NAGTNews - Vol 13 - No 4 - April 2014

An archive of past NAGTNews message is available to members at http://serc.carleton.edu/mailman/listinfo/nagt.
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1. NAGT Program Deadlines

published March 10, 2014

Several NAGT Award and Professional Development Programs have upcoming nomination deadlines.

Dottie Stout Professional Development Grants
In honor of Dottie Stout's outstanding work and lifelong dedication to Earth Science Education, NAGT awards grants to faculty and students at 2 year colleges and K-12 teachers in support of participation in Earth science classes or workshops, attendance at professional scientific or science education meetings, participation in Earth science field trips, and purchase of Earth science materials for classroom use. Additional information and application form available on the NAGT website Deadline: April 15

Outstanding Earth Science Teacher (OEST) Awards
OEST awards are given for "exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth Sciences at the pre-college level." Any teacher or other K-12 educator who covers a significant amount of earth science content with their students is eligible. Ten national finalists are selected, one from each NAGT regional section. Some sections also recognize state winners. Individuals may apply themselves or nominate a colleague for the award.

The selection of award winners is conducted at the Section level and each Section sets its own deadline for nomination. A listing of the deadlines and contact people for each Section is listed on the program website. The earliest Section deadline is March 15 for the Pacific Northwest Section with other sections following until the middle of May. So check out your Section's deadline and get your nominations in via the website.

Robert Christman Award
The Robert Christman Distinguished Service Award was established by the Executive Committee in April, 2008 to recognize individuals who have provided long, distinguished service to the Association at the national and/or section level. Recipients of the Robert Christman Distinguished Service Award are selected by a majority vote of the Executive Committee. Although an award recipient may be selected annually, the award was not established as an annual award. Nominations may be made through the NAGT website. Deadline: ongoing

2. NAGT On the Cutting Edge Announce New Partnerships

published Mar 14, 2014 10:15am

The National Association of Geoscience Teachers On the Cutting Edge is pleased to announce today that the American Geophysical Union, along with the Geological Society of America, have agreed to a formative partnership to improve the learning and teaching of the geosciences.

NAGT On the Cutting Edge has a long history of providing comprehensive, discipline-wide professional development programs for current and future geoscience faculty. It aims to develop a geoscience professoriate committed to high-quality instruction based on currency in scientific knowledge, good pedagogic practice, and research on learning with the ultimate goal of improving student learning.

The partnership between American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and NAGT On the Cutting Edge will help to sustain the high quality face-to-face, virtual, and travelling workshops as well as the online resources valued by so many educators.

"I'm the only oceanography instructor on my campus and until this workshop never had the opportunity to engage with others about the challenges of teaching this course...receiving feedback and support will translate to a better learning environment for my students." – workshop participant

"Got activities and ideas that I can use in the classroom with minimal adaptation will allow me to improve my courses without expending significant time and energy." – workshop participant

"Wonderful network of professionals and the valuable resources that I never knew existed!" – workshop participant

NAGT On the Cutting Edge, American Geophysical Union, and the Geological Society of America share many goals. Through this exciting collaborative effort, our aim is to continue to improve and strengthen geoscience education with the goal of a more educated and informed public ready to face society's environmental challenges.

3. CE Hazards Event Page - Oso Landslide

On the Cutting Edge has released a new Hazards Event Page with resources related to the March 22 landslide near Oso, WA.

4. Help us improve the NAGT Web Site!

As you have likely noticed, the NAGT web site recently underwent a major redesign. As part of this effort, we are running a series of usability interviews with NAGT members. Volunteers are given a scenario to play out or a task to complete on the site, while we observe your actions and ask a few questions. Feedback from these interviews will directly inform further improvements. Keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation to help out, or visit this link to sign up: http://nagt.org/nagt/about/usability.html

5. Teachable Moment- Thursday Anniversary of M9.2 Alaska Earthquake

published Mar 27, 2014 10:43am

IRIS has shared some of new animations for the 50th anniversary of the magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake of March 27, 1964. They offer a set of three animations made in collaboration with the U.S.Geological Survey and the Alaska Earthquake Center.

1) The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake. Description of the magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake, 2nd largest earthquake ever recorded by modern instruments. The animation explains the magnitude (Just how big is 9.2?), rupture processes, elastic rebound, and resulting tsunami. Data from this earthquake confirmed important aspects of the then-new theory of plate tectonics. http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/31

2) Tsunamis Generated by Megathrust Earthquakes. An animation about tsunami-generating megathrust earthquakes uses examples from Japan, Chile, and Alaska to describe structures that generate deadly tsunamis including: megathrust plate-boundary displacement; deformation of the overriding plate by splay faulting and/or folding; and earthquake-generated landslides. http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/33

3) Tectonics & Earthquakes of Alaska—More than just plate boundaries. Describes earthquakes of the Aleutian subduction zone boundary, one of the most seismically active in the world, and the Queen Charlotte Transform Fault. Explains how Yakutat terrane accretion drives mountain building and crustal fault earthquakes like the 2002 M7.9 Denali earthquake. http://www.iris.edu/hq/programs/education_and_outreach/animations/34

Best Wishes,
Michael Hubenthal

PS - If you are not already a subscriber to our Earthquake Teachable Moment service, you can subscribe (for free) to receive notification when a new presentation is ready to download. Presentations are designed to capture that unplanned opportunity to bring knowledge, insight, and critical thinking to the classroom following a newsworthy earthquake and are released within 24 hours of major events. Just follow the link and click on the mail icon... http://www.iris.edu/hq/retm

6. GeoCUR Undergraduate Research Mentor Award

The Geoscience Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research has established an annual award to highlight the importance of mentoring undergraduate research activities.

