GETTING TOGETHER: REPORTING ON AN INTERDISCIPLINARY WORKSHOP FOR SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGISTS, PALEONTOLOGISTS, AND GEOMORPHOLOGISTS

Sedimentary geology, geomorphology, paleontology, paleoclimatology and marine geology (SGPPM disciplines) contribute to a deeper understanding of most of the pressing issues facing society: energy, anthropogenic global warming, natural hazards, biodiversity and modern extinctions. An authentic understanding of these issues requires meaningful interaction between these disciplines and most individual practitioners engage in two or more of these sub-disciplines in their research. In many geoscience departments, however, we teach these topics from within course-based silos that convey the notion to students that each stands alone. Some geoscience programs cannot provide students with an education in all of these courses and, in some cases, only one or two are required or offered. As a result, graduates may receive a particularly narrow picture of how SGPPM scientists practice their work. In June, 2014 we convened an On the Cutting Edge workshop entitled “Innovative Approaches to Teaching Sedimentary Geology, Geomorphology, and Paleontology,” with the explicit goal of developing ways that we, as a community, could integrate the SGPPM disciplines across our courses. Forty-one faculty from across the country attended, with representation from all of the SGPPM disciplines. Participants shared innovative teaching strategies that they developed for their courses; conducted a peer-review of relevant teaching activities submitted to the Cutting Edge collection; attended mini-workshops on a range of teaching strategies and topics; worked in partnerships to develop interdisciplinary activities; participated in plenary sessions on grand challenges and opportunities for our disciplines and cross-disciplinary integration; and visited the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory and Laccore to ascertain resources that they could provide for teaching.

Resources from the workshop can be found at:

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/sedimentary/SGP2014/index.html