Some estimates indicate that by 2030, there will be a shortfall of 100,000 geoscientists [1]. Many national priorities support the growth of geoscience industries, such as critical minerals and natural hazards. There are several challenges to addressing the shortage of geoscientists, including: a) decreasing undergraduate enrollment in many geoscience degree programs [2]; b) many students are not familiar with opportunities in geoscience careers or majors [1]; and c) many students (and the public) have negative impressions of extractive disciplines within the geosciences [3]. To identify effective strategies geoscience departments can use to attract more students to the growing fields in the geosciences, we analyzed more than 1700 survey responses from students in introductory college courses at one four-year university (4YC; 60% responses), two local two-year colleges (13%) and in science courses at two local high schools (27%). Survey results indicate students primarily explore potential majors with their guidance counselors or academic advisors (63.8% of students) and using university department websites (57.8%). Within digital sources such as websites, students prefer videos (58.5%), bulleted lists (51.9%), and photographs (51.6%). Using this feedback and needs determined from our public relations-style content analysis of multiple geoscience department websites, we have created a set of materials that departments can use in their student recruitment campaigns. The publicly available materials are designed to be modular for easy customization and editing in common software applications. Materials feature geoscience career information for use on websites and in social media and convey characteristics of modern geoscience careers to dispel student and public misperceptions. Community feedback is welcomed regarding desired materials or formats that geoscience programs need.[1] Moss et al., 2025; [2] Stewart et al., 2023; [3] Rogers et al., 2024

The website (search "workforce skills" from the Teach the Earth website or go directly to https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/workforceskills/index.html) includes three components: Getting Started, Strategies, and Activities. The "Getting Started" page provides an overview and linked resources to help geoscience instructors understand the variety of industry sectors that employ geoscientists, the skills and dispositions needed in the geoscience workforce, the requirements for professional licensure, and the training expectations of government agencies. The "Strategies" page is divided into three sections with each section describing strategies instructors can use to: 1) Build students' awareness of geoscience jobs and careers; 2) Connect to workforce skills in their courses; and 3) Help students reflect on, plan for, and communicate their workforce readiness. These sections also act as a framework for promoting workforce readiness in geoscience students and can be used in concert across a degree program. Each strategy description includes an overview, ideas for why you might use the strategy, tips for success, and links to resources and examples.The "Activities" page is a new collection of assignments and class activities that support the development and awareness of students' workforce skills. Activities are curated into categories: learning from geoscience professionals, reflecting on careers, preparing for the application and interview process, and simulating the workplace. We encourage members of the community to submit activities to this collection by using the Teach the Earth activity submission form. We know there are a lot of great ideas out there!

Students entering undergraduate geoscience programs often bring diverse academic backgrounds, personal experiences, and expectations that shape how they engage with coursework and with each other. To better understand these dynamics within the Earth Science Department at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), we conducted a short anonymous pilot survey examining student perceptions of diversity, belonging, academic satisfaction, and other factors influencing success within the program.Preliminary responses from this small pilot sample indicated strong support for continued investigation of student experiences in the department, with most respondents agreeing that research on diversity, inclusion, and student satisfaction is valuable for improving the program. Students most frequently identified socioeconomic background and prior academic preparation as factors that may influence success in Earth science coursework. Responses related to feelings of belonging were more mixed, suggesting that while many students are satisfied with their choice to study Earth science, not all students feel equally integrated into the departmental community.Guided by these initial findings, we designed a collaborative classroom activity called the Group Bubble and Think Tank exercise for an undergraduate Earth Materials course. The activity combines collective knowledge mapping, peer discussion, and reflective prompts intended to help students articulate prior knowledge, share learning interests, and align student and instructor expectations. While originally developed to support transitions between instructors in a multi-instructor course, the activity may also serve as a broader student-centered reflection tool for strengthening communication, metacognition, and inclusive learning environments in geoscience classrooms. These preliminary findings suggest that student feedback can inform the design of classroom interventions that support communication, reflection, and inclusive learning environments in undergraduate geoscience education.

Geosciences encompass a wide range of career options in extractive industries, geotechnical and environmental consulting, and local to federal government agencies. Students, both undergraduate and graduate, may be unaware of the career options available and may find transitioning from their degree program to the professional workforce a challenge. Many faculty have little professional work experience outside of academic contexts, which can limit the assistance they offer. To address these issues, members of the Western Michigan University Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences Advisory Council (GESAC) created a career development and mentoring program. The goal of the GESAC Mentoring Program is to connect students to alumni mentors across a range of geoscience industries. Access to mentors will help students plan their educational journey, better understand career opportunities, and become a future geoscience leader. Interested students are connected by the program leader to a mentor in an industry relevant to the students' interests. Participating students are commonly seeking work or internship opportunities, advice about choosing program electives and potential career paths, or building their professional networks. Mentors also advise on crafting resumes and preparing for job interviews. A mentor and student might connect a few times or could maintain communication throughout the student's transition to the workforce. Since the program started in 2022, thirteen students have participated with nine now employed or in graduate school. The program is publicized in an internally hosted webpage, through the student-led Geology Club, and in seminar and classroom presentations. The main challenges to sustaining the GESAC program are recruiting dedicated mentors and overcoming students' hesitation to reach out to ask for career advice. Our long-term goal is that every geoscience student will have a GESAC mentor, and that program graduates will be willing to mentor future students of their own.

Incoming faculty members often design and deliver their courses through trial and error, investing significant time in developing their courses and updating inherited material. This work is often done in isolation, which can be both frustrating and discouraging. The University of Washington's College of the Environment has created the Environmental Faculty Fellows (EFF) program to support early-career faculty in developing their teaching. By providing mentorship, time, space, and community to cultivate best teaching practices, the program aims to help instructors become both effective and efficient. In the first quarter of the academic year, we meet biweekly to discuss evidence-based teaching practices and to co-develop an achievable plan for their course and syllabus. For the rest of the academic year, and beyond, we meet every three weeks for informal lunches to discuss pedagogy and teaching-related successes and challenges. The fellows work alongside a cohort of other early-career faculty within the College of Environment, fostering cross-departmental relationships and a greater sense of community. To date, the EFF program has supported 34 early-career faculty members over four academic years (starting in Autumn 2022). The purpose of this poster is to share how we developed this program, how it benefits early-career faculty, and how, by formally supporting faculty, we aim to build a strong teaching community across the college.

The Center for Land Surface Hazards (CLaSH) is developing a novel scientific framework that characterizes interconnected land surface hazards and predicts downstream impacts (the "hazard cascade"). CLaSH researchers are committed to working with educators to create instructional materials that focus on land surface hazards as a system. Priorities for the development of educational material includes training introductory geoscience faculty in cascading land surface hazards, including field- and data-based training, and developing curricular materials that engage students with real-world scenarios. Recruiting participation of two-year community college (2YC) faculty in training and curriculum development will facilitate the dissemination of cutting-edge hazard training for a diverse population of students, some of which will go on to join geoscience departments as transfer students. Specific place-based workshops for 2YC faculty will encourage the development of instructional materials specific to the hazards faced by their communities and encourage cohort building among participating instructors and hazard observatory researchers. These workshops are anticipated to take place in four locations: Alaska, California, Kentucky and Puerto Rico. In addition, a 4-week paid summer internship program for 2YC students will be offered to 4 students per year at one of the participating hazard observatories.The CLaSH team wants to work closely with 2YC faculty to ensure that professional development, student internships, and curricular design are aligned with the needs of 2YC faculty and students. Connecting ongoing research projects and a systems thinking approach in land surface hazards educational materials may help engage diverse introductory students by incorporating field experiences and relevant real-world datasets for community problem-solving.

Since 2014, the National Association of Geoscience Teacher's (NAGT) Traveling Workshops Program (TWP) has run workshops for more than 90 departments and programs across 33 U.S. states and one other country. Fifty-four departments, representing a range of higher education institutions, selected workshops focused on building stronger departments and programs by helping participants clarify goals and prioritizing concrete steps to meet them. Over ten years, end-of-workshop evaluations have had an average overall satisfaction of 8.9 out of 10, with comments highlighting the benefits of workshop facilitation in enabling input from all participants. While this demonstrates significant immediate impact, we sought to understand long-term impact. We designed a survey instrument and interview protocol to examine how perceptions of the workshop's effectiveness changed over time and identify workshop outcomes that persisted. Surveys included Likert-scale questions about workshop outcomes, and both instruments solicited open-ended responses about short- and long-term impacts in areas such as departmental collaboration and shared vision development. Respondents were asked to identify barriers to implementation of strategic plans and emergent departmental challenges. The survey was distributed to all participants in the fifty-four workshops; interview requests were sent to individuals who requested the workshop. The survey had a 12% response rate (n=58). Thirteen faculty participated in video interviews.Survey results indicate strong persistence of many workshop outcomes, including creating a shared vision and fostering discussion. Many open-ended responses reflect on positive impacts for departments that have undergone mergers or made major curricular changes. Barriers to implementation and current challenges include declines in enrollment, lack of administrative support, and faculty turnover. Interview results echoed similar positive impacts and barriers, with several respondents noting the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in implementing pre-2020 strategic plans. Several interview participants indicated participation in another TWP could help them navigate current departmental challenges.