Eligibility: All Geoscience faculty involved in mentoring undergraduate research.
Prize: $500 along with a year-long CUR membership.
Expectations of Awardee: Short presentation when prize is awarded during the NAGT luncheon at the national GSA conference each fall.

Award Citation

The Geosciences Division of CUR annually recognizes an individual who serves as a role model for productive and transformative student-faculty mentoring relationships and for maintaining a sustained and innovative approach to the enterprise of undergraduate research.

Evidence of transformative student-faculty mentoring relationships include: leadership in fostering and sustaining the undergraduate research enterprise, student-mentor collaborations culminating in presentations at national or regional meetings and/or publication with student co-authors in peer-reviewed journals, and innovative approaches to involving undergraduates in research experiences incorporating research activities into the classroom and service learning.

Application Process

Nomination (including self nominations) materials: A two-page detailed narrative exploring how the candidate meets the criteria of the award, up to five-page CV that is focused on interactions with students, and two to five letters of support (at least one letter from a former student). The application remains on file for three years.

The application window opens March 1st and is open for three months. Send materials electronically to Laura Guertin (guertin@psu.edu) no later than June 1st of each year.

Visit the GeoCUR website to learn about our past recipients.

Undergraduate Research Mentor Award Committee:
Laura Guertin, Penn State Brandywine (guertin@psu.edu, award contact)
Daniel Brabander, Wellesley College
Erin Kraal, Kutztown University
Diane Smith, Trinity University

7. AGI Exit Survey of Geoscience Graduates

The American Geosciences Institute encourages your department to participate in AGI's Geoscience Student Exit Survey this spring. The survey not only benefits the entire geoscience community by improving our understanding of the latest crop of geoscience graduates, but can provide important feedback for your own department or program. This survey instrument was created to identify the initial pathways into the workforce for graduating students with their bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, as well as assess their preparedness for entering the workforce upon graduation. We recently published the result of the prior round of the National Geoscience Student Exit Survey, which can be downloaded from http://www.americangeosciences.org/workforce/reports.

This survey is web-based and will have a set of standardized questions. We need each participating department to distribute a department-specific survey link to their graduating students. Departments will be able to customize the survey by adding questions that pertain to local interests. Each department will also receive the data for their graduating students after the survey has completed.

Please send an email to Carolyn Wilson (cwilson@agiweb.org) to indicate your interest in participating and your ideal target date to send the survey to your graduating students.

8. High School Students and Teachers Invited to Participate in Unique NSF-Funded Research Experiences

Did you know that the National Science Foundation (NSF) funds startups and small businesses to perform economically and socially impactful, cutting-edge research and technology translation? NSF is currently seeking high school students, undergraduates, K-12 teachers and community college instructors interested in participating in both summer and year-long research opportunities with small businesses and startups. Grants up to $6,000 for high school students and $10,000 for K-12 teachers are available through NSF's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Programs. Students and teachers from underrepresented groups in science and engineering (i.e. women, Hispanics, African-American, Native Americans, Hawaii Natives, Alaska Natives and people with disabilities) are highly encouraged to participate.

Learn more at http://www.trianglecoalition.org/bulletin/april-1-2014#b

9. Karst Field Studies Program - Summer 2014

The Department of Geography and Geology at Western Kentucky University and its partners encourage you to participate in the summer 2014 Karst Field Studies Program at and near Mammoth Cave National Park. Tentative courses this summer will include:

• Karst Geology, June 1-7, Dr. Art Palmer
• Exploration of the Mammoth Cave Area, June 8-14, Dr. Stanley Sides
• Cave Survey and Cartography, June 15-21, Dr. Pat Kambesis, with assistance from Mr. Howard Kalnitz

Take a class for fun as non-credit workshops OR courses may also be taken for graduate, undergraduate, or continuing education credit.

For more information about the program, courses, how to register, and instructors, please visit http://karstfieldstudies.com. But hurry, the deadline to reserve you spot is Friday, May 9. Space is limited.

If you have any questions please contact the Karst Field Studies Director, Dr. Leslie North, at leslie.north@wku.edu.

10. Triangle Coalition Announces the New 2014-15 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program Awards

Triangle Coalition for STEM Education recently announced fourteen new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators selected for the 2014-15 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship (AEF) Program. Beginning September 1, 2014, the selected educators will serve an 11-month fellowship in Washington, D.C. at sponsoring agencies, which include the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). As Einstein Fellows, the educators will provide their host agency with practical classroom insight to inform the development and implementation of education programs and policies, especially those related STEM education.

Learn more at http://www.trianglecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/News-Release-2014-15-Albert-Einstein-Fellows-Announcement.pdf.

11. AGU/AGI Heads and Chairs Webinars

AGU and AGI are pleased to support geoscience departments through the Earth and Space Science Heads and Chairs program, managed by AGU's Manager of Education and Public Outreach, Pranoti Asher. One part of this effort is a series of webinars and virtual meetings of the Heads and Chairs. Recordings of these webinars are available through a YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7Ihm2Mh3MZ6MZJLQPeXp1elAVpWXYa0r).

For more information, please visit: http://www.agiweb.org/workforce/headsandchairs/

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