Pranoti Asher

Does gender bias influence awards given by societies

AGU is a participant in a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)–funded project called Advancing Ways of Awarding Recognition in Disciplinary Societies (AWARDS), which seeks to examine whether gender bias affects selection of recipients of society awards. AGU is interested in learning why there is a higher proportion of female recipients of service and education awards over the past 2 decades. Combined with a lower rate of receipt of research awards, these results suggest that implicit (subconscious) bias in favor of male candidates still influences awardee selection. Six other professional societies (American Chemical Society, American Mathematical Society, American Society of Anesthesiologists, Mathematical Association of America, Society for Neuroscience, and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) are participating in the project. Volunteers from each participant society attended an Association for Women in Science (AWIS)–sponsored workshop in May 2010 to examine data and review literature on best practices for fair selection of society awardees. A draft proposal for implementing these practices will be brought before the AGU Council and the Honors and Recognition Committee at their upcoming meetings.

Middle and high school students shine

Middle and high school students participating in after-school and summer research experiences in the Earth and space sciences are invited to participate in AGUs Bright Students Training as Research Scientists (Bright STaRS) program. The Bright STaRS program provides a dedicated forum for these students to present their research results to the scientific community at AGUs Fall Meeting, where they can also learn about exciting research, education, and career opportunities in the Earth and space sciences. Last years program included 33 abstracts from middle and high school students involved with the Stanford University School of Earth Sciences; Raising Interest in Science and Engineering summer internship program sponsored by the Office of Science Outreach at Stanford; Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Santa Cruz; California Academy of Science; San Francisco State University; the University of Arizona; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Their work spanned a variety of topics ranging from structural geology and paleontology to environmental geology and polar science. Nearly 100 Bright STaRS students presented their research posters on Thursday morning (8 December) of the Fall Meeting and had a chance to interact with scientists, AGU staff, and other meeting attendees.

Final Draft of Next Generation Science Standards Available for Review

The final public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) was released on 8 January. As with previous drafts, scientists can review the draft at http://www.nextgenscience.org and provide feedback online to Achieve, Inc., by using the links on the NGSS Web page. The comment period ends on 29 January.

Calling All Department Heads and Chairs

The AGU Heads and Chairs Workshop, offered at the Fall Meeting each year, provides an opportunity for experienced and new heads and chairs of Earth and space science departments to meet one another, discuss successful strategies and challenges, and get tips on how to build stronger departments. This years 1-day workshop will be held on Sunday, 8 December 2013.

AGU and American Geosciences Institute Webinar Series to Strengthen Departments

The AGU Education and Public Outreach department in collaboration with the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) are continuing their partnership to support Earth and space science departments through AGUs Heads and Chairs Program. Through this partnership, AGIs Workforce Program and AGUs education staff continue to host monthly, hour-long webinars and online discussions on various topics that hit at the heart of the health and success of Earth and space science departments. We invite department heads and chairs as well as faculty, administrators, and program directors to join in this unique free program.

Fall Meeting by the numbers

Visits to the Fall Meeting Web site: 650,000 Total participants at the meeting: 20,890 Abstracts submitted to the meeting: 20,087 Donors who attended and took advantage of donor lounges: 1835 Total attendance at Simon Winchesters Presidential Forum Lecture: 1200 Total attendance at the Honors Banquet: 905 Books sold at the AGU Marketplace: 671 Individuals registered for the Fun Run: 487 Students who participated in the Student Breakfast: 450 Individuals who crossed the finish line at the Fun Run: 384 Total attendees at Exploration Station: 307 Total booths sold in the Exhibit Hall: 304 Press registered for the meeting: 288 Membership transactions completed for renewing and registering members at AGU Marketplace: 156 Meeting attendees who were past Congressional Visits Day participants: 82 Editors, associate editors, and their student guests who visited the Editors Resource Center: 63 Copies of Navigating Graduate School and Beyond: A Career Guide for Graduate Students and a Must Read for Every Advisor sold during and after the talk and book signing by author Sundar A. Christopher: 50 Kegs of beer consumed during the Ice Breaker on Sunday, 4 December: 48 Hours of video footage shot at the meeting by the AGU videographer: 40 Potential geopress authors and editors who attended the daily “Come Publish With geopress” sessions in the AGU Marketplace: 31 Press conferences held at the meeting: 25 Average age of minors attending Exploration Station: 8.7 Educational seminars sponsored by AGU Publications: 2 (one on how to write a good scientific paper and the other on the rewards of reviewing) Watching three preschoolers in space suits waiting to meet astronaut Andrew Feustel after the Public Lecture: Priceless (with apologies to Mastercard®)

Encouraging the next generation of scientists at Fall Meeting

Three special events for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students are being held at this years Fall Meeting. The events are open to all meeting attendees—please consider stopping by to interact with and encourage and mentor students as well as to learn about their research projects. Opportunities for students to engage in networking, participate in conferences, and present research help them to develop and socialize within a discipline and profession. Additionally, engaged mentoring is known to provide students with support at critical decision points in their career.

Second annual AGU Take Your Child to Work Day

The second annual Take Your Child to Work Day was held 26 April at AGU headquarters. Nearly 25 children, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews of AGU staff members participated in the daylong activities. Jill Treby, assistant director of member services, began the day by welcoming the children and telling them about what many AGU Earth and space scientists do. AGU blogger Callan Bentley and his Northern Virginia Community College colleagues provided mineral samples and an ultraviolet light; these allowed AGU staff to demonstrate fluorescence in minerals from Franklin, N. J., and other localities.

Conference to focus on solutions to the jobs crisis in STEM fields

The inaugural “U.S. News STEM Solutions 2012: A Leadership Summit,” which will take place 27–29 June in Dallas, Tex., will bring together hundreds of leaders in business, education, and government to develop solutions to the jobs crisis in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. With unemployment rates high at the same time that many STEM jobs are going unfilled, the conference will focus on what is working now and what is needed to develop successful local, state, and national action plans to accelerate the development of the STEM workforce in the United States. A broad array of STEM workforce issues will be examined, including how to engage young students and how technology can better align educators with job creators and the skill sets that are required. Summit organizers hope that a key result of the conference will be a national consensus on best practices and the steps needed—in both the short and long term—to ensure a competitive workforce. Another summit objective is to find effective ways to increase public awareness of STEM and its connection to jobs.

Next generation science standards available for comment

The first public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is now available for public comment. Feedback on the standards is sought from people who have a stake in science education, including individuals in the K–12, higher education, business, and research communities. Development of NGSS is a state-led effort to define the content and practices students need to learn from kindergarten through high school. NGSS will be based on the U.S. National Research Councils reportFramework for K–12 Science Education.