Far Western Section, National Association of Geoscience Teachers Spring Meeting: Caltech Tectonics Observatory, March 25-27, 2011

Have you ever wanted to know more about the geology of southern California, the San Andreas fault, and some of the incredibly strange rocks that crop out around the San Gabriel Mountains, like Vasquez Rocks or Devil's Punchbowl? The Far Western Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers invites you to join us on March 25-27, 2011 for our spring meeting, hosted by the Caltech Tectonics Observatory in Pasadena, California. These meetings are a great way to learn some fascinating geology, meet some fascinating people, and as much as I would like to say "have a scholarly time", I'm going to instead say "have a fun time".

Complete details of the meeting can be found on the Caltech Tectonics Observatory website at http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/meetings/nagt/. You do not need to be a member of NAGT to attend (but we will gladly welcome you into membership if you wish to!), and the cost of the event is modest (less than $100 if you register before Feb. 25, plus a bit more for the Saturday banquet).

Check out the wonderful slate of activities and field trips below!

Field trips:
•Erosion and Sediment Transport in steep Mountain Terrain, San Gabriel Mountains - Mike Lamb (Caltech)

•San Gabriel Anorthosite and the San Andreas Fault - Bruce Carter (Pasadena Community College)

•Vasquez Rocks - Elisabeth Nadin (UA, Fairbanks) and Rebecca Walker (Mt San Antonio College)

•Devil's Punchbowl and Red Rock Canyon - Donald Prothero (Caltech/Occidental College)

Evening Speakers:
•Good Vibrations Inside the Earth - Jennifer Jackson (Caltech)

•TBD -Jess Adkins (Caltech)

Exhibits and tours:
•Tour of Seismo Lab - Margaret Vinci (Caltech)

•Southern CA Earthquake Center (SCEC) display

Workshops:
•Low-T Thermometry and Thermochronometry and Applications (including dating the formation of the Grand Canyon) - Ken Farley, John Eiler, and Brian Wernicke (Caltech)

•Earthquake Magnitude, Energy, and Focal Mechanisms (beach balls) - Joann Stock (Caltech)

•Plate Tectonic Rotation of the Transverse Ranges: what happened, how we know it happened, and how it created Southern California’s unique geography, climate, ocean currents and biological richness - Tanya Atwater (UCSB)

•Historical Earthquakes and Uplift/Subsidence of Sumatra from Coral Growth Rings - Elizabeth Nadin (UA, Fairbanks) and Belle Philibosian (Caltech)

•Operations of Community Seismometer Network (How your laptop can help scientists better understand earthquakes) - Tom Heaton and Ming-Hei Cheng (Caltech)

The registration form is here: http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/meetings/nagt/register.pdf

NAGT Annual Awards and Deadlines: Nominate Someone Special!

NAGT offers a variety of awards and grants to educators, and scholarships to students. Consider nominating a deserving colleague or student to recognize exceptional service or work. For more information on nomination procedures go to the NAGT Awards website at

http://www.nagt.org/nagt/programs/awards.html

Awards, Grants, Scholarships, and Deadlines:

OEST Award: for outstanding K/12 teachers, deadline June 1st.

Neil Miner Award: for exceptional contributions in stimulating interest in the earth sciences, deadline April 1st.

James Shea Award: for exceptional contributions to geoscience writing or editing, deadline April 1st.

Bob Christman Distinguished Service Award: for outstanding service to NAGT, deadline open.

Dorothy Stout Professional Development Grant: financial grants up to $750.00 to community college faculty or students, and K-12 teachers, deadline April 15th.

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award: for exceptional undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants, deadline June 15th.

Scholarships for Field Study: for undergraduates ($500.00) attending any field-based class as part of their degree requirements, deadline February 16th.

NAGT Two-Year College Section to be Proposed

From Jackie Hams of the Far Western Section....

The Executive Committee of NAGT unanimously passed a resolution in support of establishing a two-year college (2YC) section within NAGT at their October 30, 2010 meeting in Denver. Formation of a 2YC group within NAGT was a recommendation of a June 2010 NAGT/NSF sponsored workshop titled, “The Role of Two-Year Colleges in Geoscience Education and in Broadening Participation in the Geosciences: A Planning Workshop.” The workshop brought together 31 2YC geoscience instructors and representatives of agencies and funding organizations.

http://serc.carleton.edu/geo2yc/workshop2010/index.html

An organizational committee of 13 2YC faculty is developing a mission statement and structure for a 2YC section to submit to the NAGT Executive Committee in April. The 2YC committee is studying similar groups in other science professional associations and discussing how a 2YC section can work closely with regional NAGT sections. Recognition of the 2YC community by NAGT will provide a national voice for institutions which are estimated to enroll approximately 45% of the undergraduates and minority students in the country, and play an important role in the science education of pre-service and K-12 teachers as well as life-long learners. NAGT members will be asked to vote on changes to the NAGT Constitution to establish a 2YC section.

