AUGEN NEWS - August 2021
From the President
It's been a while since we've had an AUGEN TEAM update. Semester 1 in 2021 was a blur for many of us. Universities have continued with online teaching or teaching in dual-delivery or hybrid mode but the experience has been different for almost every AUGEN TEAM member. Field teaching has been rescheduled, cancelled, postponed and rescheduled again. There have been ongoing restrictions and lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, many Universities have been navigating "change processes" that have proven stressful and alienating for many of us. It has been a challenging time.
Thoughts of the AUGEN TEAM have been with those who have been made redundant, or who have been faced with little choice other than to take a voluntary separation package or to take early retirement. This has been a sad time for geoscience education, spectacularly ironic given the need for improved understanding of all aspects of our Earth in order to tackle climate change, energy security and sustainability.
The current situation is sad and dispiriting, but we can rally around and use it as an opportunity to sharpen the focus on our advocacy at all levels and on the promotion of the importance of geoscience education. Get involved!
But at the same time, please remember to reach out for support if you need it, these are challenging times for so many of us, on so many different fronts. Empathy and understanding are the way forward.
Take care, Sandra
A/Prof Sandra McLaren
School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
University of Melbourne
sandra.mclaren@unimelb.edu.au
Advocacy
Kate Selway (UniSA) wrote an excellent piece in The Conversation regarding the current state of geoscience education in Australian Universities: https://theconversation.com/australia-badly-needs-earth-science-skills-but-universities-are-cutting-the-supply-163248
Sandra McLaren has joined the Australian Geoscience Council Education Committee. Stay tuned, the AGC will roll out their “state of the departments” survey later this year to capture current student and staff numbers among other data. If you have items, questions or concerns to raise with AGC please send them through to Sandra
Around the Universities
Sadly, teaching of earth sciences in NSW has been dealt two enormous blows:
the effective closing of the renowned and highly respected geology program at Macquarie University. Only two geoscience academic staff remain, a geology major is no longer available and research labs have been closed
the discontinuation of the geology teaching program at the University of Newcastle
The University of Melbourne School of Earth Sciences ceased to exist on March 31. The geology and atmospheric science programs are now disciplines within the merged School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Read about the new School here: https://sgeas.unimelb.edu.au/ As part of these changes, the number of Level 3 geoscience subjects has been reduced from eight to six
There have been redundancies and retirements at a number of other Universities
Some nice positive news from the University of New England!
Nancy Vickery left UNE in April this year to pursue a role in minerals exploration – we wish her the best of luck in her new role. She’s retaining an adjunct role at UNE, however, and has been very generous with continuing to help supervise honours students. Tim Chapman (previously a UNE post doc) has been hired for a 6-month fixed term position replace Nancy’s considerable teaching responsibilities, and has been doing an excellent job so far.
We have also welcomed Marissa Betts on board as a permanent staff member. Marissa was also previously a UNE post doc. She is currently coordinating our first year geology unit, and is coordinating and teaching several palaeontology units as well.
Nic Campione (previously on a DECRA at UNE), has just accepted an 18-month fixed term position. Amongst the many things Nic does, he is currently working on building a new general interest unit on dinosaurs in an effort to generate interest in earth sciences from outside our discipline and faculty.
Meet the Team
Dr Domenik Wolff-Boenisch
Senior Lecturer, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, Western Australia
domenik.wolff-boenisch@curtin.edu.au
My current teaching role
Unit coordinator of two 3rd year units: Hydrogeology & Engineering Geology and Environmental Geoscience
What’s the best teaching advice anyone has ever given you?
The motto that 'teaching is when learning takes place' is my gold standard. Whatever you do or deem as teaching, if your students don't learn (you find out soon enough), then you may as well ditch it as a time-waster - for everyone including yourself
What do you enjoy most about your teaching role?
Sharing the passion for knowledge; interacting with the next generation of geos
What advice would you give someone starting out in geoscience teaching?
Be genuine and authentic when teaching (don't fake it); spread your enthusiasm for the subject matter
What is the greatest challenge to increasing the reach of geoscience education?
Decoupling it from the mining boom and sector. It is ok to look for an attractive salary but like every other profession your heart should be in it, not primarily economic considerations when entering this field
Which wins for you? Rock, mineral, fossil, structure?
Mineral!
Complete the form at https://forms.gle/kPk5YQwFDXh4S8vD8 to be profiled on our website and in an upcoming newsletter!
Geoscience Education Research
with Jacqueline Dohaney
This month I'd like to highlight the recent publication:
Motivations for pursuing and challenges to completing geoscience majors at a public university
Miranda, Herman, Hurley and Moore (2021)
Journal of Geoscience Education
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10899995.2020.1852847
Miranda et al (2021) discuss geoscience undergraduates' lived experiences in their pursuit of a geoscience degree in the US context. The students reported positive influences that motivate(d) them to engage in geoscience study and to continue their studies, such as enjoyment of the outdoors, influential people (teachers) and research experiences. Students also described challenges that deterred their academic journeys, such as programme logistics and scheduling
A related paper is: Choosing the Geoscience Major: Important Factors, Race/Ethnicity, and Gender, by Stokes, Levine and Flessa, Journal of Geoscience Education https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.5408/14-038.1
Understanding the reasons for students choosing (or not choosing) to study and/or major in the geosciences is critical for Australasian Universities at this time and these papers provide some food for thought and potentially seeds for an Australasian study. Get in touch!
Helpful Resources
Some recommended online resources from the AUGEN TEAM:
Photos of outcrops displaying geological features of all kinds: https://outcropedia.tectask.org/
Make 3D block models: https://app.visiblegeology.com/ (3D thinking and and you can show stereonets along with the models)
3D rock sample models - Sketchfab Catalog is an amazing searchable catalogue of resources
Super-high-resolution images from: Gigamacro: http://opengeology.org/historicalgeology/virtual-sample-sets/
Nice samples for first years: https://omg.georockme.com/
A page compiling all sorts of useful stuff: https://tectonicstudiesgroup.org/virtual-geology/
Hundreds of virtual petrographic thin sections: https://imagematrix.science.mq.edu.au/
A virtual field trip of Bingie Bingie Point in NSW: https://sites.google.com/view/mapping-bingie/
Through the lens: Semester 1, 2021
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