collection and other projects we sponsor because they are high-quality and reviewed teaching resources. Earth scientists innovate by developing new strategies, tools, and techniques to address questions related to resources, hazards, sustainability, and more. Geoscience engineers develop innovative solutions to societal problems. Learn more about Earth Science Week and check out NAGT's Teaching about Geoscience Innovations resources.

NAGT at GSA 2023

NAGT is sponsoring a variety of symposia and sessions at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America held in Pittsburgh, PA, from October 15-18, 2023. Visit us at booth #513 in the exhibit hall! The NAGT booth will be open all week. Interested in helping staff the NAGT booth? Contact Mitchell Bender-Awalt (mawalt@carleton.edu) if you're interested in volunteering.

View NAGT-sponsored sessions
Register for GSA's Annual Meeting
"NAGTea" Gatherings - come out to meet with fellow NAGT members and leadership!
- Join Executive Director Anne Egger for lunch at the booth on Monday at noon (bring your own lunch)!
- Join NAGT President Christy Visaggi for tea and conversation about mentoring, careers, and related resources for students and faculty on Tuesday, 10-11am (prior to the awards luncheon)
- Join DEI discussions over tea with NAGT DEI committee chair Samuel Cornelius Nyarko on Tuesday, 1-2pm (following the awards luncheon)

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. The meeting theme this year is Wide.Open.Science.

Learn more on the AGU Fall Meeting web page.

NAGT appoints a new Editor-in-Chief of JGE

We are excited to announce the appointment of Angela Hessler as the new Editor-in-Chief of our research journal, the Journal of Geoscience Education. Angela will take over from Kim Hannula, who has served in the role since 2020, on December 1. Angela is the founder and director of The Deep Time Institute, a non-profit focused on geoscience research and education outreach. Please join us in thanking Kim for her leadership and welcoming Angela to the journal and the organization.

Become an Associate Editor for JGE

Do you enjoy reviewing manuscripts and providing constructive feedback to authors? Are you interested in engaging more deeply in the review process? Would you like to be more involved in the geoscience education community? If so, you might be interested in serving as an Associate Editor. Learn more and, if it sounds like a good fit, apply by November 1.

Check Out Season 4 of "EveryRock Has A Story"

The first episode of Every Rock Has Story, Season Four, themed Life's Relationship with the Earth, is out now! In the first episode, Meet inspiring women in science who changed the world in "Jurassic Coast," travel to the Jurassic Coast to meet Mary Anning, a famous woman in geoscience who changed the world of paleontology. Hosted by Dr. Ethan Baxter, Boston College Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, each 10-15 minute episode conveys the story of a rock with topics spanning oceans, volcanoes, fossils, outer space, climate change and more. The videos are intended for children grades K-5 but they are fun and appropriate for all, including older kids, adults, parents, and teachers. Help kids learn about the contributions of women in science, and how they are being recognized today by watching and sharing this resource. The project also welcomes your feedback via this 3-minute survey.

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 Spring/Summer 2024 workshop by October 15, 2023.

Apply for a Traveling Workshop

John Taber and Katherine Ryker AGU Award Recipients

Congratulations to AGU awardees John Taber (IRIS & EarthScope Consortium) and Katherine Ryker (University of South Carolina - Columbia)!

John Taber received the 2023 AGU Excellence in Earth and Space Science Education Award, which recognizes mid-career or senior scientist teams, individuals, or groups who demonstrate a sustained commitment to excellence in geophysical education. Awardees have 'have made long-lasting, positive impacts in the Earth and space sciences at any education level from kindergarten through postgraduate studies,' and John was recognized 'for his leadership, advocacy, and impact at the interface between the seismology research and geoscience education communities.'

Katherine Ryker, received the 2023 Dorothy LaLonde Stout Education Lecture Award, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions in the area of Earth and/or space sciences, PreK - 16+ education, and/or public outreach and is awarded to individuals or team leaders who are within 10 years of receiving their PhD.