Supporting graduate students in becoming effective educators strengthens the overall quality and impact of geoscience programs. At the University of Southern California, I expanded and formalized a structured, semester-long TA training program to support Earth science teaching assistants (TAs) in developing pedagogical skills, instructional confidence, and equitable teaching practices. The program begins with a required one-unit seminar in the graduate students' first semester that introduces evidence-based instructional strategies, inclusive classroom practices, and the common challenges faced in geoscience classrooms. This foundation is reinforced through weekly meetings that focus on upcoming course content, address instructional challenges, and integrate targeted teaching strategies that build across the semester. This timely support, combined with sustained pedagogical development, equips TAs to shape their classrooms to better support diverse student learning needs throughout the semester.Since implementation, graduate students report increased confidence, stronger classroom management skills, and greater preparedness to support diverse learners. Undergraduate students benefit from more consistent instruction and a more equitable learning environment across course sections. This model demonstrates how intentional, department-level TA development can strengthen teaching culture and enhance the overall coherence and quality of undergraduate geoscience instruction.

Undergraduate research is a powerful way to strengthen geoscience pathways, yet access remains uneven in marine sciences, one of the least diverse STEM fields. Students from historically excluded groups often encounter limited, informal, and unsupportive entry points into research, which undermines their sense of belonging and persistence in the field. The goal of the Identity, Belonging and Inquiry in Science (IBIS) mentoring program is to address this problem by creating more equitable research entry points in marine science. IBIS prepares graduate students through a structured curriculum in evidence based and culturally responsive mentoring, then pairs each graduate mentor with one undergraduate from a historically excluded group for a six-month, academic year research experience that runs alongside regular coursework.We present outcomes from the first IBIS cohort, showing that undergraduate mentees report gains in scientific self-efficacy and science identity, stronger psychological connection to the scientific community, and higher ratings on thinking and working like a scientist and attitudes and behavior scales than matched peers who do not participate. Mentees also describe growth in technical, analytical, and communication skills and clearer interest in future research and graduate study, while graduate mentors report improvements in mentoring, teaching, and communication skills, greater enjoyment of research, and increased confidence as leaders despite time and project design challenges.In this presentation, we share what we have learned from this first cohort, including key program structures, mentoring design principles, and assessment tools, and discuss how IBIS can be adapted at other institutions to build inclusive, sustainable research pathways that support both undergraduate retention and graduate professional development in geoscience.

The growth of the blue economy is increasing demand for a geoscience workforce prepared with specialized technical skills, interdisciplinary and collaborative competencies, and real-world problem-solving experience. The University of Washington's Student Seaglider Center (SSC) was established to increase undergraduate access to sustained, hands-on research and leadership opportunities and support student career goals in this sector. The SSC is a student-run laboratory that leverages near-peer mentoring and a collaborative learning community to engage undergraduates and graduate students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in authentic oceanographic research using Seaglider autonomous underwater vehicles. Here, we describe the design and structure of the SSC and synthesize student outcomes and insights gained from four years of the program. Using current student and alumni surveys, we assess the efficacy of the SSC in supporting student career preparation and trajectories. Survey responses indicate that the SSC promotes technical skill-building, interest in and exposure to new career paths, and successful transitions into careers and graduate education in related fields. Alumni also note that non-discipline specific skills like communication, collaboration, planning, and troubleshooting were broadly applicable to a variety of post-graduation paths. Our work suggests that student-run laboratories can be adaptable and scalable models for experiential learning with capacity to facilitate career readiness. We discuss practical strategies for implementing similar programs, emphasizing ways to broaden participation, enhance undergraduate research and leadership training, and strengthen pathways into geoscience careers.

Expanding undergraduate research training and skillsets beyond traditional methods offers a significant opportunity to broaden participation in the Earth sciences. The "place-based" approach, an evidence-based practice that connects research experiences to direct experience of a place, which significantly improves learning outcomes. Hazards research effectively motivates engagement as a desire to contribute to community resilience drives many geoscience students. In the Pacific Northwest, geohazards associated with the Cascadia Subduction Zone represent an obvious place-based opportunity to engage a diverse undergraduate cohort. The Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center (CRESCENT) Geoscience Education and Inclusion program piloted "Cores to Code (C2C)", a summer school designed to provide an introductory, interdisciplinary research experience focused on the earthquake history of Cascadia. The program, led by members of CRESCENT's Cascadia Paleoseismology working group (CPAL), was organized as a three week-long experiential learning opportunity that consisted of field, laboratory, and computer modeling modules. In the field module, students extracted and described sediment cores in the coastal marshes of Humboldt Bay to identify and map past earthquake-driven land-level changes. Students processed their core samples in the laboratory module. They identified key stratigraphic contacts and used microscope analysis of microfossils to interpret paleoenvironments and reconstruct land-level change. The final module introduced Python coding to explore how to characterize past Cascadia earthquakes using geologic data in geophysical models. Students not only gained hands-on experience in research, but they also gained professional skills. Each research activity required the cohort to practice communication, teamwork, and time management. They met with local emergency managers to learn about career opportunities from working professionals. The C2C program offered a unique opportunity to explore real-world scientific and societal challenges and be exposed to future career pathways.

Marginalized groups remain underrepresented in STEM, with geoscience being the leastdiverse. We examine how the Seismology Skill Building Workshop far exceeded its targetrecruitment and learning outcomes, while also supporting underrepresented students inunexpected ways. We analyzed survey data and assignment performance, reviewed instructional design, and then explored the integration of expectancy-value theory (EVT) for student motivation with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles for broadening participation. We found: 1) ~6000 enrollment and 34% non-geoscience participation over 6 year, with high involvement of underrepresented groups; 2) 40% skill gains with equal gains for underrepresented students and comparable gains in self-assessment; and 3) increased interest in and intent to pursue geoscience, with 50% gains for underrepresented students. We interpret these results as due to equitable design choices to increase access to training, instructional effectiveness, and disciplinary interest. In the context of EVT, these strategies reduced cost, increased expectancy, and showcase value, which are also well aligned with DEI principles to address systemic barriers, empower all students through equitable pedagogy, and increase exposure to incentivize future engagement. Alignment between these frameworks offers guidance on a scalable learner-centered pathway for broadening participation in STEM.

To transform communities within our discipline and better serve the places we study, reciprocal relations with land and place must be included in the training of geoscientists. While traditional and community knowledge of landscapes extend for millennia, there are many barriers to integrating scientific research with place-based knowledge that has long been undervalued and excluded within the academy. The devaluation of place-based knowledge by some in the geoscience community deters many people with deep cultural ties to place from persisting within geosciences. This deterrence contributes to the position of geosciences as the least diverse STEM field and hinders the ability to meaningfully engage with communities experiencing problems of geoscientific significance.Many of geoscience's shortcomings are directly tied to the historic value of placelessness for researchers and geoscientists who are expected to be rootless and mobile to study the Earth through neutralizing lenses. We propose addressing place and land in geoscience contexts from multiple perspectives to reject inherited values hindering geoscientific study and impact in communities. Place-based education (PBE) in geoscience has demonstrated the ability to engage more diverse groups in geoscience learning and transform relationships between geoscientists and natural and cultural landscapes. However, few studies have thus far investigated the efficacy of PBE infused with critical perspectives from environmental justice. Here, we present two years of data on place attachment, science identity, and student self-efficacy to assess practices in the classroom that emphasize engagement with place through reciprocal relations with land and water in the American Southwest. Using water as a topic of convergence in the arid lands, this course facilitates the interrogation of geologic and human relationships around scarce resources and emphasizes the interconnectivity of human-Earth systems and place-building in lands where water is life.

