Join the YES Africa 2011 Online Chat about Resources for Early-Career Geoscientists

12 Jan 2011: Do you have ideas on how the YES Network can help develop tools to help early career geoscientists (YOU!) in their careers? Join us NOW on our skype chat - add YESNetworkRT2 to your skype contacts. We'll be discussing this until 16:00 GMT today. See you online!

CAG23

Happy New Year from Johannesburg, South Africa where we've just started the Colloquium of African Geology! Even though this is the 23rd CAG, this is only the 5th hosted in Africa and the first in South Africa. The CAG is the biennial meeting of the Geological Society of Africa. This year there are some 500 participants from 56 countries. South Africa is excited to kick off a decade of earth science including the IGC in 2016.

At the opening ceremony which was held at the University of Johannesburg's newly renovated Soweto Campus, we heard an excellent welcoming address from the South African Minister of Science and Technology, Ms. Naledi Pandor. She spoke at length about the different kinds of geological wealth in South Africa, including the Cradle of Humanity World Heritage Site, and asked the good question ' With all this wealth, why aren't we wealthy?' She talked about the need for geoscience to become a 'strategic science' for development both through supporting 'innovation and knowledge generation' and by making it a science for the public. It was an inspirational talk and a challenge for all young geoscientists to rise to a more dynamic and socially relevant future.

I attended a number of fascinating talks today during the scientific sessions on paleontology, anthropology and paleoclimatology in Africa - and the connections between all three from isotopes to bones to agricultural practice to landscape evolution! These presentations were part of a tribute to Prodessor P.V. Tobias who gave a closing plenary talk on the history of his career as an anthropologist working on human evolution, which managed to turn into a challenge for interdisciplinary curiousity-driven future research.

Fingers crossed we've worked out the bugs for the virtual components of the YES Africa Symposium tomorrow (the Minister and the President of the Geological Society of Africa both complimented us on this effort). Looking forward to meeting all virtual speakers and participants - as well as those in the room!

Share Your Thoughts about the AGU 2010 Meeting

There were a lot of YES Network members at AGU 2010 this year. It was great to see you at the sessions and at the different outings and meet new members. Now it's your turn to comment about your experiences at AGU. What sessions did you attend? Was there anything at AGU that was memorable? Please share your thoughts with us.

Say YES with a Morning Cup of Coffee!

Hi everyone!

If you missed us for the YES Network dinner last night at Mel's Drive-In, come join us for a cup of amazing mad-scientist coffee that will truly give you a kick start for the morning! Where? We're going to meet over at Blue Bottle Coffee at 0700 tomorrow (Wed) morning. Come meet the other YES Network members here at AGU, and find out more about the YES Network and all of our upcoming events and activities. 

Location : 66 Mint Street - and here's the map so you can find your way there.

Learning Geology in 3D

Rowan Cockett, a graduating senior from the University of Calgary, presented a poster this afternoon about an interactive software application he developed (VisibleGeology) that helps students understand the concepts in introductory and structural geology courses. Student can upload maps or use preloaded modules to look at topography, bedding, folding, faulting, as well as dykes, plutons, and unconformities. One thing Rowan noted was how geology teachers often refer to the Rule of V's (the outcrop V's point in the direction in which the formation lies underneath the valley), yet students don't always fully understand the concept. Then he pulled out his laptop, fired up the VisibleGeology application and showed me very quickly how this concept works. We did a fly-through of the geologic feature and then pulled out cross-sections at different points along the formation. He also showed me some of the other features of the application. It's a very easy to use application, and one of the highlights is the ability to upload your own data - which makes it a great tool that can be easily integrated into any classroom activity or pre-fieldwork prep work. The application is not yet available as a mobile app (as this would be a great tool for field courses), but keep tabs on the Visible Geology website to keep up with all the latest releases and updates.

