Speakers and Topics

Over the lifetime of the Distinguished Speakers Series, a number of great educators have given talks on interesting geoscience education topics. Even though the program is no longer running, we provide a list of speakers who have taken part, as well as example talk titles, as a resource for departments and organizations looking to hire a speaker to present at their event. If you are interested in having one of these speakers give a talk, please contact them directly to inquire about their availability. Note that these individuals may have switched institutions since they were a part of the program.

Tanya Atwater, U.C. Santa Barbara

  • How the West was made: using the last half billion years of geologic history in western North America to illuminate continental plate tectonic processes
  • Cenozoic Plate Tectonics in the Western United States, from subduction to the San Andreas—a great illustration of the power of quantitative plate tectonics where oceanic and continental realms entangle
  • Plate tectonics, ice ages, sea level shifts, marine terraces, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc: bringing Earth processes alive with computer animations

Robert Butler, University of Portland

  • Engaging Secondary School Students and Nonscience Undergraduate Majors in EarthScope Science

LuAnn Dahlman, NOAA Climate Program Office

  • Adventures of an ANDRILLian: Geoscience research in Antarctica
  • How We Know What We Know about Global Climate Change
  • Promoting a Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education: Strategies for increasing the rigor and perception of Earth science courses in high schools

Susan DeBari, Western Washington University

  • Geology and Everyday Thinking: An introductory geology curriculum for future teachers that models the key findings of "How People Learn"
  • Teaching undergraduate petrology as a writing-intensive field course
  • Modeling effective teaching strategies for pre-service teachers: research-based strategies used in an introductory geology curriculum

Ed Geary, Western Washington University

  • Revolutionizing Earth and Space Science Education in the 21st Century: Roles of Individuals and Organizations
  • Integrating Content, Technology, Pedagogy, and Assessment to enhance Inquiry-based Learning
  • The Next Generation GLOBE Program: Student Investigations of the Earth System

Tracy Gregg, University of Buffalo

  • Incorporating research in undergraduate and graduate classrooms
  • Improving the undergraduate laboratory experience
  • Including planetary data in core geoscience courses

Eric Grosfils, Pomona College

  • Computational Science: An Emerging Tool for Undergraduate Exploration of Complex Geoscience Problems
  • Why One Planet Simply Isn't Enough: Engaging and Teaching Students in an Introductory Geology Course
  • Tips and Techniques for Integrating Student Research throughout an Undergraduate Geology Curriculum

Frank Hall, Worcester University

  • Using Earth Systems Science in the Preparation of Preservice Elementary School Teachers Issues
  • Hurricane Katrina: A Personal Perspective

Michelle Hall, Science Education Solutions, Inc.

  • EarthScope: An unprecedented opportunity for teaching about Earth
  • Building Effective University - School Partnerships
  • Visualizing Earth: What works for students?

Bruce Herbert, Texas A&M University

  • Developing Student Understanding of Complex Earth Systems
  • Seeking Synergy: Designing Programs that Integrate Research and Education
  • Understanding Student Learning: Views from the Learning and Cognitive Sciences

Thomas Hickson, University of St. Thomas

  • No more lecture, way more engagement: developing a 100% project-based course from the ground up
  • Building and using physical models in the classroom
  • Many options for many types of students: Integrating undergraduate research across the geoscience curriculum

Jackie Huntoon, Michigan Technological University

  • Broadening Participation in the Geosciences: Why It's Important and How to go about it
  • Using Field-Based Experiences to Improve Earth Science Teacher Training
  • The Role of Assessment in Geoscience Education

Patricia Kelley, University of North Carolina - Wilmington

  • Evolution and Creation: Conflicting or Compatible?
  • Teaching Evolution with Integrity and Sensitivity
  • The Arms Race from a Snail's Perspective: Evolution of the Naticid Gastropod Predator-Prey System

Karin Kirk, Bozeman, MT

  • Making the leap to teaching geoscience online
  • What is the affective do main and why should I care? Understanding and improving student motivation

Julie Libarkin, Michigan State University

  • Tale of Three Theories: Development and Use of the Geoscience Concept Inventory
  • When Wrong Answers Ask the Right Questions about Student Learning: Conceptual Change and Assessment in College Science Classrooms
  • Pictures Say a Thousand Words: Assessment of Alternative Conceptions through Analysis of Student-Generated and Student-Augmented Drawings

Sharon Locke, University of Southern Maine

  • Universal Design in Education: Principles and Implications for the Future of Geoscience Education
  • Can We Achieve Equal Access to Geosciences for All Students?
  • Fostering and Sustaining Interest in Science through Regional Alliances

David McConnell, North Carolina State University

  • The Tourist the Gunslinger and the Gardener: Rethinking Metaphors of Teaching and Learning to Enhance Student Reasoning
  • Technology in Support of Effective Pedagogy: Peer Instruction, Electronic Response Systems, and Good Practice in Undergraduate Education
  • Teaching for Understanding: Less Talk and More Action in Introductory Science Courses