To address complex socio-hydrologic issues (SHIs), undergraduate students need experiences focused on water resources management (WRM) and multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) that promote understanding of scientific aspects of water systems and effective collaboration between stakeholders who have different interests and values related to the use of water resources. However, during their decision-making process, students may underassess the contextual elements that inform the trade-offs of multiple alternatives that could be implemented to solve SHIs. Particularly, while students can identify the role of stakeholders, their analyses of their unique values, priorities, and reasoning in decision-making processes are often limited. In this sense, there is a need to support undergraduate students in analyzing SHIs holistically, recognizing the variant perspectives of diverse stakeholders, and navigating the potential conflicts that may arise during decision-making about WRM. Game theory is a framework that helps understand the strategic interactions and behaviors between individuals and has been used as a framework to understand collaboration and cooperation strategies within WRM. This project introduces a GT-based learning experience that fosters critical thinking, interdisciplinary reasoning, and multi-criteria decision-making about water resources management (MCDM-WRM). We developed a 40-hour WRM module where students will engage in games where they will learn about GT principles, followed by case studies around WRM, and the application of MCDM-WRM in an authentic SHI. The module is embedded within three possible experiences for students, an online asynchronous course, ENVR 2315 Conservation of Natural Resources, to be taught at the University of Texas at Arlington in Fall 2026, and a Summer and Winter online Workshops on Water Resources Management to be taught in 2026. This poster presentation focuses on the design elements of the WRM module.

Geo-environmental monitoring networks are important research infrastructure for many state geological surveys. Large datasets produced by in-situ sensors are suitable for modern earth science instruction at several levels but are sometimes underutilized as educational tools owing to accessibility issues, lack of awareness, or the absence of facilitator networks. Here, we illustrate two examples of harnessing geo-environmental monitoring data from the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) for instruction at the undergraduate level. Groundwater monitoring wells provide water level elevation logs that illustrate water availability in aquifers relative to prevailing weather patterns and human usage (e.g., agricultural, industrial, or municipal purposes). Landslide monitoring stations convolve elements of hillslope hydrology, geomorphology, and weather patterns to detect slope stability and mass wasting. Harnessing time series data from these geo-environmental monitoring networks provides opportunities for students to develop quantitative reasoning and problem-solving skills in groundwater hydrogeology and environmental and engineering geology. Further, these datasets can help establish a sense of place for students, particularly when the data are used to illustrate the societal relevance and impact of geology. KGS, in combination with a working group of geo-educators across the state, is developing a bank of web-based educational content utilizing these data. The goal of these efforts is to distribute content as either a resource for classrooms or inspiration for content creation by local or out-of-state educators.

All communities face hazard risk. Climate, environmental conditions, land use, and socio-economic pressures can dictate community exposure to extreme events. Students in K-12 and higher education often encounter these and related topics through a curriculum that is discipline-specific, resulting in conceptual abstraction or fragmentation. I argue it is important for students to encounter these topics as locally-relevant, actionable science rooted in everyday lived experience to improve hazard literacy across our communities. Hazard literacy is an essential competency in disaster management, sustainability, and related disciplines because it is a contributor to long-term societal resilience, adaptation, and transformation.In this poster, I present a selection of pedagogical tools that use active learning and experiential practices to help students connect STEAM disciplines to real-world processes, issues, and decision-making as they relate to hazard risk. I focus on a semester-long disaster management course for undergraduates in higher education and a week-long Summer Academies summer camp for middle schoolers, both at the University of Georgia. I describe the two learning spaces (i.e., context, enrollment, environment, goals, structure) and present how I have integrated different activities and practices to foster sustained student engagement. I also reflect on the benefits of multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and convergence perspectives, and I offer tips for creating accessible learning experiences and welcoming learning environments based on best practices and lessons learned.Poster viewers will gain practical strategies for integrating storm science, hazard preparedness, and related topics in their own classrooms, outreach programs, and partnerships within and between K-12 and higher education. My hope is that together we can increase sustained participation in, interest in, and pursuit of STEAM learning, research, and career pathways.

State geological surveys hold vast collections of maps, datasets, and educational materials that can meaningfully enhance earth science instruction. This presentation highlights how the Ohio Geological Survey—supported by more than 180 years of research and publicly accessible geologic data—serves as a model for integrating real-world geoscience resources into middle school, high school, and postgraduate classrooms.The Ohio Rocks! Earth Science Education Program is a multifaceted outreach initiative designed to teach Ohio's geologic history, natural resources, and the relevance of geology to everyday life. Its mission includes inspiring young Ohioans to pursue geoscience careers, increasing awareness of critical earth science issues, and fostering collaboration among educators, planners, and industry.Ohio Rocks! educators collaborated with classroom educators to lead students through multiple lab exercises utilizing recent glacial geologic research in Licking and Clark Counties, Ohio conducted by the Ohio Geological Survey. They also learned about glacial deposits, their depositional environment and their relevance to modern society by identifying and describing sediment cores extracted from the Ohio Geological Survey's project area. Through activities like these, educators can leverage resources from their state geological surveys to enrich earth science curricula, strengthen geoliteracy, and inspire the next gen of geoscientists.

Courses in Geomorphology often struggle to balance qualitative descriptions of specific landscape features with quantitative representations of broad Earth surface processes. In an attempt to help students link apparently disparate topics and techniques common to the field with qualitative and quantitative components, we have designed a scaffolded final project where students work in groups of three to four to create, present, and critique a novel NSF-style research proposal. Here we share the seven part project that has been implemented and refined over five semesters. Exit tickets used prior to project introduction help students identify landscapes and research techniques of interest, then project deliverables are spread out over the remaining eight weeks of the semester. Students learn how to complete a literature search, create polished figures, and craft long writing assignments section by section. Initial asset mapping complements peer and self review following the completion of each major project component. Peer and self assessments, instructor edits on initial draft of the group proposal, and the chance to discuss broadly with peers during a mock panel discussion prior to final proposal submission allows students multiple opportunities to provide, receive, and interpret feedback. Students may choose to submit identical or separate final proposals. Following a traditional grading scheme, the average of peer and self assessment is then used to weight individual student's final proposal marks while taking into account the potential for individualized revisions. We find that the introduction of the peer and self evaluations are effective in creating a baseline for participation within the groups and allows for students to develop more equally shared ownership of the project.

Geoscience is often perceived as a less quantitative alternative for non-science majors required to complete a lab science. Recent research by the geoscience education community has focused on improving teaching strategies and student comprehension through active learning and effective assessments, both in laboratory and lecture settings. Labs in introductory courses are often taught by graduate teaching assistants with varying levels of experience and content knowledge. However, lab settings can be effective in incorporating active learning strategies and assessing gains in student knowledge and critical thinking due to typically smaller sizes and increased flexibility in instruction. Active learning strategies are designed to incorporate greater student participation in the learning process. Baylor Geosciences utilizes these strategies in its introductory oceanography course, including local field trips, manipulation of physical models, and interpretation of real-time data from a classroom reef tank. Previous assessments have included timed multiple choice pre-lab quizzes, weekly labs, discussion boards, and a written lab midterm and comprehensive final. Student performance on quizzes and weekly labs has historically been high while exam performance varied significantly. In fall 2025, these assessment strategies were altered to more closely reflect exam formats and investigate if student performance would benefit from practice testing on pre-lab quizzes and timed post-lab quizzes that emphasized critical concepts with a variety of formats. Research continues in spring 2026 for continued effectiveness and any implications for teaching assistants with increased experience. Results from two semesters investigating correlation between scores on various lab components, effects of class standing, and teaching assistants will be shared.

Preparing students to address climate change, water scarcity, resource depletion, and other complex socio-environmental challenges requires more than disciplinary content mastery. In response, we have redesigned introductory, general education, and upper-division courses in the School of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University to embed principles of Wicked Science across the undergraduate curriculum. Guided by Paul Hanstedt's framework in Creating Wicked Students, this initiative reframes courses around complex, open-ended problems characterized by uncertainty, no single correct solution, and competing social, economic, and environmental priorities.We present curricular redesigns in three courses spanning varied academic levels: EARTHSC 1121 (Dynamic Earth; introductory survey), EARTHSC 2204 (Water Issues; general education), and EARTHSC 4502 (Stratigraphy and Sedimentation; upper-level major requirement). Each course incorporates transdisciplinary integration, systems thinking, stakeholder/impact analysis, and attention to geoethics. For example, Dynamic Earth now frames plate tectonics, geohazards, and Earth systems within contemporary socio-environmental problems that require risk assessment and community planning. Water Issues engages students in contested water resource case studies requiring policy and community analysis with the evaluation of sustainability tradeoffs. Stratigraphy and Sedimentation situates facies analysis and basin evolution within basin-scale resource, hazard, and sustainability contexts tied to subsurface fluid injection and groundwater decisions.Across courses, we scaffold skills central to 'wicked' inquiry: systems mapping, identification of leverage points, collaborative problem framing, and evidence-based argumentation under uncertainty. Assignments shift from isolated problem sets to applied projects with iterative skill-building. Assessment strategies evaluate integrative reasoning, perspective-taking, and the capacity to justify decisions in complex systems.This poster documents our design principles and implementation strategies, highlighting how a coherent, vertically integrated Wicked Science framework can revitalize geoscience courses and undergraduate thinking from general education through advanced disciplinary training. We invite discussion on adapting Wicked course design across institutional contexts and Earth education settings.

