Thursday, 16 January 2025: 9:00 AM
350 (New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)
The late Dr. Ira W Geer, founding director of the American Meteorological Society Education Department, was a pioneer in increasing accessibility of weather, ocean, and climate for K-12 teachers and undergraduate faculty and students, especially those in underserved communities. His dedicated work over many years, and especially in the early 2000s, earned him the AMS Charles E. Anderson award in 2006 “for innovative delivery of high-quality professional development experiences for K-12 teachers and for undergraduates especially from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences, mathematics, and technology.”
Beginning in the late 1990s, Dr. Geer recognized the importance of expanding current-data focused geoscience study to non-science majors taking introductory-level science courses at two-year colleges, smaller liberal arts colleges, and minority-serving colleges and universities. He understood that providing their first and sometimes only undergraduate science exposure could inspire future geoscience study, benefit future teachers, and contribute to greater societal science literacy. This was particularly important for strengthening the pipeline for underrepresented students in the geosciences.
AMS published undergraduate course curriculum packages in Weather in 1999, followed by Ocean and Climate over the next decade. As these courses were made available for institutional licensing and local offering, Dr. Geer and his successor Dr. James Brey wrote NSF grants to create “Diversity Projects” that would ultimately bring hundreds of faculty at underserved institutions to professional development programs in Kansas City, Seattle, and the DC-area, exposing faculty to the work of many NOAA, NASA, and university scientists and supporting them in local course implementation. This work led to AMS involvement in specialized workshops for educators in paleoclimate and ocean sediment and ice cores.
Dr. Geer’s vision and dedicated and enthusiastic work at the undergraduate college level is a key part of his legacy and complements the numerous K-12 teacher professional development programs he also founded. AMS Undergraduate Courses continue to be a major part of the AMS course portfolio.
Beginning in the late 1990s, Dr. Geer recognized the importance of expanding current-data focused geoscience study to non-science majors taking introductory-level science courses at two-year colleges, smaller liberal arts colleges, and minority-serving colleges and universities. He understood that providing their first and sometimes only undergraduate science exposure could inspire future geoscience study, benefit future teachers, and contribute to greater societal science literacy. This was particularly important for strengthening the pipeline for underrepresented students in the geosciences.
AMS published undergraduate course curriculum packages in Weather in 1999, followed by Ocean and Climate over the next decade. As these courses were made available for institutional licensing and local offering, Dr. Geer and his successor Dr. James Brey wrote NSF grants to create “Diversity Projects” that would ultimately bring hundreds of faculty at underserved institutions to professional development programs in Kansas City, Seattle, and the DC-area, exposing faculty to the work of many NOAA, NASA, and university scientists and supporting them in local course implementation. This work led to AMS involvement in specialized workshops for educators in paleoclimate and ocean sediment and ice cores.
Dr. Geer’s vision and dedicated and enthusiastic work at the undergraduate college level is a key part of his legacy and complements the numerous K-12 teacher professional development programs he also founded. AMS Undergraduate Courses continue to be a major part of the AMS course portfolio.
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