From the Far Western Section of NESTA (National Association of Earth Science Teachers)

From Wendy Van Norden, NESTA Far West Regional Director:

I have some news and some questions for California NESTA members

Question: The 2012 American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) national convention will held in Long Beach. They are trying to a meaningful session for K-12 teachers. The theme for this convention is “Creative Ideas + New Technology = The Future. Do you have any suggestions?

News: Many of you signed a petition to the Academic Council of the University of California, asking them to include Earth Science as a “d” laboratory course. The petition was rejected. However, they are open to discussion about the topic, and I have organized a task force to put together recommendations for Earth Science curricula that should be considered.

Question: I am teaching a dual credit course with UCLA (my high school students receive credit on a UCLA transcript). My course is for Juniors and Seniors and it receives “d” lab credit

Do you know of any similar courses in California?

Do you know of anyone teaching an honors level Geology or Earth Science course in CA?

Do you know of Geology/Earth Science courses that do receive “d” lab credit?

Wendy Van Norden
Harvard-Westlake School
3700 Coldwater Canyon
No. Hollywood, CA 91604
818 487-6665
wvannorden@hw.com

Earth Science Full Time Tenure Track: Yuba Community College District

There have been not a great many full time Earth Science/Geology openings in California of late, but one has been announced in the Yuba Community College district:

Earth Science/Physical Science Instructor
Closing Date: April 8, 2011 Yuba Community College District ,
Marysville Faculty $52,592 - $100,879/YR.

Check out the CCC Registry here (search words Earth Science or Geology) for more details, and part-time opportunities in Marin, Monterey, Cerritos, Anaheim, San Francisco, and Bakersfield.

Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone Maps Now Online

A note from Cindy Pridmore at the California Geological Survey:

Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone Maps

CGS now offers online access to AP Fault Zone Maps: www.quake.ca.gov/gmaps/ap/ap_maps.htm

Individual maps can be viewed on screen; PDF images and GIS files can be downloaded by selecting a specific quadrangle map. Other CGS online map updates: both the geology and fault activity maps for the state are viewable online as well as the regional 1:250K and 1:100K geologic map series. The older Geologic Atlas series of maps will soon be made available as well. See http://www.consrv.ca.gov/cgs/information/geologic_mapping/Pages/googlemaps.aspx

On a different note, March 20-26, 2011 is National Tsunami Awareness and Preparedness Week. CGS has lots of downloadable educational/outreach materials available at http://www.tsunami.ca.gov/ . Scroll down the main page to see links to both the inundation maps (CGS) as well as the CalEMA MyHazards website. We provide numerous links to K12+ tsunami curriculum and activities. For more information on availability of printed educational materials contact:

Cindy Pridmore

cpridmore@consrv.ca.gov

916 324-5572

Note from the GSA Geoscience Education Division

From our colleagues at the GSA Geoscience Education Division:

Hi Folks!

Happy New Year to you all. Just a friendly note from the Geoscience Education Chair with reminders about a couple of upcoming deadlines:

1) Tuesday January 11, 2011. Deadline for proposals for the Technical Program, GSA national meeting in Minneapolis. We had a great turnout at the last meeting, with nearly a record number of posters and oral sessions. Make sure that your teaching and research interests are represented at the 2011 meeting. Be sure to contact me if you would like the division to sponsor your proposal. Submit your session proposals here.

2) February 1, 2011. Deadline for nominations for the Biggs Earth Science Teaching Award. The Biggs award is the only named award in our division, and therefore merits special consideration of our membership. In the past three years, the number of nominations has been 3 or 4 per year. And keep in mind that you can self-nominate. Click to find more information about the award, past recipients, and nomination procedures.

This year, the contact for the nominations is:

Sadredin (Dean) C. Moosavi
STEM Department
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
smoosavi@charter.net

That’s all for now. I’ll send another note when we’ve had a chance to check out all of the session proposals.

Paul Baldauf
Chair, Geoscience Education Division
Nova Southeastern University
Ft. Lauderdale, FL