Historic redlining has segregated numerous midwestern cities, and these historic injustices have made their mark on the landscapes with stark environmental differences emerging between the north and south sides of Springfield, Ohio. In collaboration with a nonprofit organization seeking to revitalize the southside by ensuring equitable access to greenspace, we acquired several low-cost air quality sensors. We created a small citizen science network within Springfield to site gauges and include citizen scientists in recruitment, data collection, and reporting of results. Furthermore, environmental science students were involved in data analysis, visualization, and sharing results with stakeholders. The students gained experiential learning opportunities while investigating real world problems in their own community. Engaging the public and communicating the local impacts of urban heat, precipitation, and air quality could build support and agency for local programs advocating for improved tree cover, rain gardens, idle-free zones and other solutions to address environmental inequities. Additionally, we hope to expand projects like this to investigate the impact of data centers on air quality and temperature in the region.

As geoscience research becomes increasingly computational, many students encounter barriers related to software installation, hardware access, and limited prior coding experience. These barriers can restrict access to authentic data workflows and limit participation in computationally intensive subfields. Building on research from the Seismology Skill Building Workshop (SSBW), which has demonstrated gains in learner skills, confidence, and longer-term impacts for broadening participation, the NSF National Geophysical Facility operated by EarthScope is developing a Computing and Data Science Academy that integrates shared cloud infrastructure with research-informed course design.Within this Academy, a growing portfolio of technical courses uses a JupyterHub-based cloud environment (GeoLab) paired with scaffolded learning activities. By eliminating local installation requirements and standardizing computing environments across institutions, the Academy aims to reduce technical friction while expanding access to authentic seismological and geodetic datasets held by the Facility. This effort also addresses a broader ecosystem gap: computational geophysical workflows are often not systematically taught within traditional curricula.Our current work focuses on documenting instructional design principles, course structures, and early evaluation strategies across an expanding catalog of both facility-developed and community-led courses. These courses serve a broad audience of undergraduate students, graduate students, and early-career researchers developing computational skills in geophysics. Because the Academy supports both centrally developed offerings and courses led by community instructors, evaluation strategies must balance shared instructional goals with the flexibility needed for independently designed courses. We are developing instruments and collecting baseline data to examine learner confidence, perceived competence, and persistence in computational geoscience contexts. This contribution shares our emerging evaluation framework, early patterns observed across courses, and open questions about how shared infrastructure and intentional pedagogy may support learner confidence and continued engagement.We invite feedback on research design, evaluation strategies, and collaborative opportunities as this work scales.

Space weather science has received increasing attention across research and educational communities and carries important relevance for sectors that rely on technological infrastructure. Introducing space weather concepts to undergraduate students is becoming more relevant as space weather represents an increasingly fundamental component of the Earth System Science framework, yet the topic is often underrepresented in introductory curricula. Ensuring that students have access to foundational and varying STEM education topics, including space weather, can increase scientific literacy and broaden exposure to interdisciplinary scientific fields. This study describes the implementation of a newly designed space weather instructional module embedded within an introductory Weather and Climate course at Auburn University. The educational intervention follows a dual-model approach in which students are introduced to space weather concepts through a focused group lecture, and complete a separate hands-on lab activity and lesson where they access real-time space weather data and evaluate the current state of solar activity. Students were invited to complete an optional pre-instruction questionnaire at the beginning of the spring semester in January 2026, and will be invited to complete a corresponding post-instruction questionnaire at the end of the academic semester in May 2026. Data analysis has not yet been completed as the post-instruction assessment is still pending as of this writing. The goal of this project is to integrate space weather topics into introductory Earth System Science instruction and promote space weather literacy by examining measurable shifts in students' conceptual understanding.

Students often find that some of the most difficult geoscience concepts to grasp require the development and practice of spatial reasoning in three dimensions. The difficulty comes from little training in spatial thinking and 3D visualization early in their education and not enough practice with applicable scientific examples. We use Visible Geology to create teaching modules that help introduce students to 3D models of various geoscience concepts and build intuition about spatial relationships. Visible Geology is a free online application (https://www.visiblegeology.com/). We have partnered with SERC (Science Education Resource Center) to create new educational resources with Visible Geology to help faculty integrate the application and spatial thinking skills into their courses. We have created eight new teaching activities that range from ~1 hour of time to longer labs or multi-class sessions (3+ hours). Our activities cover topics like the rule of V's, folds in maps and stereonets, fold interference patterns, cross-sections, basin correlation, and reservoir stratigraphy, and are intended for use in classes like field methods, structural geology, and sedimentology/stratigraphy. These activities enable spatial reasoning growth in students through the creation of 3D models, hypothesis testing, and self-guided exploration. The modules are peer reviewed and freely available through Teach the Earth including teaching notes, student examples, and answer keys making them an approachable resource for instructors who aim to increase the development of spatial thinking and 3D visualization skills from a geoscience context.

Introductory undergraduate science courses serve as entry points into majors, build science literacy through general education programs, and may be the only course that a future teacher will have in a discipline. Students' experiences in introductory science courses strongly influence their self-efficacy, motivation, and persistence in science, and thus provide a critical opportunity to make use of evidence-based teaching strategies and curricular materials that are inclusive and equity-focused. Transforming a well-established introductory course can be challenging, however, as that course may have multiple instructors, teaching assistants, and a structure that is deeply embedded in a department's operations. Making introductory courses more equitable and effective takes deliberate and dedicated effort on the part of everyone involved. To support that change, the Teaching with Investigation and Design in Science (TIDeS) project used a rubric-based design process to ensure that principles for equitable and effective teaching and learning were encoded in new curricular materials. As a result of the use of the rubric, the materials share several characteristics: more time actively engaged in authentic disciplinary work than listening to lectures; activities and reflections focused on building science skills rather than content knowledge; small group and whole-class discussions in every class, and activities to build their own identities as scientists. To accompany the curricular materials, the project developed a set of resources to support instructors in improving their practice, including guides to facilitating discussions for learning, representing the diversity of scientists, and incorporating readings that lead to discussion. The project incorporated both sets of resources into a traveling workshop entitled Transforming Your Introductory Course, which brings together everyone involved in teaching a particular course to work together to make their course more equitable and effective. Evaluation comments from these workshops highlight the importance of coming together to develop a shared vision for transformation.

Connecting the 2D appearance of minerals in thin section to their 3D crystal forms is a common challenge for undergraduate mineralogy students. Complex crystals (e.g., dihexagonal prisms) may appear simple in thin section, while simple forms (e.g. tetragonal prism) can produce unexpected polygonal sections. Understanding these relationships requires penetrative thinking, a spatial reasoning skill rarely practiced explicitly in geoscience curricula. Mathematically, a planar section of a convex polyhedron can yield a polygon with up to F + 1 sides (F = number of faces), but the distribution of polygon types for all crystal forms has not been systematically quantified yet. This limits the accuracy of 3D crystal size distributions (CSDs) derived from 2D sections, which relies upon correction factors derived from geometrical simplifications. To address these challenges, we developed XtalSlice, a MATLAB-based tool with a GUI that generates all 48 mineral crystal forms and stochastically samples n random planar cuts. It visualizes resulting polygonal sections and calculates their relative frequencies, supporting both quantitative analysis and classroom exercises in penetrative thinking. We developed a lab utilizing XtalSlice in an introductory mineralogy course. Student feedback was positive, especially after the introduction of the GUI in the second run. Unexpectedly, students initially interpreted the variability of repeated runs as a coding error, which became a teachable moment on randomness, sampling variability, and the law of large numbers. Future work will validate the algorithm through systematic synthetic slices collected taken through nanoCT 3D scans of natural samples, which could additionally be incorporated into the laboratory experience for undergraduate students.