Ellen Metzger, San José State University

  • Trends in Earth Science Education: Challenges and Solutions
  • How Earth Scientists Can Reach Out To Teachers: A Model from the Bay Area Earth Science Institute
  • Designing an Introductory Earth Science Course for Prospective Teachers

Paul Morin, University of Minnesota

  • The GeoWall, Using Stereo Projection in the Non-major Geoscience Classroom
  • Innovative uses of Geoscience Visualization in a Museum Setting

Carol O'Donnell,The George Washington University

  • Examining the Effects of Inquiry-based Science on Student Learning
  • Designing and Using Models to Teach Earth and Space Science
  • Teaching Teachers: Geoscientists and K-12 Teachers Working Together to Improve Pre-service and In-service Teacher Content Knowledge

Heather L. Petcovic, Western Michigan University

  • The Nature of Geologic Expertise: Evidence from Field and Laboratory Geocognition Research
  • Student Conceptions of Complex Environmental Systems in a Field-Based Undergraduate Course
  • Faculty Grading of Quantitative Earth Science Problems: Are We Sending Students a Consistent Message?

Stephen Pompea, National Optical Astronomy Observatory

  • GLOBE at Night: Starting and Maintaining a Worldwide Citizen Science Project
  • Starting an Effective Science Outreach Program: Is There an Easy Way?
  • Sonification: How Scientific Data Can Become Music, and Teach!

Wayne Powell, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

  • City-As-Lab: A Model for Civically-Engaged Geoscience Education in an Urban Environment
  • Pickled Priapulids: A Brine-Seep Origin for Fossil Beds of the Burgess Shale

Eric Pyle, James Madison University

  • Inquiry in Earth Science Education: Making Pre-college Earth Science a "Laboratory" Experience
  • What Makes Teaching Support Learning? A Framework for Designing Geoscience Instructional Materials
  • The Wilson Cycle as a Guiding Theory for Designing Instruction in the Geosciences

Christina Ravelo, University of California, Santa Cruz

  • Global Climate Change: Lessons from Ocean Drilling and the Discovery of Earth's Geologic Past

Leslie Reid, University of Calgary

  • Exploring College Students' Misconceptions in Introductory Geology
  • What's In that Rock? Students' Development of Rock Identification Skill
  • Transforming Geoscience Teaching in the Large Lecture Class: Examples of Team Projects, Alternative forms of Assessment

Linda Reinen, Pomona College

  • Using computational science to investigate and visualize complex geologic phenomena
  • Integrating student-conducted research into the curriculum

Eric Riggs, Texas A&M University

  • Toward an Understanding of Field Mapping Expertise: Student Navigation as a Measure of Problem Solving Skill
  • Geoscience Education in Native America: Working with Indigenous Communities' Knowledge and "Sense of Place"
  • Assessing the Educational Benefits of Field-based Teaching for Pre-service Teachers and Other Non-majors: Research Results, Applications, and Best Practices

Jill Singer, SUNY College at Buffalo

  • Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Opportunities: Taking Advantage of an Urban Setting
  • The Follies of Lotus Bay: an Earth Scientist's Role in Environmental Policy
  • Establishing and Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research Programs in Your Department and On Your Campus

David Steer, University of Akron

  • The Tourist the Gunslinger and the Gardener: Rethinking Metaphors of Teaching and Learning to Enhance Student Reasoning
  • Technology in Support of Effective Pedagogy: Peer Instruction, Electronic Response Systems, and Good Practice in Undergraduate Education
  • Teaching for Understanding: Less Talk and More Action in Introductory Science Courses

Kristen St. John, James Madison University

  • Engaging General Education Students with Scientific Ocean Drilling Data on Earth History and Climate Change
  • The Science and Education of Polar Climate Change
  • The School of Rock Experience - An Immersive Shipboard Teacher Research Program

Marilyn J. Suiter, National Science Foundation

  • Implementing STEM Education for ALL Students
  • Earth Science Education: Challenges and Opportunities

Mike Taber, University of Northern Colorado

  • Building Geoscience Content Knowledge and Inquiry Vocabularies using WorldWatcher data visualization tool
  • Data User Ability: How students make use of data in data-based decisions
  • Using Data Visualization tools in Problem-based Instruction

Barbara Tewksbury, Hamilton College

  • Shaking the tree: strategies for designing effective courses
  • Taking a critical look at assignment design
  • Incorporating GIS into undergraduate geoscience courses

Marta Torres, Oregon State University

  • Life-long Learning Opportunities in Oceanography: A Project Integrating Ocean Sciences into Adult Basic Education Programs
  • Methane-ice in Marine Sediments: Where, How and Why we Study these Deposits?
  • Submarine Springs: The Hot and the Cold

Michael Wysession, Washington University in St. Louis

  • Working Toward an Earth Science Literate Public
  • The Future of Earth Science Textbooks

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