YES Network Dinner at Mel's Drive In

Hey, what a better way to go than to eat good ol' fashioned American-style hamburgers and fries at Mel's Drive In on Mission Street here in San Francisco. The whole experience was complete with the mini-juke boxes, 60's tunes playing in the background (yes - even Elvis), and the murals of the old 60's cars and drive-in restaurants. It was a great place to eat, meet, get to know some new YES Network members, and also chat with some of our senior advisory council members.

Now, I know we missed seeing some of you who RSVP'd for dinner, but hopefully we'll catch up with you at some of the other YES Network events this week.

See you tomorrow at the YES Network session on Natural Hazards at 1:40 - 3:30 PM in Room 3010 at Moscone West.

Reflections on ED12A - Development of Geoscientists from Novice to Professional

The second set of talks in this session covered the gradient from undergraduate education to career preparation to early-career support of geoscientists. Jane Dmochowski (ED12A-01) discussed how the Earth and Environmental Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania has implemented a mandatory junior seminar on research methods that teaches undergraduates how to do research. From guest lectures, analysis of previous senior theses, scientific literature review and computer labs focused on data analysis, students learn how to do review scientific literature, develop a project idea, and analyze data using different quantitative methods. What a great way to prepare your students for entry into graduate school. One challenge that was noted was finding mentors for the students.

In the next talk (ED12A-02) Siva Murugesu, who presented Wilson and Hermans talk (ED12A-02), discussed the Summer Synthesis Institutes in hydrology which bring together students, post-docs, and faculty on intensive research projects for about 7 weeks. The work generated from these intensive institutes have included five topical session at AGU between 2008 and 2010, and over 60 publications.  Coming back to the topic of mentors, it was noted that the role of mentors in these institutes were to "reinforce a positive work environment, coach students out of their comfort zones, and break down language barriers - both disciplinary and cultural".

Next we heard from Diane Doser (ED12A-03) from University of Texas at El Paso discuss how UTEP's Department of Geological Sciences is preparing geoscience student for the workforce through several activities including the Student Colloquim, an annual professional meeting organized and run by students that engages not only academics but also industry professionals. Industry professionals not only support some of the major costs of the event, but also serve as judges for student presentations. The Colloquim serves not only to prepare students for the workforce, but also as a recruiting tool for the department and industry, and as a way for the department to maintain strong industry connections. Another program that UTEP offers is its Pathways to Geoscience Program which includes a two-week summer field program that is for high school students and teachers, and a research experiences for undergraduate students. It's been a great way to connect with high schools and inform teachers and students about geoscience careers. In this program, undergraduates also get experience writing resumes and learning how to conduct research.

We heard from Randy Richardson and co-authors (ED12A-04) next about the resources that SERC's On the Cutting Edge offers for geoscience graduates and post-doctoral fellows who are pursuing academic careers, from workshops to online resources. There's a lot of great information on this site, so take some time to peruse all the pages. The early-career faculty resources are posted here and the resources about preparing for a career in academia are posted here.

Jo Venus, YES Network President, next discussed the preliminary results from the Decision Points Survey - if you haven't taken it yet, please take a moment and fill out the survey form. I'll let Jo fill you in on the preliminary results, so check back for her post on this topic.

Next we heard from Jenny Baeseman from the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) a very dynamic and active international and interdisciplinary group of early-career polar researchers. APECS is extremely active on the web and at meetings including their virtual poster sessions, thriving mentoring program, webinar series, blogs, videos, and the workshops and networking events they organize. If you're doing polar research, whether in the Arctic, Antarctica, or in any of the world's polar regions (alpine and above) get connected to this vibrant community. 

Our session closed with a talk by Sarah Gaines about Earth Stewardship Science and the work she's been doing in developing international research networks based in Africa. The talk generated a lot of discussion afterward.  For those of you who were there today, you can continue the discussions that started today at the  
UNESCO-AfricaArray-AGI townhall meeting - Earth Stewardship Science: Building Research Networks in Africa
Wednesday at 12:30 PM–1:30 PM, Moscone West, Room 2009
.