Outcomes and Applications of the AMS/NSF Consortium for Ocean Leadership, MSI REaCH Project Workshop: Tools for the University Professor

Abstract The AMS/NSF Consortium for Ocean Leadership, MSI Reconstruction Earth's Climate History (REaCH) Workshop was held during June of 2015 at the Gulf Coast Repository Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. The program was aimed at providing university instructors with tools, techniques and resources to attract under-served students to consider science careers, using the current interest in climate change. Having just completed teaching an undergraduate level climatology course using the AMS Climate Studies text, the interest and controversy of such a course was very apparent. Undergraduate students have opinions that reflect the community in general, everywhere from activism for change, and preservation and enhancement of the environment, to disbelief that climate change is occurring. Whether it is the chances for climate change in Texas or the advance planning of the Department of Defense for climate change impacts, the local and national action and debate is well underway. This workshop allowed participants to observe/analyze signatures of paleoclimate change in ocean bottom sediment cores. The techniques demonstrated/learned are suitable for classroom use within the framework of the scientific method. The techniques used were: • Do-Talk-Do • Wall Walk • Explore-Evaluate-Assess • Scientific data access and hands on sample inspection • Non-judgmental team consensus building • Multi-sourced data integration This presentation will outline some of the techniques used and how they could be transferred to the classroom to engage student, challenge them to examine the data for the climate change process, and stimulate their interest in science as a career.