AUGEN NEWS - November 2022
From the President
It’s that time of the AUGEN year where we call for 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
We are delighted to share happy news of recent recognition for active AUGEN TEAM members Nathan Dackzo, Jackie Dohaney and Richard Lilly! See below for more details
I hope everyone has an opportunity for a break as well as time for reflection over the upcoming end of year period. This will be our last newsletter for 2022 but we’ll return with new AUGEN news in January 2023.
And finally, well done to you all on another year of fantastic teaching and engagement with teaching and learning innovation, giving your best to your students and supporting one another.
Geoscience Education for everyone!
Best, Sandra
A/Prof Sandra McLaren, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
University of Melbourne
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
Congratulations!
To round off the year, we’re thrilled to report some wonderful, and richly deserved, recognition for AUGEN team members
Professor Nathan Daczko - Macquarie University
Nathan has recently been promoted to full Professor! This is wonderful recognition for a valued and long-term AUGEN TEAM member! Although Nathan has an exemplary research track record, his promotion is also a wonderful reward for his track record of engagement in teaching excellence and teaching innovation. Well done Prof Daczko!
Dr Jackie Dohaney - University of Edinburgh
Awarded Senior Fellow status by the Higher Education Academy in recognition of her understanding of effective approaches to teaching and learning support as a key contribution to high quality student learning! Congratulations Jackie! Find out more about the Advance HE program here
Dr Richard Lilly - University of Adelaide
Awarded SA STEM Educator of the Year (University or RTO category) Dr Lilly co-founded and leads the successful National Exploration Undercover School (NExUS) at The University of Adelaide, which aims to provide advanced training for the most promising young geoscientists in Australia. We were fortunate at our 2022 Annual meeting to hear an update from Richard about this excellent program at our annual. See all the winners of the SA Science + Innovation Awards here
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
The state of play in geoscience teaching
The latest Australian Geoscience Council report into the capacity of the Australian Tertiary Geoscience section is now available for download:
https://www.agc.org.au/resources/reports/australian-geoscience-council-report/
Together with recent news beginning to circulate about future job losses in different Universities, the report is sobering reading. It’s disappointing that there is so little recognition of the key role earth science education plays in solving many of our modern challenges, although many of us do work in the community and at schools it is increasingly clear that a much broader, inclusive approach is needed.
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