NAGT Awardees Recognized in October Issue of In the Trenches

Winners of the 2023 NAGT, GSA, CEO-CUR, Totten, Stout, and JGE Education Division Awards will be recognized during the joint award luncheon at the Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA, from October 15-18, 2023. The October issue of In the Trenches also features this year's awardees. This year's award winners include:

The Neil Miner Award is given for contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth Sciences and was awarded to Sharon K. Cooper, Columbia University, New York.
The James Shea Award is 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 and was awarded to Heather Goss, AGU.
The Excellence in JEDI Award honors colleagues who have made significant contributions to the promotion of justice, equity, diversity, and/or inclusion (JEDI) and was awarded to Anita Marshall, University of Florida, Gainsville and the International Association for Geoscience Diversity, Cincinnati, OH.
The Geological Society of America Geoscience Education Division Biggs Award recognizes innovative and effective teaching in college-level earth science and was awarded to Glenn Dolphin, University of Calgary.
The CUR Geosciences Division Undergraduate Mentor Award recognizes outstanding undergraduate research mentoring and was awarded to Christopher Kim, Chapman University.
Totten Awards recognize outstanding faculty and student research emerging from the feoscience education, geocognition, or related fields. The faculty awardee is Bailey Zo Kreager, Elgin Community College, and the student awardee is Stephanie Sabatini, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.
The Dorothy LaLonde Stout Professional Development Awards are given in honor of Dottie Stout's outstanding work and lifelong dedication to Earth science education, and were awarded to Kirk Benson, Arapahoe County Schools, Linnea Delucchi, Becket Academy, and James Ng, Maywood Center for Enriched Studies.
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 Bailey Zo Kreager, Elgin Community College; the JGE Outstanding Paper Award was given to Lindsay M. Schoenbohm & Mitchell McMillan (2022) Worldbuilding from tectonic first principles: Integrating and challenging undergraduate knowledge through a course project, Journal of Geoscience Education, 70:1, 56-72, DOI: 10.1080/10899995.2021.1908810
The Geoscience Education Research (GER) Transformation Award recognizes outstanding contributions to GER and was awarded to Karen Kortz, Community College of Rhode Island, Warwick.
The GER Early Career Award honors colleagues in their first 10 years post-dissertation who have made significant contributions to the development of geoscience education research and was awarded to Laura Lukes, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
The Teacher Education Division (TED) has awarded Bryce Henderson the Earth Science Teacher Leader Award. The award recognizes the accomplishments of K-12 educators with an enduring commitment to Earth Science instruction and leadership.
Outstanding Earth Science Teacher (OEST) Awards are given for exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth Sciences at the pre-college level. The winners of the 2023 Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Awards can be found on the NAGT OEST website.
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards are given to outstanding teaching assistants in geoscience education with up to 30 awards annually. The 2023 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award winners can be found on the NAGT awards website.

Please join us in congratulating this year's award winners for their incredible efforts toward advancing Earth science education. Awards provide the 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. Nomination forms are now open for next year. Nominate today!

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 NGSS-ESS Webinar: Ocean Acidification - Bridging Earth Science and Chemistry

November 2, 2023, 1pm Pacific | 2pm Mountain | 3pm Central | 4pm Eastern (60 minutes)

The spirit of NGSS is to break down disciplinary silos and encourage students to make cross-curricular connections, but this can be challenging, especially at the high school level. Infiniscope, a NASA-funded project, has been working to create mix-and-match learning modules that enable educators to organize their classrooms around specific phenomena and storylines. In this webinar, we'll share our newest suite of learning experiences tied to the anchoring phenomenon of Ocean Acidification and the investigative phenomenon of declining oyster populations. We'll share early results from student testing, plans for future learning modules, and how you can get involved. This webinar is led by Miashi Brunkhorst and Jessica Swann (Arizona State University's Center for Education Through Exploration). Register by November 1, 2023.

CLEAN Webinar: Introduction to CLEAN

November 08, 2023, 3pm Pacific | 4pm Mountain | 5pm Central | 6pm Eastern (30 minutes)

Led by CIRES Outreach Associates Katie Boyd and Gina Fiorile-Desranleau, this webinar offers a guided tour of the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) portal. Learn about the CLEAN collection of more than 800 climate and energy educational resources and the range of other supporting materials to help you effectively and accurately teach about climate and energy topics. Register here.

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