Natasha Udu-gama, Ph.D., Director and Maria Sharova, Program Manager, from the Thriving Earth Exchange team at the AGU will discuss the values and principles that are the foundation of their community science approach. In addition, they will describe through key examples how geoscientists and communities can collaborate equitably within this approach to advance the development and deployment of tools and solutions that address community priorities related to climate change, natural hazards and natural resources. Audience members will also learn more about how geoscientists at all career stages can get involved in Thriving Earth's community science approach, develop new skills, create meaningful partnerships with communities, and, ultimately, make a difference.

Please meet our panelists for the March webinar – Dr. Natasha Udu-gama is the director of the Thriving Earth Exchange program at AGU and Maria Sharova is the Program Manager who specializes in creating and leading the deep engagement with the fellows in the program.

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• Presentation Slides

This month's AGU/AGI Heads and Chairs online discussion explores the enrollment cliff and what that means for the geoscience departments. The discussion is led by Christopher Keane from AGI, and looks at the dynamics driving the enrollment cliff, followed by a group discussion on ways to get geoscience programs to thrive in this new paradigm.

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• Presentation Slides

The AGU/AGI Heads and Chairs webinar series is pleased to offer a free online webinar and discussion about the diversity initiatives within the geoscience societies.

Our presenters include:

• Stephen K. Boss, Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Principal Investigator, GSA’s Geosciences ASCEND
• Erika Marin-Spiotta, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Lead Principal Investigator, ADVANCEGeo
• Margaret Fraiser, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, AGU, representing AGU LANDInG
• Brielle Bennett, Senior Program Specialist, AGU, representing the AGU LANDInG Community of Practice
• Pranoti Asher, Assistant Director, Grants and Education Programs, AGU, representing the AGU Bridge Program
• Susan Sullivan, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, representing AGI's Intersociety Diversity Committee

Additional Resources

• Presentation Slides - Stephen Boss
• Presentation Slides - Margaret Fraiser and Brielle Bennett
• Presentation Slides - Erika Marin-Spiotta
• Presentation Slides - Pranoti Asher
• Presentation Slides - Susan Sullivan

The AGU Heads and Chairs program and the American Geosciences Institute are pleased to be offering a free online webinar and discussion about best practices to recruit and retain students. Recent research has shown us that informing students about the altruistic potential of geoscience careers can be an effective strategy to broaden recruitment and engagement of students from historically marginalized communities into the geosciences.

Meet authors Elizabeth M. Griffith (Associate Professor) and W. Ashley Griffith (Associate Professor) and Steven Lower (Director and Professor) from The Ohio State University School of Geosciences who will discuss how they used this research to improve their recruitment and retention practices to increase the participation of students from communities that have been historically marginalized in the geosciences.

Additional Resources

Download the slides from this webinar

The AGU Heads and Chairs program and the American Geosciences Institute are pleased to be offering a free online webinar and discussion about the latest results from the ongoing Geoscience COVID-19 Impacts study as it pertains to changes in instructional activities, academic department operations, and the changes that faculty and students have navigated since early 2020. AGI staff will examine the impacts and resilience within academia as departments, faculty, and students have adapted to changing instructional and operational environments over the past three years. This will be an open discussion about the survey results and about insights from attendees on how their departments, faculty, and students have weathered the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding for this project is provided by the National Science Foundation (Award #2029570). The results and interpretation of the survey are the views of the American Geosciences Institute and not those of the National Science Foundation.

Additional Resources

Download the slides from this webinar

Please join the AGU Heads and Chairs program and the American Geosciences Institute as we discuss the results of the 2020-21 Recent Graduate Surveys and consider emerging trends. This webinar serves as a refresh and expansion on the November 2021 Heads and Chairs discussion, and takes a look at the final results of the 2020-21 Recent Graduate Surveys as well as associated employment trend data from the COVID-19 impacts on the geosciences to examine what last year’s graduates experienced. In addition, we will discuss some emerging trends in workforce, including the rapid contraction in not only the overall U.S. workforce, but also of undergraduate students and what that may or may not portend for the geosciences, with an intent to have a group conversation about current department experiences in this changing human capital environment.

The AGU Heads and Chairs program and the American Geosciences Institute are pleased to be offering a free online webinar and discussion about building antiracist spaces in academic departments. A recent paper by Bala Chaudhary, Dartmouth University and Asmeret Berhe, University of California Merced discussed ten simple rules for building an antiracist lab. Meet the authors and discuss how you can apply these principles to create not only policies and inclusive spaces in your laboratories but in also other spaces within your department. Please join us Friday 11th February, 2022 at 1 pm Eastern Time for a stimulating conversation with the authors and other attendees from our geoscience community.

The American Geosciences Institute was able to resume its Geoscience Student Exit Survey for the 2020-21 academic year.   Not only does this year’s survey look at long standing parameters, but it also is aligning with the recommendations provided in the Vision and Change report, thus being a first benchmark for the community on progress forward by geoscience programs.  The pandemic added new wrinkles to the students’ experiences, but also insights into the current trends our new graduates are experiencing.   The presentation by AGI's Christopher Keane will lead into a discussion among participants about what they are seeing for their recent graduates and what that means for the next couple years.

The AGU Heads and Chairs program and the American Geosciences Institute are pleased to be offering a free online webinar and discussion about efforts in curricular reform in undergraduate geoscience programs, and their successes and failures.  Please join Aley El-Shazly (Marshall University) as he shares his program's experiences with curricular reform and to join a community discussion of how curricular reform efforts have progressed in light of the recent Vision and Change document.

The department of Geology embarked on a series of curricular revisions in 2015 that were subsequently implemented in 2016. These changes encompassed both introductory level as well as upper division classes, while maintaining the total number of hours needed for graduation at 120. This brief presentation will discuss the driving force behind the curricular changes, the challenges involved in implementing them, and their overall outcomes. Student and faculty attitudes towards these changes will be discussed, and data on enrollment, recruitment, and retention will be presented. It is hoped that this presentation will encourage discussions that will help small and large Geology programs grow and thrive.

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The AGU Heads and Chairs program and the American Geosciences Institute are pleased to be offering a free online webinar and discussion about the racial diversity of geoscience students. The racial diversity of geoscience undergraduates is increasing, more than for graduate students.  However, this progress is currently uneven and concentrated in relatively few departments. Please join Rachel Beane (Bowdoin College), Eric Baer (Highline College), and Vernon Morris (Arizona State University) to learn about recent student diversity trends and participate in a conversation about making our discipline more accessible, inclusive, and equitable.

Additional Resources

• Download presentation slides
• Beane, R.J., Baer, E.M.D., Lockwood, R. et al. Uneven increases in racial diversity of US geoscience undergraduates. Commun Earth Environ 2, 126 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00196-6