Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Education
Orbital, the Box - An interactive educational tool for in-depth understanding of astronomical climate forcing.
Published: 2021-04-07
Subjects: Adult and Continuing Education, Astrophysics and Astronomy, Climate, Earth Sciences, Education, Educational Methods, Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Higher Education, Instructional Media Design, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, The Sun and the Solar System
“Orbital, the Box” provides an interactive tool with graphical user interface (GUI) for stimulating active, visual learning for understanding of astronomical climate forcing. This cross-platform tool can be run locally on a personal computer using a standard web browser environment with no need for plugins, thus maximising accessibility for students and teachers alike. The tool facilitates in the [...]
The True Cost of Field Education is a Barrier to Diversifying Geosciences
Published: 2021-02-19
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Higher Education, Outdoor Education, Science and Mathematics Education
Fieldwork is considered critical to developing technical skills in geoscience education, and typical undergraduate degrees require >30 days in the field. Tuition costs of enrolling in field camp are acknowledged as a barrier to participation in geosciences; however, the cost of participation in field activities may also include the cost of personal field gear (hiking boots, backpacks, etc.), [...]
Mirroring minoritized students’ cultures in Geoscience courses
Published: 2021-02-19
Subjects: Education
The use of active-learning strategies to teach out-of-school time (OST) geoscience courses has not significantly increased the number of racially minoritized students that pursue Geoscience. Studies hypothesize that significantly more minoritized students would pursue Geoscience if courses better resemble the students’ Collectivist cultures. We test this hypothesis by using pre-course, post-course, [...]
Creating and Promoting Gender Equity and Diversity in Professional Geological Societies: A Focus on AAPG
Published: 2021-02-10
Subjects: Education, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
When professional organizations allow gender inequity to persist, they continually lose talented, valuable individuals who enrich and lead their groups and drive innovation. This paper presents an analysis of membership data and ways in which member contributions are recognized by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) between 2017-2020, in relation to gender. These are compared [...]
Increase data sharing or die? An initial view for natural catastrophe insurance
Published: 2021-02-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Environmental Sciences, Geography
This article is an illustration of Geography in action, recounting an investigation into an industry's views of data sharing. The insurance sector is fundamentally analytics driven and based on geospatial data. One option for more effective and efficient insurance for natural hazard risks (e.g. flooding, earthquake) is, in theory, to increase the sharing of data between the various [...]
Learning in a Crisis: Online Skill Building Workshop Addresses Immediate Pandemic Needs and Offers Possibilities for Future Trainings
Published: 2021-01-28
Subjects: Computer Sciences, Earth Sciences, Education, Geophysics and Seismology, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of many summer research opportunities for STEM students. In response, the IRIS Education and Outreach program, in collaboration with Miami University, offered a free online Seismology Skill Building Workshop to increase undergraduates' knowledge, skills, self-efficacy, and interest in observational seismology and scientific computing. Registrations were [...]
Dam busy: beavers and their influence on the structure and function of river corridor hydrology, geomorphology, biogeochemistry and ecosystems
Published: 2020-10-22
Subjects: Education
Beavers (castor fiber, castor canadensis) are the most influential mammalian ecosystem engineer, heavily modifying river corridors and influencing hydrology, geomorphology, nutrient cycling, and ecology. As an agent of disturbance, they achieve this first and foremost through dam construction, which impounds flow and increases the extent of open water, and from which all other landscape and [...]
The Volcanic & Magmatic Studies Group Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2020
Published: 2020-07-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Volcanology
The Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group (VMSG) takes equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) seriously and we recognise that the under-representation and/or unconscious marginalisation of any group impacts on our ability to fulfill our mission to serve the volcanology, petrology and geochemistry community. The following report summarises the findings from both the 2016-2020 VMSG annual meetings [...]
“Enriching Lives within Sedimentary Geology”: Actionable Recommendations for Making SEPM a Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Society for All Sedimentary Geologists
Published: 2020-07-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Geology, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Innovative science benefits from diversity of thought and influence at all waypoints along the scientific journey, from early education to career-length contributions in research and mentorship. Scientific societies, like the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), steward their innovators and the direction of the science, thereby defining the societal impact and evolution of a discipline. They [...]
Range-based intensity normalization of ALS data over forested areas using a sensor tracking method from multiple returns
Published: 2020-07-10
Subjects: Education, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Airborne laser scanning (ALS) point-clouds are used in forest inventory to map properties of the resource. In most cases, only the (x,y,z) coordinates of the point cloud are used to build predictive models of forest structure. Despite being recorded and provided by data suppliers, the intensity values associated with each point are rarely used as an input to such models because raw intensity [...]
Towards local bioeconomy: A stepwise framework for high-resolution spatial quantification of forestry residues
Published: 2020-07-08
Subjects: Education, Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Other Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sustainability
In the ambition of a transition from fossil carbon use, forestry residues are attracting considerable attention as a feedstock for the future bioeconomy. However, there is a limited spatially explicit understanding of their availability. Confronted with limited resources for extensive field measurement campaigns, there are also limited discussions on the best practices towards a harmonized [...]
Same but different: A framework to design and compare riverbank plastic monitoring strategies
Published: 2020-05-24
Subjects: Education, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Water Resource Management
Plastic pollution in rivers negatively impacts human livelihood and aquatic ecosystems. Monitoring data are crucial for a better understanding of sources, sinks and transport mechanisms of riverine macroplastics. In turn, such understanding is key to develop effective plastic pollution prevention, mitigation and removal strategies. Riverine plastic has been observed in all compartments, of which [...]
Creating Geological Field Trips with the Google Earth Creation Tools
Published: 2020-05-12
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Instructional Media Design, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Streetcar2Subduction (https://www.agu.org/streetcar2subduction) was launched in December 2019 as a digital update and extension of the timeless 1984 classic field trip guide “Streetcar to Subduction” by Clyde Wahrhaftig . Supported by the American Geophysical Union, we were given early access to the Google Earth Creation Tools in order to build and launch several geology and tectonics field trips [...]
Sedimentary Ripple marks from pavements of forts in Jaipur, Rajasthan. India
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Education, Outdoor Education
Prolific occurrence of a variety of ripple trains in popular forts of Jaipur are observed. The occurrence of extensive Geological sample within man-made buildings form a valuable record for a variety of teaching and research needs. Random samples from these rippled sandstone slabs are classified to highlight their variability. Few standard measures are made on a sample pointing to quantitative [...]
‘Scallywag Bunkers’: Geophysical Investigations of WW2 Auxiliary Unit Operational Bases (OBs) in the UK
Published: 2020-02-04
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Education, Geography, Other Earth Sciences, Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
In 1940, with the fall of France imminent, Britain prepared for invasion. After Dunkirk, with most armour and transport lost, a defence ‘stop line’ (GHQ Line) was prepared. Local Defence Volunteers (later Home Guard) were raised to buy time for the Home Army to deploy. Secret ‘Auxiliary Units’ were also formed, tasked with ‘Scallywagging’ – guerrilla activities ––in the invading army’s rear. 4-8 [...]