Michael A. Mayhew

Science Communication in a Café Scientifique for High School Teens

The authors’ adaptation of the popular Café Scientifique model has proven to be effective for communicating science to a high school teen audience. Their process for achieving effective science communication between scientist-presenters and teens focuses on overcoming the “information deficit” mode of presentation that most scientists are trained for. Their coaching stresses that effective science communication requires engagement on a personal level that meets the audience where it is in terms of both prior knowledge and social context, while making connections to the teens’ daily lives. Scientist-presenters report strong satisfaction with the coaching process and the resulting quality of science communication.

Michelle Kathleen Hall Receives the 2012 Excellence in Geophysical Education Award: Citation

Michelle Kathleen Hall received the 2012 Excellence in Geophysical Education Award at the AGU Fall Meeting Honors Ceremony, held on 5 December 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. The award honors “a sustained commitment to excellence in geophysical education by a team, individual, or group.”

Michael Mayhew receives 2007 AGU Excellence in Geophysical Education Award

It is both an honor and a privilege to present Michael Mayhew as the 2007 recipient of the AGU Excellence in Geophysical Education Award. I do so on behalf of the geosciences community and the dozens of geoscientists who wrote letters documenting the sustained commitment and impact Mike has had on geoscience education. He is highly deserving of this recognition because his contributions to geophysical education have resulted in (1) a significant and long-lasting cultural change in the community such that geophysical education is embraced and promoted by scientists across the discipline; and (2) the development of a vibrant and highly successful geophysical education research community dedicated to advancing understanding of how we teach and learn about Earth.

NSF Continental Lithosphere Program

For several months the Continental Lithosphere Program (CL) of the National Science Foundation has been subject to a major review. The process was stimulated by a series of budget setbacks over the past few years. Although Presidential budget requests have been very favorable for the Division of Earth Sciences (EAR), and there has been strong support within the National Science Foundation and Congress, actual appropriations by Congress have been disappointing. In each year the final allocation to EAR has been affected by external factors beyond the control of the Foundation. In the four fiscal years from 1986 through 1989 the factors include reductions tied to the Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction measures, congressional reaction to the October 1987 stock market crash, and two years of protection for the Ocean Sciences part of the NSF budget that was paid for from the budgets of the Atmospheric and Earth Sciences divisions.