25th Anniversary of the AMS Symposium on Education: A Community Response to Promoting Education for the Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences

In 1990, the Council of the American Meteorological Society made a major commitment to enhance education for the atmospheric and oceanographic sciences. In addition to establishing an education program to promote a significant pre-college initiative, it also established a new conference as part of the Annual Meeting, called the AMS Symposium on Education. The inaugural conference was held at the 72nd AMS Annual Meeting in Atlanta. The purpose of this conference was to inform the membership at large of the scope of the AMS educational activities, both active and planned. Approximately 150 individuals, representing a wide spectrum of the Society in terms of backgrounds and perspectives, as well as a number of pre-college teachers who had recently attended the first AMS teacher enhancement workshop.

This presentation focuses on the evolution of the AMS Symposium on Education during its 25 year history. It examines the topics covered, people and institutions involved, and its impact on supporting the myriad of educational activities conducted by the AMS and its constituents and enhancing their visibility within the Society and beyond. This symposium has provided an exceptional forum where educators from very diverse backgrounds to share their initiatives to improve teaching and learning for all ages, thereby enhancing our knowledge of the atmospheric and oceanic environments.