AUGEN NEWS - January 2023

From the President

Welcome to our first newsletter for 2023.

We are still welcoming EOIs for presentations at our next annual meeting - to be held in February 2023! Please see the item below for dates and further information. Registration is now available here

We are also formally calling for EOIs for all AUGEN TEAM leadership roles, and general committee positions. Our committee is changing and we want you to get involved. Complete the google form here to express your interest. Deadline for EOIs is February 2, 2023

Best, Sandra

A/Prof Sandra McLaren, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

University of Melbourne

sandra.mclaren@unimelb.edu.au

2023 Annual meeting

Our flagship annual meeting is on again in 2023!

Join us online, Friday 10 February

We are planning a full-half day of workshops, presentations and activities. Please consider what you’d like to share with the AUGEN community and remember that only a short informal one or two paragraph EOI is needed

Meeting details, registration and EOIs for presentations all now available our website

AUGEN Conversations

Our latest Conversations event was held on 16 November, on the topic of student engagement

If you missed the event and want to catch up, a recording is available on our website

Links and tips

Meet the Team

Sabin Zahirovic

University of Sydney

sabin.zahirovic@sydney.edu.au

My current teaching role

First year geoscience teaching (GEOS1001: Earth, Environment and Society)

Areas of special interest/expertise

Geophysics, Sedimentology/Stratigraphy,Outreach (general public), Outreach (primary and secondary schools), first-year geoscience teaching, tectonics, geodynamics, paleogeography

Feel free to get in touch if you have questions on these topics!

What’s the best teaching advice anyone has ever given you?

Focus on the narrative and a story that relates to the audience

What do you enjoy most about your teaching role?

Teaching is incredibly rewarding, and I draw a lot of inspiration from our passionate students

What advice would you give someone starting out in geoscience teaching?

Weave in your own expertise and interests, as well as career/life experiences, and make it fun for yourself and the students

What is the greatest challenge to increasing the reach of geoscience education?

This is such an important question, which I have been discussing with colleagues for years. Part of the problem are misconceptions around modern geological practices, as well as how geology services the basic requirements for human existence and economic growth (e.g., fertiliser for food, materials in day to day products, etc.). Another obstacle is that some teachers at the high school level may not have received relevant training, making their jobs extremely difficult and unnecessarily stressful. And lastly, at universities, enrolment and degree structures are becoming far more rigid - making the "accidental" geology enrolments almost impossible. All of these issues will need us to work together and build communities and supports around geoscience education to ensure we have the skills and talent to tackle the big challenges of the 21st century (food/water security, natural hazards, climate change, net zero carbon emissions/renewables, etc.)

Which wins for you? Rock, mineral, fossil, structure?

Mineral!

See all the AUGEN TEAM profiles online https://www.augenteam.net/team-profiles

WE NEED YOU! Complete the form at https://forms.gle/kPk5YQwFDXh4S8vD8 to be profiled on our website and in an upcoming newsletter!

Contributions to AUGEN News are welcome! Please send your updates, commentaries, book or journal article reviews, photos and ideas through to the team - sandra.mclaren@unimelb.edu.au