NAGT, GSA, and CUR Education Division Awards for 2015

We are very happy to congratulate the winners of a number of awards being given by NAGT, the GSA Education Division, and the Council on Undergraduate Research Geoscience Division. These awards will be officially presented at the 2015 Awards Luncheon taking place on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 during the GSA Annual Meeting. Read about all the award winners below.

NAGT James Shea Award

2015 Awardee - Nick Zentner, Central Washington University

NAGT Neil Miner Award

2015 Awardee - Bob Butler, Portland State University

NAGT Bob Christman Award

2015 Awardee - Andrew Buddington, Spokane Community College

NAGT Outstanding Earth Science Teach Awards

Read about the Sectional and State Winners for 2015

NAGT Dorothy LaLonde Stout Professional Development Awards

2015 Awardees - Melissa Hage, University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County, Baraboo, WI; Angela Shankle, Dona Ana Community College, Las Cruces, NM; Robin Wilson, Emmett High School, Emmett, ID

NAGT Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

NAGT also recognizes outstanding teaching assistants in geoscience education with up to 30 awards annually. Undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants are eligible for the award. Learn about the 2015 Awards

Journal of Geoscience Education Outstanding Paper Award

The JGE Outstanding Paper Award celebrates outstanding scholarly contributions made to the Journal of Geoscience Education. These are characterized by innovative enhancement of student learning, advancement of the discipline of geoscience education, and/or broad societal impact of vital and significant high quality geoscience education.

2015 Outstanding Paper: Carol J. Ormand, Cathryn Manduca, Thomas F. Shipley, Basil Tikoff, Cara L. Harwood, Kinnari Atit, and Alexander P. Boone, "Evaluating Geoscience Students' Spatial Thinking Skills in a Multi-Institutional Classroom Study"

Journal of Geoscience Education Outstanding Reviewer Award

The JGE Outstanding Reviewer Award celebrates outstanding contributions by peer reviewers of the Journal of Geoscience Education. It recognizes those who provided reviews of exceptional quality, completed reviews more quickly than average, and/or completed more reviews than average.

2015 Outstanding Reviewer: Katrien van der Hoeven Kraft (Whatcom Community College) and Roger Levine (Independent Consultant)

GSA Education Division Biggs Award

The Biggs Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching, the GSA's Geoscience Education Division's Named Award, recognizes innovative and effective teaching among faculty at all institutions engaged in undergraduate education who have been teaching full-time for 10 years or fewer.

Kyle Gray has taught Earth science and science education courses at the University of Northern Iowa since 2009. His teaching style is studentcentered and constructivist. Students in his Inquiry into Earth and Space Science class, a course with no formal lectures, engage in inquiry-based activities and projects in the three disciplinary areas of geology, meteorology, and astronomy. Elementary education majors receive extensive hands-on experience that provides them with not only content but also examples of activities and curricular material that will be useful in their future careers. He makes extensive use of engagement activities such as "clickers" as well as lecture tutorials, physical models, and in-class activities. In 2013, he received the UNI Liberal Arts Core Excellence in Teaching Award.

Council on Undergraduate Research - Geoscience Division (GeoCUR) Undergraduate Mentoring Award

Mark Wilson, professor of geology at the College of Wooster, has been selected as the fifth Council on Undergraduate Research - Geoscience Division (GeoCUR) Undergraduate Mentoring Awardee because of his longstanding excellence in undergraduate research mentoring and investment in providing original research experiences in locations across the globe. His impact has been felt by those he mentors, and his vision has shaped undergraduate research across and beyond his campus.

Mark is noted for the amount of time he devotes to each of his students, not just communicating knowledge, principles, and methods of research but also conveying the life of a scientist. Former students praise him as an exemplar in mentoring student researchers, going beyond the research process by listening to the ideas of students, giving career advice on career pathways and graduate school, and for being accessible, approachable, and patient. He continues to connect with alumni as well and to stay in touch regarding further research. One former student assesses him this way: "Dr. Wilson is quite simply the best teacher and mentor that I have been exposed to throughout my academic career."