NAGTNews - Vol 14 - No 7 - July 2015

An archive of past NAGTNews message is available to members at http://serc.carleton.edu/mailman/listinfo/nagt.
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1. New Editor of Physical Geology Lab Manual

NAGT and the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) are pleased to welcome Baylor Professor, Dr. Vincent Cronin as the Editor of the Physical Geology Lab Manual, starting with the publication of the 11th Edition. As Editor, Cronin will have a prominent role in setting the direction of geoscience education nationally. He was selected because of his distinguished career teaching at the university-level, and a strong vision for the direction of future editions. Dr. Cronin's work will be vital to updating both the content and pedagogical approach in the manual so as to maintain its alignment with current knowledge and practice in geology and related sciences, as well as science education. Congratulations Vince!

2. Earth Educators' Rendezvous 2015 and 2016

Did you attend last week's inaugural Earth Educators' Rendezvous? We look forward to getting feedback on your Rendezvous experience. Look for an email with more information in the next week. You can also still upload posters or presentations for archiving on the Rendezvous website. Just go to
http://serc.carleton.edu/earth_rendezvous/2015/program_table/presentation_up.html
to submit your materials to the website.

Also, plans are already underway for the second annual Earth Educators' Rendezvous in Madison, WI next summer: July 18-22, 2016. Mark your calendars! We look forward to seeing you next summer.

3. 2015 NAGT Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards

NAGT is pleased to announce the 2015 Outstanding Teaching Assistant awardees. NAGT recognizes outstanding teaching assistants in geoscience education annually. Both undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants are eligible for the award. Award winners receive a one year membership in NAGT, which includes an online subscription to the Journal of Geoscience Education and our In The Trenches quarterly magazine. We offer two submission deadlines for this award, one in january and the other in June.

2015 Recipients for the June award

• Lars Anderas, University of Massachusetts Boston
• Bobby Cruze, Chemeketa Community College
• Renee French, Northwestern University
• Macy Howarth, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Rebecca Kiekhaefer, Clemson University
• David Moss, Syracuse University
• Natalie Nelson, University of Florida
• Raymond Pendleton, Texas A&M University Kingsville
• 2015 Recipients for the January award
• Kasey Garrand, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
• Luoth Chou, University of Illinois at Chicago

4. Reminder: 2015 NAGT Officer Elections

Remember to cast your vote in the 2015 NAGT Officer Election. The elections will end at midnight on July 31, 2015.

NAGT uses an election process that includes a nomination committee. The nomination committee reviews all of the nominations for officers and makes a recommendation to the membership. The individuals on this ballot are being recommended to the membership for office. You also have the option of writing in a candidate for any office.

You can also see biographical information for all the candidates as well

• National - http://nagt.org/nagt/news/15_natl_candidates.html
• Geoscience Education Division - http://nagt.org/nagt/news/2015_gerd_offic.html
• Geo2YC Division - http://nagt.org/nagt/news/2015_2yc_office.html
• Teacher Education Division - http://nagt.org/nagt/news/2015_ted_office.html

When you go to the election ballot, you will be asked to log into your member account.

If you have any questions about the election please email Erica (ezweifel@carleton.edu) in the Executive Director's Office.

5. Bentley Wins Outstanding Faculty Award

NAGT member, Callan Bentley (Northern Virginia Community College) has been honored with an Outstanding Faculty Award by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The Outstanding Faculty Awards are the Commonwealth's highest honor for faculty at Virginia's public and private colleges and universities. These awards recognize superior accomplishments in teaching, research, and public service. We add our congratulations to Callan for his truly amazing contributions to geoscience and education!

Read more about Callan and the award at http://www.schev.edu/adminfaculty/OFA/2015/Bentley.asp

6. Workshop: Teaching Geoscience with MATLAB

MathWorks (makers of MATLAB®) and On the Cutting Edge are partnering to develop and deliver a workshop focused on creating the best-in-class curriculum materials for teaching quantitative research and computational skills to geoscience students. Participants will bring and share their successes using MATLAB in the undergraduate classroom and discuss best practices for the community. The materials and findings from the workshop will be shared publicly for use by educators worldwide.

