When you think of soil, what is the first thing that comes to mind? The answer will depend on your perception of soil: to some it has a patriotic meaning (“soil of Britain”, for example), while to others it has a strong agricultural connection and to an Earth scientist, well, it’ll depend on their field of expertise. A geotechnical engineer’s perception of soil is different to how it might be view ...[Read More]
In this month’s edition of GeoEd, Sam Illingworth, former ECS PC representative and Lecturer of Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University, talks about a new framework introduced by the UK government to measure the quality of teaching at higher education institutions. Although Sam explores the issue from a UK perspective, there is no doubt cross over within the European realm. Als ...[Read More]
The most recent issue (Winter/Spring 2015) of the Teachers Clearinghouse for Science and Society Education Newsletter includes a piece, by Earth Science Correspondent, Michael J. Passow, on the 2015 General Assembly and the GIFT (Geosciences Information For Teachers) Workshop. Passow gives an account of this year’s workshop, on the topic of mineral resources, and outlines the participating teacher ...[Read More]
We all know that social media is an excellent way in which we can communicate our research (and indeed our rants, dreams, and favourite cat pictures) to the general public, but can we also use it to communicate our research in the classroom? From kindergarten to higher education, social media can be a fantastic learning tool, which can help to open up digital windows into the world of geosciences. ...[Read More]
It’s not every day you are asked to review a film, and since it’s a documentary that encompasses a few of EGU’s sciences (such as climate sciences, biogeosciences, and energy, resources and the environment), I couldn’t say no. I’ll start by giving it a rating, 3.5/5 stars, though I would probably give it more if I were part of the film’s main target audience. Revolution, by biologist-photographer ...[Read More]
Earlier this year we ran the second I’m a Geoscientist event, an online chat-based game show in which school kids vote for their favourite geoscience communicators. In this week’s GeoTalk, Laura Roberts talks to Andi Rudersdorf, a neotectonics PhD student and winner of this year’s I’m a Geoscientist… First, for those who didn’t been following I’m a Geoscientist, can you tell us a little about you ...[Read More]
Imagine a talent show where contestants get voted off depending on their skills in their area of choice. Then imagine that this talent show is populated by geoscientists with school students voting them off based on the scientist’s ability to communicate their research well. This is the basis of an educational initiative called I’m a Geoscientist, a spinoff of UK’s I’m a Scientist. I’m a Geoscient ...[Read More]
In this edition of GeoEd, Sam Illingworth, a lecturer in science communication at Manchester Metropolitan University, explores the benefits of a more informal teaching style and how the incorporation of play into everyday teaching can help to engage and enthuse students who oterhwise struggle to connect with the sciences. Despite the hard work, there are some real perks to being a scientists: fiel ...[Read More]
In this guest blog post, an international group of researchers discusses a recent communication and education session that they convened at EGU’s 2015 General Assembly. If you are involved in any of these disciplines, we’d love to hear your opinions on how you think their practitioners are currently viewed, both within the geosciences and by the general public. We look forward to your comments. Th ...[Read More]
Congratulations to Zakaria Ghazoui, the winner of the first ever Communicate Your Science Video Competition 2015. Zakaria is a PhD student at the Institute des Sciences de le Terre (ISTerre) in France, and has been investigating Himalayan lakes using sediment cores. Here is his video, Inside Himalayan Lakes: Display "Inside Himalayan Lakes by Ghazoui Zakaria" from YouTube Click here to d ...[Read More]