Becca Walker

Unit 3: Understanding landslide factors part of Surface Process Hazards
How do slope characteristics and magnitude of forces dictate whether or not a slope will fail? Can environmental and built characteristics change the magnitude of these forces? In this unit, students qualitatively ...

Unit 2: Reading the landscape part of Surface Process Hazards
How do geologic, hydrologic, biologic, and built-landscape features manifest themselves on maps? In this unit, students will use topographic maps, hillshade maps, and aerial imagery to learn to recognize a variety ...

Unit 5: Mitigating future disasters: developing a mass-wasting hazard map part of Surface Process Hazards
This unit serves as the summative assessment of the Surface Process Hazards module. In September 2013, the Boulder area of Colorado experienced an extreme rain event that led to mass wasting in many areas. This has ...

Unit 4: Anatomy of a tragic slide: Oso Landslide case study part of Surface Process Hazards
Landslides can have profound societal consequences, such as did the slide that occurred near Oso, Washington in 2014. Forty-three people were killed and entire rural neighborhood was destroyed. In this unit, ...

Unit 3: Warm with a Chance of Melting part of Ice and Sea Level Changes
How are recent air temperature trends influencing Greenland's ice mass? Are ice mass changes in Greenland spatially and temporally uniform? In this unit, students use atmospheric and geodetic data (GRACE, ...

Ice Mass and Sea Level Changes part of Ice and Sea Level Changes
In this 2-3 week module, students interpret geodetic data from Greenland to assess spatial patterns and magnitudes of ice mass change and consider mechanisms and timescales for ice mass loss. They also investigate ...

Unit 1: Rising Concerns Over Rising Sea Levels part of Ice and Sea Level Changes
How are rising sea levels already influencing the developing nation of Bangladesh, and what are the anticipated consequences of additional sea level rise in the next century? This introduction to the Ice and Sea ...

Unit 4: An Uplifting Story of Sea Level Change part of Ice and Sea Level Changes
How much and how quickly does Earth's surface respond to changes in a glacier's mass? How can geodesy help scientists understand the relationship between ice mass change and changes in the bedrock ...

Unit 5: Regional Sea Level Changes--A Tale of Two Cities part of Ice and Sea Level Changes
Is sea level change globally uniform? How do sea level changes have the potential to influence major metropolitan areas during the next century? How should these changes be addressed, and who should be responsible ...

Climate of Change part of Climate of Change
In this two to three week module, students explore short-term climate variability resulting from atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions. The module promotes awareness of past and contemporary cultures and regions ...

Case Study 6.1- Adapting to a Changing World part of Climate of Change
In this activity, students consider how several communities are adapting to climate change-related problems including drought's impacts on agriculture, loss of assets due to climate-related hazards, freshwater ...

Case Study 4.1- Reflecting on What is Happening to Greenland's Ice part of Climate of Change
In this activity, students consider Greenland reflectivity changes from 2000 to 2012. Some students receive yearly albedo data for low elevations, while other students receive high-elevation data. After each ...

Case Study 4.2- Predicting Glacial Futures part of Climate of Change
In this activity, students predict rates of change using recent data from marine-terminating outlet glaciers in Greenland. They calculate the average rate of area change for a set of 34 glaciers from 2001 to 2009 ...

How to be a field geologist: an in-class exercise to introduce students to basic outcrop analysis part of Geoscience in the Field:Activities
This in-class exercise is designed to give students practice analyzing outcrops before they go on a field trip. First, students watch a short video tutorial on analyzing an outcrop. Then, they are given a color ...

Groundwater Potentiometric Surface Mapping part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
In this exercise, students map the elevation of the water table in the Mammoth Groundwater Basin using water levels measured in Mammoth County Water District monitoring wells.

Botanical Transect Mapping part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
Students gain experience "reading" landscapes using geologic, hydrological, and botanical/ecological techniques. They learn two simple and widely used methods for quantitatively measuring the density of ...

Mono Lake Paleoshoreline Mapping part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
Students complete a series of geology, geomorphology, hydrology, and botany field exercises at a field site near the north shore of Mono Lake to generate interpretations of the lake through time. The Mono Lake ...

Mono Lake North Geomorphic Mapping part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
In this activity students observe Mono Lake North in the field and via remote imagery to identify fluvial geomorphic features. With these observations and data collected in the field students create annotated ...

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Soil, Vegetation, and Bedrock Mapping part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
In this half-day field exercise, students hike the Discovery Trail at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest (USDA Forest Service) to observe the relationships between geologic (rock and soil), geomorphic (aspect), ...

Poleta Stratigraphy part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
Based on field observations at Little Poleta, students identify and describe sedimentary rock units and measure the thicknesses of 5 different stratigraphic units. They then establish the field site's major ...

Poleta Bedrock Geologic Mapping part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
Students produce a bedrock geologic map of the Little Poleta field area from which they write a short interpretation of the paleoenvironment and geologic history of the region.