Students are often first exposed to the geosciences during introductory geology courses, which can serve as a chance to impact student interest and major choice. Graduate TAs are often the lab instructors for these courses and routinely get informal feedback as well as have their own observations about a lab's utility and impact. Their insights can drive curricular improvements, but are often limited by a lack of data. To guide the iterative revision process of introductory geology labs at the University of South Carolina (USC), the instructional team consisting of course instructors and graduate teaching assistants (TAs) developed an 8-question scannable lab survey to collect student feedback in Fall 2024. Questions targeted student perceptions in terms of interest, impact on understanding, relevance, difficulty, and hands-on and authentic scientific engagement; in Spring 2025, an additional item each for enjoyment and accessibility were added. Ratings were provided using 5-point Likert items (e.g. not at all interesting to very interesting). The labs cover topics common to geology syllabi (Egger, 2019), including a four-week series on minerals and rocks, a field trip to a local stream, and several one-off labs (e.g. earthquakes, plate tectonics). Labs are designed for 2-hour face-to-face sessions, with digital, accessible versions available as needed. Since implementation, survey results have informed iterative improvements to labs and engaged both students and TAs in the revision process. Instructional team leaders used these data and their own insights while participating in a TIDeS workshop to guide major changes to the lab structure, including a lab practical exam and a radically changed grading policy. We will share how this feedback guided our decision-making, challenges to its collection, and offer suggestions for how this data-driven model can be applied in other settings.

The Math Your Earth Science Majors Need (https://serc.carleton.edu/mathyouneed/geomajors) has developed, tested, and published 14 free, online, co-curricular modules designed to strengthen Earth science majors' quantitative skills. Each module situates core mathematical and statistical concepts such as exponential equations, vectors, histograms, and probability within authentic geoscience problems drawn from multiple sub‑disciplines. The goal is to help students bridge the gap between general math preparation and the applied quantitative skills required for success in upper‑level courses and geoscience careers. Faculty often assign the modules as homework or a pre-lab before students have to apply the quantitative skill in a course.The modules were created and classroom‑tested by geoscience faculty. Pre‑ and post‑test data from 351 students in 29 courses across 20 institutions show significant gains in both quantitative performance and math self‑efficacy in geoscience contexts. Average scores increased from 57% to 78%, and students who began with the lowest performance demonstrated the largest normalized gains, indicating that the modules help "level the playing field." Skill-focused analyses indicate that all specific skills addressed by the modules contributed to these improvements in performance on the post-test.To support adoption, the project offers multiple implementation resources. All modules are freely available and have been accessed by more than 89,000 visitors since August 2023. Auto‑gradable quizzes aligned with each module can be imported into Canvas, Moodle, or D2L to streamline and support formative assessment. A comprehensive instructor guide and module‑specific teaching notes provide strategies for integrating the materials into a variety of course structures (https://serc.carleton.edu/mathyouneed/geomajors/about/instructor.html).

Interdisciplinary research and collaboration are critical in resolving some of the world's most complex problems, like climate change and its impact on human societies. The Human and Earth System Coupled Research (HESCOR) project hosted at the University of Cologne was funded to develop research ideas and establish increased communication between researchers from geophysics/atmospheric sciences, archaeology, geology, education, and environmental humanities to better research the interplay between the human and earth systems from deep time to today. Over two years into the project and the different modes of communication and understanding across these diverse fields has required dedicated efforts to unite researchers across the project – highlighting the complexities of such work.But what do the public actually know about interdisciplinary research? As part of an outreach initiative to create educational material about interdisciplinary research, we developed comics that whimsically highlight the difficulties of large-scale interdisciplinary projects including methodological differences, a lack of common disciplinary language/jargon, and inter-generational conflicts (as it pertains to academic careers). In addition to our print versions, we also created digital interactive comics to delve deeper into the key concepts and research from workers of the HESCOR project. This poster will showcase our interactive comics and provide an opportunity to discuss some of the ways that researchers can communicate the "underbelly" of interdisciplinary research to students and the public.

Earth and Space Science (ESS) Scaffolded Inquiry Labs are a collection of labs designed for students to apply different aspects of the process of science with progressively reduced instructional scaffolding while also focusing on scientific and quantitative literacies. The collection currently includes nine modular labs with topics appropriate for geology, oceanography, astronomy, and earth science courses. The modularity allows for shortening as well as enhancement of student-centered lectures. Adhering to best practices for accessibility, the labs leverage online data sets and do not require complex analysis tools or other materials. To help students better differentiate aspects of the process of science, each lab has 3-5 questions that require students to reflect on their current stage in process of science (e.g., asking a scientific question, determining the methods, making observations and collecting data, analyzing data and developing conclusions, sharing results and conclusions). In addition, each lab includes 3-7 questions focused on 2-3 scientific and quantitative literacies including: assumptions, averages, percentages, causal relationships, causation versus correlation, unit conversion, graph reading, and observations versus interpretations. Pilot data from non-STEM majors in introductory earth and space science (ESS) courses at a two-year college (TYC) suggest the labs are successful in achieving the learning goals. In the pilot study with 125 lab attempts across six labs, students demonstrated high proficiency, correctly answering 92% of the process of science questions and 85% of the scientific and quantitative literacy questions, ranging from 74% to 95% for different literacies. The success of these labs suggests they are a versatile solution for instructors seeking to integrate scientific and quantitative literacy into introductory science courses.

Large introductory or general-education geoscience classes present opportunities to educate a broader group of students about societally relevant geoscience topics, as well as potentially recruit geoscience majors. Personalization is a well-established driver of student engagement, but large classes present challenges in creating connections between individual student interests and class topics. Advances in generative AI could make personalization more feasible. In Fall 2025, students in a large general-education geoscience class at University of California, Irvine were asked to watch a ~4-6 minute video each week connecting a topic from in-person lectures to a broader societal context. The scripts for the videos were generated using OpenAI's LLM GPT-4o and then were edited by the instructor as necessary for both accuracy and style preference. The scripts were then turned into videos by compositing and editing together an AI avatar of the instructor, bullet point summaries, images, titles, credits, and music. In alternate weeks, students were assigned through Canvas either a 1) non-personalized AI video, 2) a choice of three AI videos approaching the topic from a scientific, business, or policy perspective, or 3) a human-recorded version of the non-personalized AI video. To encourage students to watch the videos, two questions from a 12-question weekly online quiz were related to the video content. At the end of the quarter, students were surveyed to gather feedback regarding the different video formats. The data from the 322 respondents in the class shows that students have a clear preference for human-recorded videos over AI videos, but also showed a clear preference for personalized AI videos over non-personalized AI videos. We will also show results from the student survey that highlight the main reasons why students ranked the videos in this order, and examine whether student major influenced responses.

The scientific method, logical induction, and effective science communication are essential skills for geoscience students. These skills also feature prominently in the True Crime media genre, making this genre a useful analogy for students. Building on this observation, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC)'s Geology program and the Library Studio (UTC's Digital Media Lab) collaborate to implement a True Crime Podcast Project that provides students with an opportunity to practice these skills while building technical competence by learning to use audio technology. The podcast project is implemented in UTC's Petrology class, wherein students learn to use logical induction and the scientific method to describe, identify, and interpret the formation of igneous rocks. Groups of students are tasked with investigating a "mystery rock" using techniques learned in class, then required to produce a two-episode podcast in the True Crime genre documenting their investigation. This format emphasizes narrative, providing students with an opportunity to discuss the choices they made and how their ideas changed as they gathered information. The audio format also encourages students to become comfortable using technical terminology in conversation with peers. Students visit the Library Studio to learn about audio equipment and editing software, and are empowered to produce their own podcasts with the support of Studio personnel. We develop students' technical skills in computer technology and file storage, which are applicable to research documentation, an important employable skill. True Crime podcasts serve as a fun and relevant way to address outcomes in Scientific Reasoning and Technical Competence. Our presentation will describe the True Crime Podcast Project that we implement at UTC to teach scientific investigation in the field of Petrology. We will share our assignment structure, the best practices that we have identified for this work, and preliminary data from a survey study currently in progress.

Open educational resources (OER) offer the rare opportunity for something to be both free and instructionally valuable to students. University-level introductory Earth science courses are frequently high‑enrollment, general‑education classes dominated by non‑majors, and as a result, the high price of commercial textbooks can create meaningful inequities in access and engagement. Students often express frustration or resentment at being required to purchase an expensive textbook for a course unlikely to count toward their major, especially when contemporary textbook models come with low resale value or provide only temporary online access with no resale option. When students delay or avoid purchasing the textbook due to cost, their ability to participate fully in course activities and develop foundational geoscience understanding is compromised. To address these challenges, I adapted a free, openly licensed Earth science textbook tailored specifically to the needs of introductory‑level college learners. The resource is intentionally designed to add value for a broad student audience by supporting active-learning strategies, increasing student preparedness, and reducing hidden educational costs that disproportionately affect first‑generation, low‑income, and non-major students. This poster will describe the motivations and pedagogical considerations that informed the textbook's development, along with early observations from implementation in introductory courses. Features such as updated visuals, embedded comprehension checks, and the ability for instructors to revise or adapt content illustrate how OER can offer adaptable course materials while providing students with improved learning support, again highlighting how a no-cost resource can offer meaningful educational benefits. Attendees will be invited to provide feedback on content coverage, clarity, usability, and opportunities for future enhancement. This collaborative input will guide the next edition of the textbook and contribute to broader conversations about the role of OER in strengthening geoscience education. The current edition of the textbook is freely available at https://doi.org/10.21061/introearthscience2e.

