Related Links

Workshop for Early Career Geoscience Faculty

July 9-13, 2017 with optional visit to NSF on July 14

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

The application deadline for this workshop has passed and this workshop has already taken place. See presentations and resources on the Program page.

Join us for a multi-day workshop in a stimulating and resource-rich environment where you will participate in sessions on topics including effective teaching strategies, course design, establishing a research program in a new setting, working with research students, balancing professional and personal responsibilities, and time management. Participants from prior workshops write:

"I felt like a sponge throughout the week. I've gained so much in terms of both concrete things to implement (lesson activities, strategic planning tools, etc.), and a holistic appreciation for this career. I can totally do this, and this workshop instilled that confidence."

"The ability to feely exchange ideas about pedagogy, teaching and learning activities, classroom management strategies, funding opportunities, proposal improvement, and collaboration with such a talented and diverse group of people was unlike anything I have yet experienced in my professional life."

"The workshop totally changed my view of teaching from teacher-oriented to student-oriented. It's no more what I want to teach but what students need to learn or take away from the course. This is the essential point that I will keep in mind when I design course goals, syllabi, in-class activities, assignments, and exams."

"This was a teaching/research-changing experience...I wish I could do this every year!"

Participants must have a full-time faculty position at a two-year or four-year college or a university at the time of the workshop and must be in their first three years of full-time teaching or starting a full-time position in the Fall. See the overview page for details.

Workshop Facilitators

  • Tessa Hill, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, and Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Davis
  • Sarah Penniston-Dorland, Department of Geology, University of Maryland
  • Josh Galster, Earth & Environmental Studies, Montclair State University
  • Andrew Goodliffe, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama
  • Cynthia Hall, Department of Geology and Astronomy, West Chester University
  • Kaatje Kraft, Department of Sciences, Whatcom Community College
  • Benjamin Laabs, Department of Geosciences, North Dakota State University
  • Laura Rademacher, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of the Pacific
  • Martin Wong, Department of Geology, Colgate University

Cutting Edge Staff

  • Monica Bruckner, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College
  • Carol Ormand, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College


This workshop is part of the On the Cutting Edge professional development program for current and future geoscience faculty, and is sponsored by the National Association of Geoscience Teachers with funding provided by NAGT, and a grant from the National Science Foundation - Division of Undergraduate Education and other contributing sponsors.


      Next Page »