Panum Crater Geomorphic Mapping part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
Based upon field observations and aerial imagery, students generate a geomorphic map of Panum Crater and use their field data to make an interpretation of the eruptive history of Panum Crater.

Intro to Quantifying Stream Discharge and Base Flow part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
In this exercise, students calculate stream discharge from sample field data using the velocity-area method. They compare multiple measurements of discharge to determine base flow in a sample river reach.

Evaluating the lines of evidence for plate tectonics part of Integrate:Workshops and Webinars:Teaching the Methods of Geoscience:Activities
In this in-class exercise, students compare several lines of evidence that support the ideas of continental drift and plate tectonics. Before the class meeting, each student is given a preparation assignment in which he/she studies one "continental drift" and one "ocean floor data" map. In class, students divide into teams of 3, with each team member having prepared different specialties. They discuss their respective maps and look for spatial patterns among the data.

McGee Creek Geomorphic History part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
At the McGee Creek field site, students observe geomorphic features that provide evidence for at least 2 processes (one tectonic and one climatic) influencing this landscape as well as ongoing modification of this ...

Walker Lake Area Glacial Geomorphology part of E-STEM:Field Course:ESTEM-PD Activities
Students visit Walker Lake (Eastern Sierras) to identify and map glacial geomorphic features. From their field and remote observations of the landscape, they subsequently make interpretations about formation ...

Context matters: Designing data-rich geodesy teaching materials that get used part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday
GETSI (Geodesy Tools for Societal Issues) project is developing modules that allow undergraduate students to engage in geodetic data analysis relevant to societally important topics of natural hazards, water ...

Data-rich societally-situated undergraduate teaching resources and instructor professional development for geoscience classrooms and field courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2018:Program:Poster Sessions:Wednesday
The NSF-funded GEodesy Tools for Societal Issues (GETSI) project is developing teaching resources and instructor professional development opportunities that emphasize a broad range of geodetic methods and data ...

Data-rich societally-relevant undergraduate teaching resources for geoscience classrooms and field courses part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2016:Program:Poster Sessions:Thursday
UNAVCO (NSF's geodetic facility) and partners are developing and disseminating undergraduate teaching resources that feature geodesy data analysis and methods in order to address gaps in available ...

Becca Walker: Using Surface Process Hazards in Physical Geology at Mt. San Antonio College part of Surface Process Hazards
I teach a physical geology class with a diverse group of students with respect to academic background and major. We spend the majority of the semester working with rock and mineral identification, maps, and tectonics, but I wanted to incorporate more of a societal component into this particular course. The surface processes hazards module gave me the opportunity to help students consider the intersection between geologic phenomena and humans. My students seemed to enjoy working with such a variety of maps and study areas. The collaborative nature of identifying landscape features and ranking areas' mass wasting susceptibility was a great opportunity for interaction, debate, and synthesis of a variety of data sets. They were quite engaged as they put their maps together for the Boulder Creek case study. The incorporation of human modification of the landscape and the implications for mass wasting vulnerability got them thinking about their own neighborhoods in southern California.

Undergraduate Research in Geoscience at Mt. San Antonio College part of SAGE 2YC:Engage 2YC Students in Research:Profiles
Information for this profile was provided by Becca Walker and Mark Boryta, Earth Sciences and Astronomy. Departmental/Institutional Context Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is a single-campus, suburban community ...

Instructor Materials Overview of the Ice and Sea Level Changes Module part of Ice and Sea Level Changes
Module Goals Students will interpret geodetic data to assess spatial patterns and causes of ice mass loss. Students will evaluate the impact of ice sheet mass change on global and regional sea level and consider ...

Getting the Most Out of your TA Experience part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2023:Program:Morning Workshops:Getting the Most Out of your TA Experience
In this workshop, we will help graduate students build their skills as teaching assistants (TAs) and articulate those skills in light of future careers. Participants will develop skills and confidence for ...

E-STEM Field Course part of E-STEM:Field Course
Becca Walker, Mt San Antonio College Sarah R. Hall College of the Atlantic Calla Schmidt University of San Francisco Summary Students spend approximately 2 weeks in the Sierra Nevada working on applied projects in ...

Teaching for a Changing World: Water resources and melting ice part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2020:Program:Morning Workshops:Teaching for a Changing World: Water resources and melting ice
Integrating cutting edge data and quantitative skills into introductory courses can be challenging. The GEodesy Tools for Societal Issues (GETSI) project has developed a suite of undergraduate teaching modules to ...

Teaching Introductory Geoscience with Data and Math in a Societal Context Using GETSI Modules part of Earth Educators Rendezvous:Previous Rendezvous:Rendezvous 2019:Program:Morning Workshops:Teaching Introductory Geoscience with Data and Math in a Societal Context
Integrating cutting edge data and quantitative skills into introductory courses can be challenging. The GEodesy Tools for Societal Issues (GETSI) project has developed a suite of undergraduate teaching modules to ...

Climate Change Adaptation Strategies part of Climate of Change
These are the examples of climate change adaptation strategies for Case Study 6.1. Students may access them online on this page or may be provided with hard copies of these examples.