Teaching assistants (TAs) provide an important source of connection for undergraduate students, helping them master content, become more confident as scientists, and develop a wide array of skills. NAGT annually recognizes outstanding TAs in geoscience education with its Outstanding TA Awards. 2025-2026 recipients of the Outstanding TA awards will share their lessons learned from the classroom and their most impactful teaching tips.

Oceanography (Geology 2260) at UNC-Pembroke is a largely hands-on course with significant quantitative and graphical activities. Activities presented here include Pythagorean Theorem for surface distance estimation, surface and internal wave celerity, and seiches in closed and open bodies of water. I find it productive to begin the course with an "Introduction to Science and Math" to introduce basic concepts including scientific notation, working with latitude/longitude (with minutes and seconds), and trig functions. Students learn the Pythagorean Theorem to estimate distance on the surface of the Earth from one point to another in nautical miles. While the Earth is not flat and longitude lines converge toward the poles, the Pythagorean Theorem still does a reasonable job of distance estimation at mid-latitudes and avoids spherical trigonometry. This can be used in conjunction with National Hurricane Center forecasts of tropical cyclone positions and wind speeds. Students calculate celerities of shallow and deep water waves and graph these to recognize how these celerities change with water depth, particularly as water depth decreases. This graph uses the square root of water depth so students understand that graph axes do not have to be linear. Students also calculate celerity of internal waves and compare these to surface waves. Seiches (standing waves) can snap mooring lines of boats and lead to larger impacts such as the resonance effects of high tidal ranges in various locations around the world. Students calculate seiche periods for Lake Waccamaw, largest of the Carolina Bays, and evaluate likelihood of these happening as an insurance risk. They then do the same calculation for the Bay of Fundy to compare to the period of the tidal cycle. These activities build student quantitative skills and show practical applications that they don't see in their math classes.

ESS Scaffolded Inquiry Labs are a collection of scaffolded, inquiry-focused lab activities we are developing for earth and space science (ESS) courses. These labs leverage online data sets and can be used asynchronously online or in-person. Our goal is to develop labs that support students to achieve high levels of inquiry that are also easy for instructors to implement. Members of the team who did not write the labs followed the methods of Piper et al. (2024) to rate the inquiry level and utility of three of the labs (Tectonics and Fireballs, Tides, and Impacts) containing a total of 21 sections. Labs with higher levels of inquiry have students take part in more steps of the scientific process (e.g., procedures, analysis, communication). Sections of our labs ranged from confirmation (approximately 29%), structured inquiry (26%), guided inquiry (32%), to open inquiry (12%). In comparison, prior students of geology labs found that 72-88% of activities were confirmation or structured inquiry. Labs with higher utility require less instructor time (including preparation, teaching, and grading) and material costs. Total utility score could range from 10 to 30, with 24-30 defined as high utility. The utility score for our labs averaged 28 with all falling into the category of high utility. In comparison, Piper et al. (2024) found the average utility level of rock and mineral labs was 24, and 64% fell into the high utility category. We will use the results of this initial analysis to further improve the labs, to potentially increase the inquiry levels while ensuring ease of use. Overall, these labs demonstrate high inquiry and high ease of use across multiple ESS topics.

While numerous studies across science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines examined and demonstrate active learning education is beneficial to student performance, fewer than 50 of these studies explored atmospheric sciences specifically. This study aims to build upon these limited publications by investigating student performance when exposed to a diverse set of interactive education practices. In this study, three active learning strategies are randomly chosen to be implemented in an introductory meteorology laboratory. The randomly chosen methods include think-pair-share, game-based education, role-playing, diagramming, and gallery walks, which have demonstrated effectiveness in other STEM disciplines. Student performance is analyzed using overall course grades. Pre- and post-test are also examined for direct assessment of learned material. Student performance after exposure to active learning strategies is compared to all other students taught using traditional laboratory practices. Preliminary results indicate that students exposed to active learning performed better than students not exposed on most assessments. More specifically, mean grades were higher on all but one assessment in sections implementing active learning. Early analysis of pre- and post-test data also indicates greater learning gains, suggesting students understand the material more after more interactive teaching styles compared to students in the traditional laboratory courses. Further investigation of grades with the addition of statistical analysis is anticipated to quantify student performance increases for fall and spring semester data.

Prior qualitative work has investigated early life experiences that motivate geoscience majors, and has highlighted the importance of time spent outside in nature, such as camping, hiking, and visiting inspiring natural landmarks. However, geographic or transportation difficulties in accessing natural spaces, familial variations in outdoor-related skills and self-efficacy, and differential cultural values around time spent outdoors are just a few of the many reasons not all students have had equal opportunity to build a sense of connection to nature. This study explored the impact of a mindful nature-awareness practice called "sit spots" on students' connectedness to nature across five courses taught by three instructors. As a class assignment in each course, students participated in eight sit-spots in an outdoor location of their choosing on campus during a one-month window, then journaled about each experience using guided reflective prompts. We administered a pre-post survey using the Nature Connection Index, Illustrated Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale, and New Ecological Paradigm Scale to measure students' connectedness to nature, as well as the Positive and Negative Affect Scale to measure changes in mood, the Mindfulness Practice Questionnaire to assess shifts in mindfulness skills, and demographic questions to assess variation in the population. Results demonstrate an overall enhancement in connectedness to nature and enhancements in mindfulness. These results suggest that this assignment may be of value for geoscience courses, especially introductory courses that may aim to recruit additional majors and tackle some of the affective transitions students experience in their first-year of university study. Further analyses of demographic trends will explore questions around which students may benefit most strongly from this practice.

Intuitive conceptual frameworks can shape students' reasoning for biology concepts, sometimes forming misconceptions. Anthropocentric thinking – reasoning that centers humans – often relates to misconceptions about antibiotic resistance and ecosystem change. Cultural influences, such as lifestyles with greater exposure to nature, have been associated with reduced anthropocentric reasoning. The backgrounds of rural and urban children vary in opportunities for experiences with nature – rural children have greater exposure and urban children less exposure to outdoor settings. The relationship between students with rural and urban backgrounds on anthropogenic thinking highlights potential differences in students' biology misconceptions. Here, we compare students' rural and urban backgrounds and institutions to their use of anthropocentric reasoning and its relatedness with misconceptions in biology. Students from rural and urban backgrounds were recruited to complete a survey with written and categorical agreement ratings for misconceptions in biology. All students – regardless of hometown population and institution densities – showed similar rates of anthropocentric reasoning. However, the use of anthropocentric language was highly correlated with biological misconceptions. Our research suggests that anthropocentric thinking is pervasive in undergraduate students and influences biological misconceptions.

Spatial thinking skills are fundamental to the success of students in many geoscience disciplines, including meteorology, which inherently requires the application of spatial reasoning to accurately interpret, understand, and predict the four-dimensional atmosphere. Previous research on spatial thinking skills in meteorology demonstrated that coursework in the middle of an undergraduate meteorology program (i.e., sophomore through junior year) contributed to substantial growth in students' spatial thinking skills, including Synoptic Meteorology, Physical Meteorology, Dynamic Meteorology I, and Climate Dynamics. However, the factors driving this growth remain unclear. To better understand how these intermediate courses support the development of spatial thinking skills, this study will evaluate content that students interact with or are exposed to in these courses, including homework assignments, assessments, in-class activities, and lecture slides. This evaluation, completed with the use of a rubric, will focus on the presence or required application of four different spatial thinking skills: disembedding, spatial orientation, spatial relations, and perspective taking. Student assignment and assessment grades will also be collected to determine the relationship between frequency of exposure and required use of various spatial thinking skills with the degree of successful application. This presentation will show preliminary results broadly identifying which skills are used most frequently in each course as well as statistical relationships between student assignment grades and spatial thinking skills.

