Mitchell Bender-Awalt, M.S.

Project Coordinator

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Mitchell Bender-Awalt

Science Education Resource Center - Carleton College
507-222-5340, mawalt@carleton.edu
Pronouns: he/him

As a Project Coordinator, I am involved in managing and implementing projects and collaborations, developing website content and materials, implementing faculty professional development events, and participating in education research and evaluation projects.

My science education interests include teaching and learning in the field; justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion; and teaching structural geology.

I joined the SERC Implementation Team in the fall of 2017.

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Jump down to: Education | Publications | Conference Abstracts | About Me

Project Management and Implementation

I manage and coordinate projects at a variety of scales within the SERC portfolio. In my role as Project Coordinator, I assist with the management of staff, set goals, design and implement plans, track work progress, monitor project budgets, and assess results.

National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT)

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SERC is contracted with NAGT to manage the day-to-day operations of the association. As part of that work, I oversee the NAGT Executive Office. The Executive Office works directly with the NAGT Executive Director and Executive Committee to support the activities of the organization. Our efforts include financial management for the association; coordination of NAGT communications and publications; member recruitment and database management; awards program administration; technical services; administration of the association; and support for NAGT's Divisions, Sections, and Committees. My role involves managing Executive Office personnel, coordinating implementation of NAGT activities, and ensuring fulfillment of SERC's obligations to NAGT.

Website and Materials Development 

I work independently, as well as with external and internal collaborators, on the development of websites for projects in SERC's portfolio. My work includes developing budgetary statements of work for prospective partners, planning and executing website design and creation, leveraging Serckit's website and project management tools, and implementing web accessibility best practices.

Business and Science: Integrated Curriculum for Sustainability (BASICS)

Learn more about my work on the BASICS project

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The BASICS project worked with faculty experts in STEM and business disciplines to build Local Learning Communities at their institutions to collaboratively and iteratively create, assess, and implement transdisciplinary curriculum modules. As part of BASICS, I designed and built the project website to disseminate the transdisciplinary curricular materials, share outcomes from the Local Learning Communities, and support the implementation of the project through the use of Serckit's project management tools.

ADVANCEGeo Partnership

Learn more about my work with ADVANCEGeo Partnership

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The ADVANCEGeo Partnership is working to improve workplace climate conditions by developing bystander intervention education for department heads, chairs, faculty and grad students to appropriately respond to and prevent harassment, bullying and other exclusionary behaviors in research environments. I have supported ADVANCEGeo by designing their website, building their resource collection, and setting up their bystander intervention modules within Serckit, in addition to supporting the project leadership team.

Teaching Computation with MATLAB

Learn more about my work on Teaching Computation with MATLAB

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Teaching Computation with MATLAB is an ongoing project and collaboration between SERC and MathWorks focused on the creation of resources and professional development for educators teaching students computation. Through an annual workshop, the project brings together faculty from higher institutions across the United States to discuss teaching and using MATLAB for computation in STEM courses. My role in the project involves leading and supporting the workshops, building the website and collection of teaching resources, and creating synthetic products from workshop discussions and materials.

Event Development and Facilitation

I have participated in designing, planning, implementing, and supporting more than 100 face-to-face and virtual workshops, conferences, meetings, and webinars. This includes development of event programs using best practices, creation of workshop websites, promotion of the use of web tools during events, and creation of synthetic products using event discussions and contributions.

Earth Educators' Rendezvous (EER)

Learn more about my work supporting the Rendezvous

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The Earth Educators' Rendezvous is a biennial (formerly annual) conference for Earth educators and education researchers collaboratively managed by SERC and NAGT. I have been the primary SERC staff person coordinating SERC's contributions to the Rendezvous for multiple iterations (in-person and online) of the conference. Working with the Rendezvous planning committee and additional SERC staff, I have built the Rendezvous website, assisted with the development of the program, managed abstract and presentation submissions, planned the use of facilities, coordinated staffing, and supported the registration process. I have also worked during the conference to support session leaders, assist participants, prepare event spaces, and handle conference logistics.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Workshop, April 2019

Learn more about my work supporting the workshop and other professional development events

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The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Earth and Environmental Sciences workshop was part of the InTeGrate project's professional development programming, and used the On the Cutting Edge workshop design philosophy. For this workshop and workshops like it, I support the workshop from beginning to end—from development to implementation to completion. The support I provide for workshop development includes building the website, helping coordinate event logistics, and assisting with program development. I provide the workshop leaders with input on how to run engaging, interactive workshops that utilize participant expertise, leverage SERC's web tools, and have a focus on actionable changes. After the workshop, I use notes from workshop discussions, materials developed during the workshop, and participant contributions (e.g. teaching activities and essays) to create a synthetic record of the workshop and informational resources for use by the public.

