New NAGT Officers Welcomed at 2016 GSA Annual Meeting

The National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) welcomed its newest elected officers at the recent 2016 GSA Annual Meeting, September 25-28, in Denver, CO.

Dr. Anne Egger of Central Washington University is the newly elected president; Dr. Don Duggan-Hass of Paleontological Research Institution was elected the new 1st Vice President; Dr. David McConnell of North Carolina State University was elected 2nd Vice President.

Dr. Randall Richardson of the University of Arizona will serve as the Past President.

The new officers will serve in their respected positions for one year.

The newly elected Councilors-at-Large are Aisha Morris of UNAVCO and Jen Wenner of the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

Returning Councilors include Michael Phillips of Illinois Valley Community College. Suki Smaglik; John Taber of Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS); and Karen Viskupic, Boise State University.

Aida Awad of Maine East High School (Park Ridge, IL) will continue to serve as the Secretary/Treasurer.

Anne Egger (President)

Dr. Egger is an associate professor at Central Washington University, where she has a joint appointment in Geological Sciences and Science Education and also serves as Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. Egger serves in a leadership capacity in the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT), both in the presidential line and as chair of the Professional Development Planning Committee. Much of her work in NAGT has focused on leading workshops for faculty and graduate students, including a series of workshops on teaching introductory courses. As an author, editor, and co-project director for Visionlearning Egger develops peer-reviewed readings for learning about science in a way that focuses on how we know what we know, the data that support our scientific explanations, and the people behind the science. From 2004 to 2011, Anne was a lecturer and the Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University.

Don Duggan-Haas (1^st Vice President)

Dr. Duggan-Haas is the Director of Teacher Programs at PRI and its Museum of the Earth & Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca, NY. Don's work in teacher education, teacher professional development and curriculum materials development marries deep understandings of how people learn with deep understandings of the Earth system. He is a nationally regarded expert in place-based and technology-rich Earth and environmental science education, especially as related to the use of Virtual Fieldwork Experiences (VFEs). He served on the Earth & Space Science Design Team for the National Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, and also served as Chair of the Geological Society of America's Geoscience Education Division and on the New York State Science Leadership Team for the NGSS.

David McConnell (2^nd Vice President)

Dr. McConnell is a professor in the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University. His research focus is on geoscience education, with specific attention to assessment of learning in introductory courses, the relationship between teaching beliefs and practices, and professional development of graduate students and faculty. David manages a geoscience education research group that includes a mix of undergraduate and graduate students and a postdoc.

Aisha Morris (Councilor-at-Large)

Dr. Morris is the Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students Program Director at UNAVCO. Through this work, Dr. Morris works to actively recruit and attract a broad diversity of new students from undergraduate majors within the solid earth geosciences; supports interns after their first summer internship by providing year-round support, including graduate school application assistance, academic scholarships, funded scientific conference attendance, and ongoing mentoring, and prepares students to enter careers by simultaneously incorporating traditional research experiences for undergraduates (REU) elements including conducting scientific research under the guidance of a science mentor as well as training to develop research and scientific communication skills and social opportunities for building community.

Jennifer Wenner (Councilor-at-Large)

Dr. Wenner is an associate professor in the Department of Geology at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Dr. Wenner teaches courses in physical geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, igneous and metamorphic petrology, and field trips to Hawaii, Death Valley and the Sierra Nevada. Her research interests include the generation of continental crust (using geochemistry and geochronology), the evolution of the mantle beneath arcs and best teaching practices for increasing college students' quantitative skills. Her current research projects include the geochemical and volcanological study of basaltic cinder cones in the Cascades at Lassen Peak, California and an educational study of the use of online tutorials to build introductory geoscience students' mathematical skills.