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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The GeoTeachers™ Program and Related K–12 Activities
The GeoTeachers Program was created to provide professional development workshops
and field experiences for K–12 teachers with little to no geoscience background. During
the summer of 2018, field workshops were held in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, and Colorado
Springs, Colorado, USA, engaging 38 educators. At the 2018 Annual Meeting in
Indianapolis, a one-day field workshop engaged six educators. Due to the relatively small
number of teachers reached and the limited resources available, GSA decided in late
2018 to discontinue the GeoTeachers program. GSA is seeking input from its Education
Committee to determine how best to serve the K–12 and 2-year-college (2YC) communi-
ties moving forward. This may involve GSA using new and existing partnerships, as it is
doing at the 2019 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, where it is collaborating
with the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA) to host a one-day work-
shop for educators. This workshop and partnership may serve as a new model for GSA to Graduate Student Research Grants
serve K–12 and 2YC educators via its Annual Meetings. GSA’s Graduate Student Research
Grants Program continues to be one of the
largest and most prestigious funding pro-
AGeS2 (Awards for Geochronology Student Research 2) Program grams for graduate students in the geosci-
In 2018, GSA partnered with Becky Flowers (University of Colorado Boulder) and ences. The goals of the program are to
Ramón Arrowsmith (Arizona State University) to apply for and obtain a three-year, • Support graduate student research in the
cross-programmatic award from the NSF to support the AGeS2 (Awards for geosciences and ultimately enhancement
Geochronology Student research 2) program, which expands the AGeS1 program into of the geoscience workforce;
a wider initiative. AGeS offers opportunities for graduate students to develop the scien- • Provide career-development opportuni-
tific rationale for projects involving geochronology and then provides them with hands- ties for students by gaining experience
on experience acquiring data in labs, all while being mentored by geochronologists. with grant writing, project development,
This grants program is available to GSA student members and is separate from, but and research; and
complementary to, GSA’s long-standing Graduate Student Research Grants program. • Increase the diversity of the geosciences
The AGeS2 student awardees will participate in teleconferences with the cohort of through opportunities for students from
funded AGeS students over a two-year interval. Each awardee will also receive an underrepresented communities to
additional US$500 to attend an AGeS cohort workshop preceding the 2020 or 2021 achieve success in research.
GSA Annual Meeting, and will be encouraged to present their results at the meeting. In collaboration with the Research
Learn more at www.geosociety.org/ages. Grants Committee, GSA staff developed
an anti-plagiarism strategy to help edu-
cate students about writing research pro-
Short Courses posals that meet ethical standards.
GSA offers Short Courses at each of 2019 was the third and final year of
our Geographic Section Meetings and at GSA’s latest three-year NSF grant; GSA
Annual Meetings. The courses are taught staff is currently working on writing a
by professional geoscientists and enable new proposal to seek NSF funding to sup-
attendees to learn new topics, build port the program through 2022.
skills, and network. If you plan to run a
field trip or a field camp, consider taking
our Field Safety Leadership Course at
our next Annual Meeting. An attendee
last year said it was an “excellent short RENEW BY
course that should be mandatory for all 1 NOV. TO SAVE
“This course blew my expectations out of the field camp directors, faculty teaching 15% OFF DUES*
water.” field camp, and any field geologist!” www.geosociety.org/

members

*Applies to those in high
income country/territories

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