Workshop Overview

This workshop is being held in conjunction with the American Quaternary Association biennial meeting and is co-sponsored by the U.S. National Committee for the International Union for Quaternary Research . The Cutting Edge Teaching Climate Change workshop will take place June 19-20, 2012. The AMQUA meeting begins June 21 and continues through June 25. Participants may attend either one of the events or both of them. Note that the registration is separate for each event. This web page is for the Cutting Edge Teaching Climate Change workshop only.

The goals of the workshop are to:

Learn more about the science of climate change, especially the role of large lakes as indicators of many types of paleoclimate data
Collaborate to create new examples of educational materials that can be used to teach about large lakes and climate change
Create a network of scientists and educators who can collectively increase our ability to teach climate change effectively.

Workshop activities will include a field trip, presentations, large and small group discussions, demonstrations, and planning/writing sessions. Instructional materials and other information will be organized and compiled as collections of digital resources to support teaching about climate change around the world.

Dates

The workshop will begin in the morning of Tuesday, June 19 and will end in the early evening of June 20.

June 19 will consist of a half-day cruise on Lake Superior on the research vessel Blue Heron, and a half day tour of the laboratories at the Large Lake Observatory. The evening of June 19 will include a keynote speaker and dinner for all workshop participants. June 20 will be a full day of workshop activities including speakers, demonstrations and time for working on classroom materials that can be used to teach about climate science. The workshop will conclude in the evening of June 20.

Field trips on Tuesday morning and afternoon are optional. Participants must attend all other sessions, including the Tuesday evening keynote.

Read more about a cruise on the Blue Heron from a field trip at the 2011 GSA annual meeting.

Expectations

Participants are expected to:

Prepare in advance for the workshop via readings, writings, discussion or other activities developed by workshop leaders.
Participate fully in the entire workshop and attend all sessions. Note that the June 19 field trips are optional.
Participate in a small group activity at the workshop to design a new teaching activity about climate change and large lakes. These activities will be published on the workshop website (see examples from the 2010 paleoclimate workshop and examples from the 2008 ice core workshop).

Cost

Some ostracodes from the Great Lakes. Details

The workshop fee is $120. This includes a half-day cruise on the research vessel Blue Heron, a tour of the Large Lakes Observatory, lunch, and dinner on June 19, plus snacks and lunch on June 20. (If you choose not to participate in the cruise, the fee is $70.) The workshop fee is payable online and is due by June 1, 2012. Participants or their home institutions must provide transportation and lodging.

Part of the operational costs of the workshop and workshop materials are covered by a grant from the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE-0127310) and by the U.S. National Committee for the International Union for Quaternary Research .

Application and Selection Criteria

Your online application must be submitted by May 1, 2012. Due to space constraints aboard the research vessel Blue Heron, the workshop will have a firm cap of 25 participants. The final list of participants will be established with the goal of assembling a group with expertise in geoscience education, paleoclimatology, climate science, as well as a spectrum of institutional settings and teaching experiences, and a diversity of participants. Preference is given to applicants who hold faculty positions at colleges and universities. Accepted applicants must also register to confirm their attendance at the workshop.

For more information visit the general information for workshop participants page.

Registration for the AMQUA meeting is a separate process. For details, see the AMQUA Meeting website.

Lodging

Participants are responsible for making their own lodging reservations, and the cost of lodging is not included in the workshop. A variety of lodging options are available in Duluth. See the logistics and travel page for details.