Excellence in Earth Science Writing and Editing: James H. Shea Award

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The Award

Each year, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers presents the James H. Shea Award to an individual for exceptional contributions in the form of writing and/or editing of Earth science materials (broadly construed) that are of interest to the general public and/or teachers of Earth science. This prestigious award was established in 1991 by the officers of NAGT in honor of James H. Shea, long-time editor of the Journal of Geoscience Education. The Award commemorates Jim's long-standing commitment to promoting high-quality geoscience education by publishing the best ideas for effective and innovative teaching. The James H. Shea Award is presented annually.

Award Recipients

2025 Award Recipient: Dr. Rachel Phillips, University of South Carolina

Past Recipients

Make a Nomination

NAGT members may make nominations for this award; self-nominations are allowed. The nominator must submit a letter (not more than two pages in length) that includes a description of the nominee's contributions in the form of writing and/or editing of Earth Science materials that are of interest to the general public and/or Earth Science teachers. Although the award is named for Earth science writing and editing, the committee interprets these two terms broadly, welcoming nominations that refer to written and/or edited materials that are in print, online, visual, multimedia, etc. The letter must detail both the nature of the contributions and the reasons why the contributions should be judged as excellent.

Selection process

The award winner is selected by a committee consisting of 4 members of NAGT plus the Editor of the Journal of Geoscience Education. The committee evaluates nominations on the basis of a rubric with the following criteria:

1. Impact and engagement: Excellence is demonstrated through clear examples of how the nominee's writing/editing demonstrates their use of reporting, narrative, or storytelling, and has had an impact on the general public and/or Earth science teachers with their overall presentation.
2. Relevance to audience: Excellence is demonstrated through evidence for the relevance of the nominee's work to the identified audience, whether that audience is the general public and/or Earth science educators, with specific examples of how their work addresses the needs and interests of these audiences.
3. Clarity and readability: Excellence is demonstrated by evidence for the nominee's ability to communicate complex concepts effectively.
4. Innovation and creativity: Excellence is demonstrated through specific examples of unique approaches or perspectives in the nominee's writing/editing.

The committee may take the following items into consideration when evaluating the nominee's work. Evidence seen in the nomination letter(s) may adjust a final scoring from use of the rubric during committee discussions:

• Quantitative evidence of the impact and innovation of the product(s) produced by the nominee in addition to qualitative reviews;
• A clearly defined audience within and/or beyond the Earth science community, with evidence for how the work of the nominee has reached that identified audience beyond social media metrics and/or downloads;
• Evidence of the scholarship that has informed and framed the nominee's work, especially if the materials produced are social media and/or multimedia;
• Dissemination of the materials – for example, is it a membership-only newsletter? Something that there is a fee to access? Or freely available?
• Assessment of the materials -- for example, sharing the impact of the work in a conference presentation or newsletter/journal article;
• Evidence for increasing the Earth science literacy of the audiences that engage with this material.

Nominations will be considered active for three years.

Nomination Deadline: April 15

Submit a nomination or self-nomination using our online form