Standing Committee Meeting Report Education and Public Outreach

April 2015

Action Items  - EPO Standing Committee Meeting

4/9/15 - 4/10/15

IRIS HQ, Washington, DC

  • Continue development work on InClass and Teaching Repository, and create password protected area
  • Start discussion about a joint SERC / IRIS teaching repository effort
  • Hold conversation with NSF about submitting 2016 USArray short course as an Earthscope proposal
  • Gather community feedback about the Home Page status and preferences
  • Classroom Seismology: Clear backlog of queue to be able to implement new policies; Start on new program priority activities
  • Send a bulk mail encouraging PIs to include an IRIS intern in future research proposals
  • Start communication with industry by seeking out former interns about potential funding for more intern positions
  • Ask vendors about providing discounts for their display screens
  • Submit future facility White Papers
  • Ask EarthScope National Office about SIGs at EarthScope National Meeting
  • ENGAGE follow-up – Consider pre/post workshop to bring together DBERs and physical scientists (and potentially physics education people) at IRIS 2016 Workshop
  • Begin planning for Educational Affiliates pre/post workshop at IRIS 2016 Workshop
  • Create memo for approval of Slippery Rock and retirement of Augusta University for May BoD meeting; revisit the others for Fall 2015 Meeting
  • Contact CO Mesa Univ. about potential Educational Affiliate membership
  • Send email to EPOSC every two months that summarizes Action Items and general program status

Meeting Summary

The EPO Standing Committee met on April 9-10, 2015 at IRIS headquarters. The attendees for part or all of the meeting included: Mariela Bao, Donna Charlevoix, Bob Detrick, Perle Dorr, Bill Gutsch, Michael Hubenthal, Steve Jaume, Patrick McQuillan, Lina Patino, Sarah Robinson, Fred Schroeder, Derek Schutt, Stefany Sit, Danielle Sumy, John Taber, Rob Woolley; Remote attendee: Greg Anderson

The meeting began with a review of the FY15 EPO statement of work, followed by a discussion of the 5-year funding outlook and the recompetition status.  The status of plans for a teaching repository were then considered, followed by the approval of the proposed IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lecturers for 2016.  The outcomes from the ENGAGE workshop were presented and potential follow-up activities were discussed.  After presentation of a proposed new assessment structure for IRIS EPO, there was considerable discussion about how to better quantify the impact of EPO activities.  This was followed by a discussion with NSF about general funding opportunities.  There were then reports and discussion on collaborations with UNAVCO and EarthScope

Classroom seismology discussions focused on the outcomes and revised program priorities that were the result of the regional network operators’ meeting held in March.  A new educational affiliate was recommended for membership, and it was recommended to retire an existing member because of changes to the institution.  There was then a discussion about how to pursue funding opportunities outside of NSF, followed by the selection of two projects for the David Simpson Innovation Fund proposals, and the initial development of key points for those proposals.  The committee then developed a list of future facility foundational needs and frontier ideas.   The NSF SAGE budget rescoping exercise that was conducted at the Fall 2014 meeting was then reviewed and the remainder of the meeting focused on the FY16 budget and prioritization of FY16 activities.