Growing evidence suggests that traditional grading systems are, at best, imperfect measures of student learning and, at worst, do harm to student motivation, confidence, persistence in the field, and student-faculty relationships. Some studies suggest this is exacerbated by other factors that impact the experiences of students from underrepresented groups in STEM and lower performing students, resulting in increased negative impacts for these students. As instructors increasingly adopt alternative grading systems such as specifications grading, standards-based grading, and ungrading in an attempt to mitigate these negative effects, we have an obligation to understand the impacts of these alternative systems on students. This study evaluates the impacts of a specifications grading system on student learning, engagement, and motivation in a large introductory physical geology course at an R1, private university, testing a hypothesis of improved student motivation. Student learning, indicated by grades and performance on learning objective-aligned exam questions, and student engagement, measured through time and frequency of engagement with online course materials, are analyzed for the same course in semesters where traditional grading was used and compared with alternatively graded semesters. Impacts on key aspects of motivation are assessed using the Science Motivation Questionnaire II (Glynn et al., 2011) in the context of social cognitive theory, considering measures of intrinsic motivation, self-determination, self-efficacy, and extrinsic motivation. Student survey responses were collected at three points during the semester of the alternatively graded course and resulting measures of motivation parameters are evaluated in the context of self-identified student major, gender, race, and first-generation college students.

The "Educational Experiences in Atmospheric Science Field Campaigns: A Community Workshop" brought together practitioners in atmospheric science observational research, educators, and education researchers to explore ways to expand atmospheric science education research (ASER) beyond the traditional classroom. Through this workshop, we identified knowledge gaps across communities and explored potential research questions about student learning in field campaigns and field work settings specific to the atmospheric sciences. A primary goal moving forward is to develop evidence-based, high-impact practices that maximize student outcomes while supporting the scientific objectives of field campaigns. To achieve this, participants discussed integrating education research on student learning, inclusive practices, and identity directly into atmospheric science field campaigns. This integration, co-designed by education researchers and physical scientists, would enable simultaneous observation of teaching and learning in field environments, fostering improvements that benefit both students and researchers. Improving our understanding of how students learn under the unique conditions of field campaigns and when and how that learning is optimized, will lead to better integration of early-career training and development. Through this poster, we will highlight the community workshop, key takeaways, and a shared vision for integrating education research into atmospheric science field campaigns, including strategies for institutional support and community growth.

Field education is a foundational part of the geosciences, yet many traditional field sites present accessibility barriers that entirely exclude students with disabilities. To address this gap, the University of Florida's GeoSPACE Project (GeoScientists Promoting Accessible Collaborative Education) builds accessible, technology-rich field learning environments. Using participant data and observations from our Summer 2026 course in Arizona, this poster examines how we can use technology to deeply engage students in the construction of geological and planetary knowledge. We specifically focus on how remote students use mediated technology and robotic proxies to conduct fieldwork not as passive observers, but as active, distributed cognitive geoscientists. By observing how students interact with these proxies, we are exploring the stages of remote embodiment to understand how effectively virtual or remote participants can project their presence, exercise agency, and drive independent scientific inquiry in a landscape they aren't physically standing in. Preliminary results suggest that robotic proxies are not merely an accessibility workaround; rather, they enable genuine cognitive and spatial connections to the field environment. Here we share what these conceptual insights and outcomes mean for the integration of remote technologies into geoscience field education and how these results may contribute to more equitable and inclusive field practices.

Ungrading is the practice of removing grades to allow for more creative thinking while supporting student needs and accessibility. This approach reduces stress, fosters more equitable and productive student–instructor relationships, and promotes a collaborative, rather than competitive, learning community. Current ungrading research in various disciplines demonstrates its potential for both academic and personal development, with implications for students' collegiate experiences and longevity in the field. This presentation surveys existing research on ungrading and offers discipline-specific recommendations for implementation across geoscience courses, including considerations of course size, class level, and assessment practices. Additionally, this presentation includes results from a pilot study of the implementation of ungrading in a graduate-level Tropical Meteorology and undergraduate-level Introduction to Synoptic Meteorology course.

From Fall 2023 through Spring 2025, we had a unique opportunity to examine the effects of sustained choral music engagement on the cognitive, affective, and behavioral development of children aged 10–18. In celebration of its 150th anniversary, the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia commissioned "On the Horizon", a major choral work centered on climate change, and partnered with Commonwealth Youth Choir to collaborate with composer Melissa Dunphy in intentionally bringing the voices and perspectives of children into the text and creative process. This collaboration provided a rare, longitudinal context in which youth were deeply immersed in climate-related material through artistic creation, rehearsal, reflection, and performance. Using a mixed methods research design, we investigated how participation in this process influenced young singers' understanding of, emotional responses to, and engagement with climate change. Data collection included small- and large-group conversations that invited participants to share their thoughts and feelings about climate change, pre- and post-surveys using validated instruments, and qualitative post-performance interviews. Major findings suggest that despite scoring highly in both belief and knowledge about climate change, students demonstrated little evidence of eco-anxiety, even after spending several months immersed in preparing the climate-focused performance. Rather than increasing worry, the experience appeared to deepen understanding while fostering reflection and engagement. This finding directly challenges political claims that educational and scientific institutions are "deliberately fueling youth climate anxiety." Student reflections instead suggest a constructive intellectual and emotional response. In addition, results highlight art-making as an expressive and affirmative space for developing understanding, as well as a meaningful site for youth agency in a context where young people often feel limited in their ability to influence climate outcomes. Together, these findings suggest that sustained, creative engagement can support climate literacy and empowerment without exacerbating eco-anxiety, offering important implications for arts-based climate education and youth well-being.

A sense of place carries both meaning and attachment to the places people visit often. Place-based education (PBE) can promote learning by integrating meaningful places into the learning curriculum. Place-based teaching has gained momentum in the last 20 years within the K-12 environmental science community, but is less commonly practiced at the college level. This study was developed to test if PBE in a higher education setting can increase engagement. We developed a short survey with items to assess place attachment and course engagement. For place attachment, students are asked to rate ten statements (e.g. USC/Columbia/SC is very special to me) on a 5-point Likert scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. For course engagement, students are asked to rate eighteen statements (e.g. raising my hand in class) to assess four types of engagement (emotional, performance, skill and participation) on a 4-point Likert scale from Not at All Characteristic to Very Characteristic. Students are also asked to respond to five questions that include whether they live on or off campus and how long they've lived in SC. We embedded this survey at the beginning and end of two introductory geoscience courses; one of these has a PBE focus (environmental science) while the other (physical geology) does not. Survey data shows that utilizing place attachment through PBE is correlated to student engagement (p<0.05) and is an effective method in maintaining engagement throughout the semester. Data also indicates an increase in participation and performance engagement as compared to non-PBE. Place attachment remained consistently high over the semester and was not dependent on in-state status or where they live. Place-based education shows that incorporating local issues into the curriculum is a great way to help students learn and engage with material in higher education.

Science communication plays a critical role in the atmospheric sciences, where the stakes of miscommunication can be high, for example, in severe weather communication and climate change. While science communication has been studied across many disciplines, little is known about how it is incorporated into undergraduate atmospheric science education. Given the societal importance of atmospheric phenomena, there is a need to understand how students—as future scientists, forecasters, and communicators—are being trained to share scientific information. This mixed-methods project investigates how atmospheric science communication is valued and taught within undergraduate programs in the United States. A key feature of the study is its comparison across subtopics within atmospheric science, particularly weather compared to climate and climate change, to explore where communication training may differ in emphasis or perceived importance. We conducted semi-structured interviews with undergraduate atmospheric science students and faculty. Emergent themes from participants' open-ended interview responses will be shared. These findings will inform the development of national surveys that will be administered to students and faculty.

Traditional geology field camps are immersive, long-duration (often 4–6 weeks), in-person capstone courses emphasizing hands-on data collection in natural settings, direct outcrop observation, and geologic mapping. These courses are widely valued for authentic student engagement with Earth systems and synthesis of core geoscience skills, yet systematic evidence of their impact on both technical skills and affective outcomes remains limited. We report on a four-year, mixed-methods study (2021–2024) of a month-long, mobile undergraduate field camp that used the Learning Outcomes for Capstone Field Experiences (LOCFEs) as a community-derived assessment framework. Pre- and post-field camp surveys (65 paired respondents) and post-field camp reflections (n = 68) revealed very large perceived gains in technical competencies (mean normalized change 45%, Cohen's d = 1.81), as well as substantial affective growth in science identity (38%, d = 0.80), grit (34%, d = 0.95), and other personal outcomes, despite some ceiling effects. Survey control items (related to biogeochemical cycling, seismology, and GIS—topics not covered in the curriculum) confirmed that gains were specific to the field camp experience. Qualitative reflections highlighted the value of embodied, sustained fieldwork and supportive peer and instructor communities for student growth. We release a tested LOCFE–aligned instrument for broader use in geoscience education research and practice. These findings reinforce the enduring pedagogical value of traditional field camps and demonstrate measurable affective growth, pointing to opportunities for future program improvement and inclusivity. Attendees will gain insights into using LOCFE–aligned frameworks to assess field experiences and the implications for supporting both technical and affective student development.