The workshop offers an opportunity for the leading practitioners in the field to participate and share their materials and ideas for teaching geoscience computation with MATLAB.

Details

Workshop: Teaching Geoscience with MATLAB
Location: Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Date: October 18-20, 2015 (5PM Sunday – 2PM Tuesday)
Application Deadline: August 28, 2015

Learn more from the workshop website:
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/data_models/matlab15/index.html

This Teaching Geoscience with MATLAB workshop is designed to capture and develop best practices and curriculum components for using MATLAB to teach students critical computational skills required for data access, analysis, and insight generation in undergraduate Earth Science and related courses. MATLAB can be applied to solving problems and developing systems involving mathematical computation, data analytics and statistics, signal and image processing, geographical mapping, publishing code and commentary, and more in the scientific and engineering domains. As a participant, you will help build a collection of teaching activities that enable you and others to employ MATLAB for teaching geoscience in classrooms.

This workshop is open to 30 college faculty (by application).

There is no registration fee to attend.

If you have additional questions, direct them to Cailin Huyck Orr (corr@carleton.edu).

7. New InTeGrate Module Published

The InTeGrate project is pleased to announce the publication of the new Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources module. Developed by Professor Adriana Perez, Dona Ana Community College; Jill S. Schneiderman, Vassar College; Meg Stewart, Independent instructional technologist; and Joshua Villalobos, El Paso Community College, this module enables students to identify the freshwater components of the hydrologic cycle and connect them to the basic need of all human beings for equal access to clean freshwater. This is accomplished by framing the water science within theories of environmental justice defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." Be sure to check out all of the InTeGrate-developed modules and courses.

8. Encouraging Networks Between Geoscience and Geoscience Education (ENGAGE) Workshop Report

NAGT members Nicole D. LaDue, John Taber, and Michael Hubenthal author important post-workshop report from the Encouraging Networks Between Geoscience and Geoscience Education (ENGAGE) Workshop. The workshop focused on promoting greater use of education research in the geosciences and encouraging relationships between GERs and researchers in various disciplines such as the Earth, atmospheric, ocean, and polar sciences.

9. PolarTREC Teachers 2016-2017 Now Accepting Applications

PolarTREC—a program of the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS)—is a professional development program for educators, which pairs teachers with researchers to improve science education through authentic polar research experiences. The program integrates research and education to produce a legacy of long-term teacher-researcher collaborations, improved teacher content knowledge and instructional practices, and broad public interest and engagement in polar science.

PolarTREC teachers will spend three to eight weeks in the Arctic or Antarctic, working closely with researchers in the field as an integral part of the science team. PolarTREC teachers and researchers will be matched based on similar goals and interests, and teachers will be trained to meet the program requirements prior to the field season. While in the field, teachers and researchers will communicate extensively with their colleagues, communities, and students of all ages across the globe, using a variety of tools including online journals, photos, other multimedia, and web-based seminars.

Teachers and research projects will be selected and matched to fill the approximately 12 openings available. All major expenses associated with teacher participation in PolarTREC field experiences are covered by the program and program partners, including transportation to and from the field site, food, lodging, and substitute teacher costs.

PolarTREC is funded by the National Science Foundation and administered by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States.

APPLICATION PERIOD

The application period for teachers to apply to participate in PolarTREC will begin on Monday, 20 July 2015 and end Tuesday, 8 September 2015.

