"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
I started my graduate studies in geology with the idea that I would ultimately transition into geoscience education after I earned a PhD in a sub-discipline. I was originally introduced to science education as a field of study through my position as an assistant in the Education Department at the American Geosciences Institute, where I worked for three years after college. As part of my duties there, I assisted with a workshop for K-12 curriculum developers from all STEM disciplines. One of the presenters at the meeting was from the AAAS; she mentioned that the AAAS was then offering funding for post-doctoral research positions in science education. The expectation was that candidates would have a PhD in one of the STEM fields but would be interested to transition to the study of learning in the discipline. That PowerPoint slide planted a seed in my mind: I could pursue a PhD in Geoscience and then transition into Geoscience Education.
After AGI, I began to pursue that path. I earned a Masters in Geology. Then I moved on to a PhD program. But multiple problems developed. After three years, I made the difficult decision that I could no longer stay; however, I was not prepared to abandon my academic goals entirely. I started to search for PhD programs in Geoscience Education. I approached the task similar to how I had originally approached searching for graduate programs in geology. I read papers. I found an article in the Journal of Geoscience Education entitled "Research in Science Education: The Expert-Novice Continuum" by Dr. Heather Petcovic and Dr. Julie Libarkin. I was captivated. I had grown up thinking that expertise was mostly about intelligence. The article conveyed that expertise is much more interesting and complex than that. In addition, the article was a powerful example of what was possible in Geoscience Education. My earlier daydreams had been amorphous. I had aspired to Geoscience Education without a concrete topic of interest. The article was a revelation; I now had a starting point. I wanted to gain a better understanding of the nature of geoscience expertise.
I applied and was accepted to the PhD program in Science Education at Western Michigan University to work with with Heather Petcovic. I was going to be a graduate assistant on a research study related to geologic expertise. I was delighted. But I also made a conscious decision regarding my future. I would be starting all over; no credits would transfer. It would mean four more years, at least, of graduate school. Even before friends, family, or professors at my former institution could voice concerns, I promised myself that I would go through with this change without having a clear sense of what my job opportunities would be after I finished. Ever since my time at AGI, I had been aware that the Geoscience Education community had been expanding and developing. I decided that I would begin the PhD at WMU without knowing exactly where it would lead. I would find a way to make a place for myself.