Observation protocols have played an important role in advancing undergraduate science education by systematically documenting the extent to which evidence-based instructional practices are implemented. Well-established instruments exist for classroom, laboratory, and online instructional environments; however, no validated protocol currently addresses the distinctive pedagogical, logistical, and safety considerations of undergraduate field experiences (UFEs). Field-based instruction involves dynamic environments, emergent decision-making, and embodied learning practices that are not captured by existing observation tools. We developed an initial Field Teaching Observation Protocol (FTOP) designed to capture observable instructor practices in undergraduate geoscience field settings. The first draft of the FTOP was constructed by adapting structural elements from established observation frameworks, such as the RTOP, and aligning indicators with evidence-based field teaching practices from the Undergraduate Field Experiences Research Network (UFERN). The protocol was piloted in field-based labs for an introductory course and two upper-level courses, and a weekend-long field trip with multiple observers. The pilot testing identified several areas for improvement in indicator clarity, feasibility of use in outdoor contexts, and alignment with authentic field practices. The FTOP now consists of 14 criteria organized into three theoretically grounded domains: (1) Design of the Field Experience, (2) Instructional Strategies, and (3) Field Behaviors. Each criterion is aligned with evidence-based practices that support inclusive field environments, foster student belonging and safety, and promote cognitive engagement.Ongoing work focuses on iterative refinement of the FTOP to establish content validity and inter-rater reliability. We are looking to incorporate additional expert feedback and prepare for expanded testing in upcoming field courses. The long-term goal is to develop a robust, community-informed instrument capable of supporting research, professional development, and program evaluation in geoscience field education.

Previous studies have demonstrated that student self-efficacy, or the belief that one can reach their goals, is a critical predictor for student success. Self-efficacy can be tied to undergraduate outcomes such as persistence in the major (particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines) and time to graduation. Note that self-efficacy is not a static measure of perceived competence; rather, it is sensitive to student experience, family, social, and educational environments. In particular, the shift from high school to college or changing from a community college to a four-year institution represent a substantial academic and social transition period. This intermediate phase has a large influence on student self efficacy and early academic success, particularly for new transfer students, who tend to perform worse than their "traditional" entry counterparts. However, limited research exists with regards to changes in self-efficacy over time in college settings. This study evaluates the evolution in self-efficacy of a new incoming class of meteorology majors (N=13 participants) at a large research intensive university in the southeastern US, along with its relationship to academic performance in first-year courses. Regularly administered surveys were conducted using the Beliefs in Educational Success Test assessment to quantify students' self-reported self-efficacy at multiple points throughout the first two semesters on campus. This presentation will describe general trends in self-efficacy and its sensitivity to student demographics and specific courses. Most notably, reported levels of self-efficacy were dependent on the nature of the academic activity in question. Additionally, preliminary analysis indicates that students showed overall improvement to self-efficacy over time in regards to future courses and interacting with faculty, while showing diminished self-efficacy over time relating to individual assignments and collaborative work with their peers.

During the 2025-26 academic year, we surveyed undergraduates in introductory geoscience courses about their interest in topics before and after lecture sessions on minerals, landslides, critical minerals, mass extinctions, and climate. These class sessions were taught with varied levels of instructional reform (low, medium, high) to test if instruction style affects student interest. In the fall semester, students were asked to self-report their interest on a 5-point Likert scale. In the spring semester, students were also asked to report how much they agree or disagree with statements modified from the Situational Interest Survey (Linnenbrink-Garcia et al., 2012) related to the lecture topic. These statements also used a 5-point Likert scale, and are designed to gauge student interest by assessing their feelings, values, and opinions. By comparing self-reported student interest with an instrument that measures interest, we will investigate if self-reporting is a sufficient measure of student interest, or if the increased granularity of a multi-question survey can provide greater insight. We will also investigate the relationship between student interest and the level of instructional reform of each class session.For the 2026-27 academic year, we seek to investigate the relationship between classroom experiences and geoscience interest among both introductory and major-level students. To do this, we will use the Geoscience Interest Survey (Conner & Lazar, 2026) as a pretest-postest instrument to capture changes that may occur throughout a semester for all academic levels. In addition to these surveys, I will conduct interviews using Critical Incident Technique (CTI) (Flanagan, 1954) to identify incidents that have affected geoscience interest for introductory students and geoscience majors. Within these student interviews, I will ask about specific aspects of classroom instruction that were impactful and look for potential relationships between active learning practices and changes in student interest.

Most students who pursue geology degrees do so after taking an introductory course, but why are they enrolling in introductory geology courses in the first place? The development of the Beliefs of Students in Introductory Courses surveys for Geology students (Jackson & Ryker, 2019; BaSIC-Geo) began in 2019 using a qualitative-then-quantitative approach. Students enrolled in an introductory geology course were asked to share their attitudinal beliefs, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls around the behavior of signing up for (BaSIC-Geo I), and taking another geology course (BaSIC-Geo II) following the Theory of Planned Behavior. Responses were coded into themes, which were transformed into a series of semantic differential statements (e.g. "My advisors would ____ my decision to take this geology course..."). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of over 1,500 responses to the BaSIC-Geo I resulted in the creation of five subscales accounting for 41% of the variance in student responses. Key takeaways include that students signing up for introductory geology courses feel that they will enjoy and succeed in them, the content is useful to them, and that geology courses are a better option than alternatives such as physics or chemistry. In a parallel EFA assessing what would motivate students to take another course, five factors explained an initial and similar 53% of the variance in beliefs; a CFA of BaSIC-Geo II responses confirmed that all five factors remained significant. As with the BaSIC-Geo I, students are guided by the belief that geology would be better than alternatives. We also found that the approval of others, the belief that the professor cares about individual success, self-efficacy, and perceived behavioral controls were all guiding beliefs about enrolling in additional courses. This presentation includes how survey responses vary by demographic and recommendations on how to recruit students into your introductory courses.

Undergraduate science majors are expected to engage with and apply the scientific method, a universal process that begins with posing a question and formulating a hypothesis followed by systematic investigation, data analysis, and evidence-based conclusions. Although not every assignment requires students to conduct a full-scale investigation, instructors consistently expect well-supported analyses in student responses. However, a recurring challenge in student work is the ability to interpret data and construct clear scientific explanations. To address this gap, the researchers adapted the Claims, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) framework to better support undergraduate students in articulating their thinking by guiding them to make a claim, provide supporting evidence, and explain their reasoning. In this study, we implemented the CER framework as a cognitive tool for students (n=78) analyzing isotope data from foraminifera tests (the shells of single-celled marine organisms). Two sections of a Historical Geology (GEOL 1302) course received scaffolded CER instruction throughout the semester, while two sections received traditional instruction. Students in all four sections completed an assignment comparing stable isotope data from fossil foraminifera during three distinct geologic intervals. This study addressed two primary research questions: i. Which elements from the CER framework do students engage with most when analyzing oxygen and carbon isotope data? and ii. To what degree does CER scaffolding strengthen students' ability to reason about foraminifera as climate proxies compared to traditional instruction? Paired t-tests of students' pre and post test scores by section showed statistically significant gains for both CER (p= 0.0001) and non-CER groups (p= 0.000573) with an average increase of approximately two points. However, no significant difference was found between CER and Non-CER sections (p= 0.361). Analysis of student lab scores will provide a more detailed evaluation of the impact of CER scaffolding on students' reasoning about isotope data.

Analogical reasoning is a basic learning process used by everyone both in and out of the classroom. Analogies have been shown to facilitate student comprehension by connecting (mapping) complex or abstract concepts (targets) to familiar concepts (sources). Most existing research on analogies in geoscience education has focused on student outcomes, student perspectives, and lower-level courses, such as K-12 and introductory undergraduate courses. This study focuses on an understudied population, geoscience instructors, and analogy use in upper-level courses. A digital survey (conducted in Spring 2026) investigated the following research questions: 1. What types of analogies are used in upper-level geoscience courses? 2. Do geoscience instructors believe that analogies aid or harm student learning? Are there complications when using analogical examples in upper-level geoscience courses? 3. How do geoscience instructors engage students with analogies in upper-level geoscience courses? The geoscience instructor survey participants (n=50) provided 145 analogies that they use in their courses/instruction. Preliminary analysis of survey data suggests that plate tectonics, rock, and mineral analogies are the most commonly used in participants' geoscience courses. A majority of geoscience instructor participants believe analogies are effective but have noted that analogies, much like models, have limitations that must be addressed to avoid student misunderstandings. Lastly, survey responses suggest that the most common ways instructors engage students with analogies are by utilizing a visual aid and/or discussing the analogy in lecture.