SERC > SERC Staff and Collaborators > Karin Kirk
Karin Kirk

Karin Kirk

Geoscience Content Developer
Science Education Resource Center - Carleton College
kkirk at carleton.edu


I have a dream job! I am very fortunate to work with a team of hardworking, bright and deeply committed colleagues here at SERC. We all enjoy our jobs and are enthusiastic about improving education, running valuable programs, working with collaborators, building cool websites and thinking creatively about new frontiers in education and web technology.

Projects


I began working with the On the Cutting Edge program at its inception, initially working with Dave Mogk at Montana State University. The epic Teaching Petrology workshop and field trip in the summer of 2003 was an unforgettable introduction to workshop management! Since then I have provided support for over a dozen workshops such as the Affective Domain, Early Earth, and Introductory Courses workshops. Beginning in 2009 I have served as a workshop convener for Teaching Energy, Teaching Geoscience Online, and Teaching Climate Change from the Geologic Record workshops. In the 2010-2011 academic year I worked with Katryn Weise and Jimm Myers on the monthly Climate and Energy Webinar Series.

For the Pedagogy in Action project, I have worked with many talented authors and collaborators and helped them translate their innovative ideas into web modules that broaden the reach of their expertise.

I am also a collaborator on the CLEAN project, helping to gather, review and organize top-notch materials for teaching about climate change and energy. Starting in the spring of 2011 we launched a series of climate and energy workshops to help faculty expand their teaching of these topics.

Some of my favorite contributions that I have written for the SERC sites include the Affective Domain module, the Lifestyle Project, and the Teaching Geoscience Online module.

Karin in Bridger Gully
Skiing in Bridger Gully. Photo by Alpine Ambitions.


Background


I hold a variety of teaching jobs to balance out my work at SERC. I teach distance learning geology classes for SUNY Empire State College. In the winter, I am a ski instuctor at Bridger Bowl ski area. Teaching skiing is what spurred my interest in the affective domain, as this is an essential consideration while coaching students through daunting situations.

In the summer I do some coaching with our local bike racing team, and support my husband in his bicycle framebuilding profession, Kirk Frameworks.

My background in the earth sciences is in environmental geology and hydrology. My master's research involved investigating the Madison Aquifer for a potential public water supply for the city of Bozeman, MT. Prior to that I taught geology and environmental science at Skidmore College.

Education

Montana State University - Geology, M.S., 2002
Skidmore College - Geology, B.A. with honors, 1990

Publications

Kirk, Karin (2012). Self Efficacy: Do you Believe you can be Successful?, 32 Degrees: The Journal of Professional Snowsports Instruction, Winter 2012

Kirk, K.B. and Thomas, J.J., (2003). The Lifestyle Project: The Journal of Geologic Education, v. 51, n. 5, p. 496-499.

Kirk, K.B. and Custer, S.G., (2001). Potential of the Madison Aquifer for a city water supply in Bozeman, Montana: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program.

Kirk, K.B., Halstead, J.A., and Thomas, J.J., (1997). Field Studies in Environmental Science: An interdisciplinary college course on a local watershed, in Warwick, J.J. ed, Proceedings of the AWRA Annual Symposium, Water resources education, training and practice: Opportunities for the next century: American Water Resources Association, Herndon, VA, TPS-97-1, p. 501-508

Selected Presentations



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