Standing Committee Meeting Report Education and Public Outreach

March 2016

Action Items  - EPO Standing Committee Meeting

March 21, 2016 - March 22, 2016

IRIS HQ, Washington, DC

• Start a listserv for interested Geoscience education researchers (GER)/Physics education researchers along with disciplinary geophysicists
• Coordinate a NAGT-GER webinar that would be of interest to the broad IRIS community
• Keep thinking about how to facilitate discussions for ECI network for exchange of ideas and support (and venting!), particularly with some provisions for anonymity built in.
• Explore the possibility of developing some “Minute Physics” or “Minute Earth” videos - maybe work with developers to provide or suggest content? Or develop other, similar resources that are short and designed to be seen by a large number of people?
• Readers needed for REU renewal proposal  
• Explore the possibility of writing proposal(s) to support evaluation of effectiveness of teaching materials that are posted on InClass - are our materials pedagogically sound? (Put off until fall, but put on the agenda for then.) 

Meeting Summary

The EPO Standing Committee met on March 21-22, 2016 at IRIS headquarters. The attendees for part or all of the meeting included: Derek Schutt, Meghan Miller, Maureen Long, Danielle Sumy, Anna Courtier, Bob Detrick, Perle Dorr, Fred Schroeder, Stefany Sit, Wendy Bohon, Mladen Dordevic, and John Taber.  Remote attendees included: Tammy Bravo, Lora Bleacher, Michael Hubenthal, Mike West, Maite Agopian, Katherine Ryker

The meeting began with a review of the minutes and action items from the previous meeting, followed by a review of the Board guidance to the committees and a discussion of the Future Facilities report and the NGEO RFP.    A discussion of the IRIS/SSA Distinguished Lecture program followed, first approving the recommended nominations, and then exploring ways to broaden participation.   Then the progress towards increasing the rigor of EPO program evaluation was presented, focusing on the Quantitative Collaborative Impact Analysis Method, the positive effects on the program, and the next steps. 

There was then a presentation from an officer of NAGT’s Geoscience Education Research Division on facilitating exchanges between geoscientists and geoscience education researchers, followed by discussion with the committee.  Recent Early Career Investigator activities were discussed, followed by a consideration of potential future activities.  The new IRIS social media strategy was presented as was a potential new IRIS homepage design.   An update was provided on EarthScope activities, including a discussion on the possibility of creating “Minute Physics” type videos on EarthScope-related topics.

The upcoming REU renewal proposal was discussed as was a potential submission to the new INCLUDES solicitation.   Classroom seismology was then discussed, including the development of an online course in collaboration with University of Alaska, and collaborations with SCEC regarding the Quake Catcher Network.  A variety of online curricular materials were discussed, from middle school and high school through to upper level undergraduate. 

The draft Year 4 budget was then presented and approved after discussion.   This was followed by an update on the IRIS workshop planning and potential EPO-related sessions.  A discussion then ensued on future activities for the EPO program.  This was followed on the 2nd day by an executive session, and then continued discussion of potential future activities.