Initial Publication Date: December 2, 2013

Webinar: Applying Geodesy Data to Societally Important Questions in Undergraduate Courses

Note: This webinar already took place at two times - January 10th and 31st, 2014, You can view the presentations slides in the References and Resources section.

Leader: Beth Pratt-Sitaula, UNAVCO

Start Time: 3:00 p.m. Eastern | 2:00 p.m. Central | 1:00 p.m. Mountain | 12:00 p.m. Pacific

Format: Online web presentation via Adobe Connect web conference software with questions and discussion. Participants will receive an email with instructions detailing how to log into the event approximately one week prior to the event.

In this webinar participants will:

Jump down to: References and resources from this virtual event, including presentation slides and a screencast.

Over the last two decades, technical advances in geodesy – the study of the size, shape, and mass of the Earth and their changes with time – have revolutionized our understanding of Earth processes and produced discoveries of major societal impact related to climate change, water resource management, and mitigation of natural hazards. Despite their value and importance, geodetic methods are rarely taught about in either introductory or majors-level undergraduate courses. UNAVCO and partners are working to publicize existing geodesy teaching resources and solicit input on development of future resources.

GETSI is funded to develop four ~2-week modules featuring geodetic data applied to societally important issues (climate change, natural hazards, water resources). Potential data types to be used include GPS, gravity measurements, radar interferometry (ex. InSAR), laser ranging (ex. LiDAR), sea level altimetry, and more. Participants in this webinar will be able to give input to shape how these modules are developed.

  1. Be introduced to a range of geodetic methods

  2. Receive an overview of existing resources for teaching with geodetic data

  3. Be invited to give input as to future resources they would like to see developed

  4. Be informed of ways to continue participation through serving as module co-authors, technical experts, or beta-testers.

Presenter

Beth Pratt-Sitaula

Dr. Beth Pratt-Sitaula is an Education Specialist at UNAVCO, a non-profit university-governed consortium that operates NSF's national geodetic facility. She has extensive knowledge of UNAVCO geodetic data resources as well as other geodetic techniques being used by other organizations. She is a co-PI of the NSF-funded GETSI (GEodesy Tools for Societal Issues) project which will be developing innovative new curricular modules featuring geodetic data for a range of Earth science courses.


References and Resources

Information sheet Web Resources for Integrating Geodesy Data into Undergraduate Courses (Acrobat (PDF) 130kB Jan9 14)

Webinar presentation Applying Geodesy Data in Societally Important Questions in Undergraduate Education (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 9.8MB Jan27 14)

Watch the screencast from the January 31, 2014 webinar below.