More information and application forms are available at: [https://www.polartrec.com/researchers/application]

POLARTREC INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR

Interested teachers are encouraged to participate in a PolarTREC informational webinar (web seminar), scheduled for Wednesday, 29 July 2015 at 1:00 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time [2:00 p.m. PDT, 3:00 p.m. MDT, 4:00 p.m. CDT, 5:00 p.m. EDT]

For further information and to register to participate, please go to: https://www.polartrec.com/files/pages/184/ptrec_info_webinar_2015small.pdf

Instructions will be sent to all registered participants. Participation in the webinar is free, optional, and is not a prerequisite for applying to the PolarTREC program.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Further information about PolarTREC, including program goals, requirements, and frequently asked questions, is available at: https://www.polartrec.com/

Or contact PolarTREC:

Email: info@polartrec.com

Phone: 907-474-1600

10. USRA Scholarship Awards: Now accepting Applications

Universities Space Research Association is accepting applications for the 2015 USRA Scholarship Awards. These are awards made to undergraduate students who have shown a career interest in science or engineering with an emphasis on space research or space science education. Three Scholarship Awards have been established to honor individuals who have made specific contributions to science and the US Space Program. A fourth Scholarship Award, recently re-named in memory of USRA President Frederick A. Tarantino, broadly supports undergraduate science and engineering education. Students will be matched to the scholarship award most appropriate for their area of study.

Up to four Scholarship Awards are available in amounts of $2000 annually. Awards are made to undergraduate students who will be juniors or seniors in the fall. Awards are for one year only, but recipients may re-apply for a second year. All scholarship awards will be paid directly to the recipients.

Applications for Fall 2015 Awards will be accepted up until July 31, 2015.

11. Geosciences Congressional Visits Day (Geo-CVD)

Washington, DC
29-30 September 2015
http://www.americangeosciences.org/policy/get-involved/events/GEO-CVD

Please join us at the 8th annual Geosciences Congressional Visits Day (Geo-CVD) on 29-30 September 2015 in Washington, DC. Geo-CVD brings leading Earth and space scientists throughout the country to Capitol Hill to visit representatives in Congress, cultivate relationships, and communicate the importance of federal investment in geoscience and geoscience education.

Policy staff from the American Geosciences Institute will schedule and accompany you to meetings with Members of Congress and their staff so that you can discuss your research and illustrate the importance of supporting federally funded Earth and space research at agencies like NSF, DOE, NASA, NOAA, EPA, and USGS. You are encouraged to participate in Geo-CVD whether you have participated in congressional activities before or not.

Please RSVP to Abigail Seadler (aseadler@americangeosciences.org) by Monday, 31 August. Be sure to include your primary home and work addresses so we can determine your congressional district. An introductory webinar will be held ahead of Geo-CVD for new participants outlining what to expect; however, if you have any immediate questions please contact Abigail Seadler.

Please note that, unfortunately, no travel funds are available for Geo-CVD participants. Additionally, employees of federal agencies may participate but are encouraged to contact their agency's legislative affairs office prior to the event.

PREVIEW AGENDA:

Tuesday, 29 September

12PM—5PM: Geo-CVD Orientation Program at AGU (2000 Florida Ave, NW, Washington, DC)

5:30PM—7:30PM: USGS Coalition Reception and Exhibition on Capitol Hill (Rayburn Foyer, Rayburn House Office Building, Independence Ave. & S. Capitol St., SW)

Wednesday, 30 September

9AM—5PM: Congressional Visits with Members, Staff, and Committees on Capitol Hill.

12. Free NESTA Student Memberships

The National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) offers up to two sequential free years of student membership for students at the university level who are studying to become teachers or scientists in the Earth and space sciences, environmental sciences, or related disciplines. Membership includes access to our peer reviewed journal (The Earth Scientist). Faculty advisors will be asked to validate their students' status. Students can sign up here:

https://www.nestanet.org/cms/user/register/student

Please encourage your students to join.

Sincerely,
Carla McAuliffe
NESTA Executive Director

13. July Issue of In the Trenches

The July 2015 issue of In the Trenches is on its way to your mailboxes. You can check out the online version and supplemental materials on the NAGT Website.

http://nagt.org/nagt/publications/trenches/issues/jul15.html

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Rock and Mineral Exchange

• Available: Rock specimens for trade
• Desired: Ig/Met Hand Samples Wanted

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