Curriculum by Design

 David Mogk 2013 blog post, Dept. Earth Sciences, Montana State University 
     Part_I       Part_II
AGI Study Report: 
     The Future of Undergraduate Geoscience Education
     Report PDF

...
Geospatial Technology Competency Model 
     LINK
     (GEOS geospatial certificates implement this model)

Geoscience Careers Outside Academia

 Science Journalism Resources / Careers Outside of Academia

Liz Kimbrough

lizkimbrough@gmail.com

Jan 2021

 

Science Communication

 

Science Communication Jobs

·      Journalism: Staff or Freelance

·      Public information officer (POI)/science writer for institution (Universities, NASA, USGS, museums, etc.)

·      Science communication for a journal (Nature, PLoS, Science, etc.) 

·      Blogs (https://scienceblogs.com/, Why science blogging still matters)

·      Podcasts (https://mashable.com/article/best-science-podcasts/)

 

Science Writing/Journalism Resources

 

Education

The Open Notebook: Amazing website with all things scicomm (See: Getting Started in Science Journalism)

New to Science Writing from NASW

Poynter News U: Online journalism classes

CommSciCon: Science communication workshops for graduate students

How to pitch a story: (example pitches, tips)

 

Professional Organizations

National Association for Science Writers  (Virtual internship fair Feb 6!)

Society for Environmental Journalism

 

Books

The Craft of Science Writing

The Science Writer’s Handbook

A Field Guide for Science Writers

 

Internships/Mentorships

Mongabay: 6-month internship to build portfolio 

Ensia Mentor Program: Pitch an idea and get paired with a mentor

AAAS Media Fellowship: For scientists at end of or just out of grad school 

AAAS Diverse Voices in Science Journalism

 

Top Graduate Programs

NYU SHERP

MIT Science Writing

UC Santa Cruz Science Communication

 

Great science writers 

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Ed Young

Carl Zimmer

Mary Roach

Jeremy Hance

Sarah Kaplan

 

Places to find great science writing

Smithsonian Magazine

Undark

Hakai

New York Times science section

The Guardian

Mongabay 

High Country News

The Revelator

Scientific American

Popular Science

The Atlantic

The Best American Science and Nature Writing (book published annually)

 

Other tips

Look for ways to cover conferences you attend or look for stories there to pitch

Write something for your local/school paper. 

Reach out to your University’s public information officer.

For scientists who want to write about their own research check out The Conversation

 

Jobs outside of Academia “Scategories”

·      Field Technician: government, industry, research assistant

·      Environmental Consultant

·      Land Trust (Land Trust Alliance)

·      Policy (AAAS Policy Fellowship, UN, UNESCO, EPA, etc.)

·      Wild Tech: satellite monitoring, Lidar, Planet satellites, Global Forest Watch, NASA, Spatial Ecology Lab, Asner lab, Your own Dr. Fernandes!

·      Teaching (Many private schools hire grad level scientists to teach)

·      Science Outreach: science centers, museums  

·      Management (City planner, water management)

·      Non-Profit

·      Government (USGS, USFWS, NOAA, USDA, EPE, etc). 

o   Usajobs.gov is a tricky place. It really helps to know someone on the inside to guide you through the application. Meet these people at job fairs, conferences, by volunteering or just send a short email to start a conversation.

 

Ways to find jobs

·      Job Boards: Society for Conservation Biology, Idealist, usajobs.gov, Job postings for professional organizations

·      Versatile Ph.D.: Empowering PhDs and post docs to build careers

·      Build relationships whenever/wherever possible

·      Talk to your school career center or a career counselor

·      Attend Conferences 

·      Social Media

·      Read the CV’s and bios of those you admire

 

Grad School Writing (Grants/Papers):

Form a writing group with your peers/professors. Meet every week for an hour, minimum. Each week you discuss your work with a partner (exchange a few days prior to group) AND each week the entire group focuses on the work of one member on a rotating, as need basis. 

 

Unsolicited Opinions

·      Relationships are the most important thing.  

·      Figuring out what you DON’T want to do is a success.

·      Paradox of choice: Choices can be overwhelming. Don’t tread water. Just swim in a direction. If you end up somewhere you don’t like…great! That’s one less choice and your swimming muscles are now stronger to take you in a new direction with more efficiency. 

·      Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0  

·      Thank you for coming to my TED talk. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GEOS Faculty Mentoring Committees

 

Enrollment Update 2020

All plots represent Fall Semester enrollment data from UA Institutional Research and Assessment. Scope expanded to include enrollment, student semester credit hours, and diversity. One stop shopping. No plot comments, just the facts for discussion in person.

Plot comparing 20 year enrollment for GEOS and other departments in Fulbright. 

Credit: Glenn Sharman

2020 GEOS Newsletter

Click image to open newsletter

 Shout out to Jessica Eckberg for exemplary work on the newsletter! 

Thank you Jessica.

Covid-19 Resources

UA Return to Campus Plan (HTML, may be updated periodically)
UA Research Continuity Plan

Levels 0, I, II, III defined here as well as field research guidelines

UA System C19 site
Arkansas government C19 sites

Governor
Department of Health covid-19 site
Washington County
City of Fayetteville updates and reopening

CovidActNow.org – good site for state infection growth rate data
Oxford University massive C19 chart/data site

Enrollment Update 2019

All plots represent Fall Semester enrollment data from UA Institutional Research and Assessment. Scope expanded to include enrollment, student semester credit hours, and diversity. One stop shopping. No plot comments, just the facts for discussion in person.