Workshops

The morning workshop program is open for registration. Workshop size is limited based on room capacity, and space is reserved on a first come, first serve basis. All workshops will take place on Zoom, unless otherwise noted. Links will be provided prior to the workshop start.

Jump to: Monday-Wednesday | Thursday-Friday

Monday-Wednesday

Preparing for an Academic Career

Conveners: Gary Weissmann, University of New Mexico-Main Campus, Sue Ebanks, Savannah State University, Lisa Gilbert, Williams College, Lynsey LeMay, Thomas Nelson Community College, Catherine Riihimaki, Princeton University

WORKSHOP

Monday, July 12 - Wednesday, July 14 | 8:00-11:00am PT / 9:00am-12:00pm MT / 10:00am-1:00pm CT / 11:00am-2:00pm ET

This workshop is designed specifically for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and others who are interested in pursuing academic careers in the geosciences. Workshop leaders from a variety of institution types and career paths will provide guidance and information that will help participants to be stronger candidates for academic positions and to succeed in academic jobs. Each participant will develop or revise a plan for the next stage in their career and will cultivate ideas that they can immediately implement. In addition to ideas, our goal is build a community of support that will thrive beyond current challenges of COVID-19. This will be accomplished, in part, through breakout sessions and periods of informal Q & A with co-conveners, alumni of the workshop, and fellow participants. Participants will have the option to engage in post-Rendezvous small groups to revise application materials (schedule TBD). Additional professional development is available through workshops, roundtable discussions, panels, and plenary sessions that are part of the Earth Educators' Rendezvous.

Vision and Change in the Geosciences: Preparing for the Future of Geoscience Education

Conveners: Sharon Mosher, The University of Texas at Austin, Jeff Ryan, University of South Florida, Christopher Keane, American Geosciences Institute

WORKSHOP

Monday, July 12 - Wednesday, July 14 | 8:00-11:00am PT / 9:00am-12:00pm MT / 10:00am-1:00pm CT / 11:00am-2:00pm ET

The goal of the workshop is to help foster change in undergraduate and graduate geoscience programs to better prepare geoscience students for the future. This workshop will focus on the recently published Vision and Change document, resulting from a 6-year NSF-sponsored initiative, that outlines an academic and employer community vision for the future of undergraduate education and provides key strategies and recommendations for transformative change. We will integrate results from an additional study of skills and competencies needed by graduate students in Earth, Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences for student success in the workforce. This workshop will provide a forum for participants to discuss with colleagues from other institutions the changes needed in their own department and ways to successfully implement them.

From the Emerald Isle to the Red Planet: How to make your virtual field trip out of this world

Conveners: Shelley Whitmeyer, James Madison University, Steve Whitmeyer, James Madison University, Eric Pyle, James Madison University

WORKSHOP

Monday, July 12 - Wednesday, July 14 | 8:00-11:00am PT / 9:00am-12:00pm MT / 10:00am-1:00pm CT / 11:00am-2:00pm ET

Many high-impact, field-focused geoscience learning experiences have gone virtual to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Transforming field experiences to a virtual format has challenged us to reevaluate the associated learning objectives, implement new technologies, and develop innovative approaches to meeting those objectives. This hands-on workshop will provide participants with opportunities to:

discuss learning goals suitable for virtual field experiences;
learn about a variety of technologies available for creating virtual field trips; and
begin designing and developing their own virtual trip.

The leaders will present and demonstrate the capabilities of web-based Google Earth, ArcGIS Pro, JMars, and Google Poly. Participants should bring their own laptops with downloads of requisite software.

Developing Strategies for Inclusive Teaching Practices

Conveners: Blair Schneider, University of Kansas Main Campus, Ángel A. Garcia Jr., James Madison University, Amy Weislogel, West Virginia University, Yadira Ibarra, San Francisco State University

WORKSHOP

Monday, July 12 - Wednesday, July 14 | 8:00-11:00am PT / 9:00am-12:00pm MT / 10:00am-1:00pm CT / 11:00am-2:00pm ET

During this 3-day workshop, participants will learn to solicit diverse viewpoints and amplify voices of all students, to decolonize instruction and identify the influence of race and perspective, and work collaboratively to diversify course syllabi and classroom instruction.

Preparing for Student Creation of Virtual Contexts for Exploring Geoscience Environments

Conveners: Aida Awad, AIU, Hemalatha Bhaskaran, James M Bennett High School, Mark Carpenter, American Geosciences Institute, Ed Robeck, American Geosciences Institute, Steven Semken, Arizona State University at the Tempe Campus

WORKSHOP

Monday, July 12 - Wednesday, July 14 | 8:00-11:00am PT / 9:00am-12:00pm MT / 10:00am-1:00pm CT / 11:00am-2:00pm ET

The importance of field experiences in geoscience education cannot be overstated. While a virtual field trip cannot substitute for the physical experience of being in a place, exploring sites of geoscientific and environmental interest through concise but rich virtual contexts (VCs) can support field trips in several ways—especially when the VCs are grounded in the principles of place-based education. A virtual context is a virtual space in which students are actively engaged in planning and making decisions about generating a product for a specific purpose. This workshop will familiarize participants with a framework and several practices developed to guide learners in the creation of VCs for environmental and geoscience explorations that interweave natural and cultural elements of the place under study for increased relevance and interest to students. We will integrate theories of place-based learning and of learning from media to build VCs, moving from the identification of curriculum-relevant themes through the identification of media, including data, storyboarding and construction. Strategies for using Google Earth Projects and ArcGIS StoryMaps as platforms will be discussed and implemented. Participants will create a VC as part of the workshop.

Writing Retreat

Convener: Peggy McNeal, Towson University

RETREAT

Monday, July 12 - Wednesday, July 14 | 8:00-11:00am PT / 9:00am-12:00pm MT / 10:00am-1:00pm CT / 11:00am-2:00pm ET

The design of this retreat uses Lave and Wenger's (1991) community of practice theory to create a structured retreat for sustained writing. Participants will engage in dedicated writing time with the purpose of progressing with writing projects in a supportive and collegial environment. The writing retreat will provide participants with a distraction free setting to write and the opportunity to speak to and seek feedback from other writers. Participants should arrive with a writing project in mind and a strong desire to significantly move the project forward within the time allotted by the retreat.