Education

M.S. Earth Sciences, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, 2016

• Thesis: Petrogenesis of metaophiolitic granulites from SE Anatolia

B.A. Geology, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, 2013

• Thesis: Petrology and pseudosection modeling of a garnet-blueschist block-in-melange, Santa Catalina Island, California

Publications

Awalt, M. B., & Whitney, D. L. (2018). Petrogenesis of kyanite‐and corundum‐bearing mafic granulite in a meta‐ophiolite, SE Turkey. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 36(7), 881-904.

Bradtmiller, L. I., McGee, D., Awalt, M., Evers, J., Yerxa, H., Kinsley, C. W., & deMenocal, P. B. (2016). Changes in biological productivity along the northwest African margin over the past 20,000 years. Paleoceanography, 31(1), 185-202.

Conference Abstracts

Bender-Awalt, M., Szymanski, D., Bouwma-Gearhart, J., Carlson, A., Iverson, E., Jackson Young, L., ... & Wilson, R. (2024). Building Transdisciplinary Faculty Communities of Practice to Improve Undergraduate Sustainability Education, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting (Anaheim, CA).

Bruckner, M.Z., Manduca, C.A. Macdonald, R.H., Egger, A., O'Connell, K., Iverson, E., Bender-Awalt, M., Huyck Orr, C., Fox, S. (2024) Looking Back and Looking Forward: 10 Years of Earth Educators' Rendezvous, Earth Educators' Rendezvous (Philadelphia, PA).

McFadden, R.R., Cotton, B.W., and Bender-Awalt, M. (2022). Supporting the NAGT Community and Earth Education with the NAGT Webinar Series, Earth Educators' Rendezvous (Minneapolis, MN).

Cotton, B., Fortner, S.K., Bartley, J.K., Gross, D., Bender-Awalt, M. (2021). Train the facilitators: Applying Lessons from URGE to NAGT Professional Development Programming, Unlearning Racism in Geoscience, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (Online).

Awalt, M., Blockstein, D., Doser, D., Egger, A., Macdonald, H., Manduca, C., Rhodes, D., and Riihimaki, C. (2019). Facilitating Departmental, Programmatic, and Curricular Change through Traveling Workshops, Transforming Institutions Conference (Pittsburgh, PA).

Awalt, M., Blockstein, D., Orr, C. H., Robinson, W. A., Mulkey, S., Riihimaki, C. A., & Rhodes, D. (2019). Strengthening Cross-Campus Programs to Enhance Interdisciplinary Environmental and Sustainability Education through Traveling Workshops, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (San Francisco, CA).

Awalt, M., Mogk, D., and McDaris, J. (2019). Leveraging Peer-Developed Resources for Designing and Implementing Successful Field Experiences, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (San Francisco, CA).

Awalt, M., Mogk, D., and McDaris, J. (2019). Designing Successful Student Field Experiences: Resources and Strategies, Earth Educators' Rendezvous (Nashville, TN).

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About Me

My academic background is in the Earth Sciences, with a focus on metamorphic petrology, structural geology, and tectonics. While completing degrees at Macalester College (St. Paul, MN) and the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN), I engaged in research on the interactions between oceanic and continental lithosphere at convergent plate boundaries. I studied how subducted (and subsequently metamorphosed/deformed/exhumed) material can be used to track the evolution of these regions.

Between my Bachelor's and Master's degrees, I worked for an engineering and materials testing firm in the Twin Cities. I did sample preparation and testing of construction materials (primarily concrete) using petrographic and chemical techniques. Following my Master's degree and prior to joining SERC, I worked as an Adjunct Instructor at the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN), where I taught courses on field methods and structural geology/tectonics.

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When I'm not working, I prefer to spend time outdoors with my family. Backpacking, canoeing, and biking are some of my favorite ways to explore the world around me. I enjoy volunteering with organizations doing maintenance and upkeep on local trails. I also dabble in digital and film photography, home-brewed beer, and native plant/pollinator gardening.