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Geoscience Education and Public Policy Overview

Explore the intersection of geology, biology, hydrology, and geography in education and public policy. Dive into USGS missions, energy and mineral assessments, and the importance of effective science communication.

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Geoscience Education and Public Policy Overview

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  1. Teaching Public Policy in the Earth Sciences Robert W. Ridky Education Director U.S. Geological Survey On the Cutting Edge Professional Development for Geoscience Faculty April, 21, 2006

  2. Providing the Nation with reliable scientific information and analysis. Geology Biology Hydrology USGS Mission Geography

  3. Science You Can Use • Visible • Viable • Valuable

  4. Earthquakes and Volcanoes • Monitoring in situ, remote sensing • Warning systems • Products • ShakeMap • Did You Feel It maps

  5. InSAREarly warning at “dormant” Three Sisters

  6. Landslides

  7. Wildland Fires

  8. Water – A Vital Resource

  9. Streamflow data • Real-time streamgage network • Hazards applications • Products: • online data • streamflow maps

  10. Energy Resource Assessments

  11. Mineral Resources Assessment ACTIVE PAST PRODUCER DEPOSIT OCCURRENCE SHOWING

  12. The National Map • National digital backbone: consistent, current • Products: • still paper maps • But more and more online data

  13. Human Health West Nile virus

  14. Mission and Strategic Goals of USGS Education “Education and research are always in the public service and therefore are inextricably bound at all levels”

  15. We must distribute our understandings among the people. How shall it be done? (May 1890) began career in one room school house teaching for seven years

  16. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY COMMITTEE MEMBERSincluded… THOMAS C. CHAMBERLlN GEORGE L. COLLIE W. M. DAVIS ISRAEL C. RUSSELL

  17. COMMITTEE of TEN(1893) “emphasize importance of geology and physical geography course in the secondary school curriculum” 4th Secondary School Year Geol. or Physiography ~ 3 p. 1/2 yr. Meteorology ~ 3 p. 1/2 yr.

  18. Only 2 Federal Agencies Have Anything About Education In Their Authorizing Language Department of Homeland Security Department of Housing and Urban Development Department of the Interior Department of Labor Department of State Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Defense Department of Energy Department of Health and Human Services

  19. Our science must be effectively communicated because we cannot be considered successful unless it is widely used.

  20. Information Transfer, Knowledge Acquisition Quality science, relevant for a changing world and effectively communicated, is the most important product. • Hearings • Briefings • Workshops

  21. Bowen-ratio method RN = G + H + E s Great Basin Carbonate Aquifer System Physical Setting Ruby Valley Isostatic Gravity Map Barcass study area

  22. Alaska at the Crossroads Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

  23. And, as we meet … Science21 April 2006:Vol. 312. no. 5772, p. 347News of the Week SCIENCE POLICY:NSF Begins a Push to Measure Societal Impacts of Research Next month, the National Science Foundation will announce an initiative tentatively dubbed "the science of science policy," which it says will give policymakers the ability to "reliably evaluate returns received from past R&D investments and to forecast likely returns from future investments."

  24. Partnerships – working with sister agencies “ ...it is essential that all students be given the opportunity to study earth science as an integral part of their education.” Joint Statement to the American Public Chip Groat, USGS Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr. NOAA

  25. “ Everyone should study earth science.” Tilly Smith Child of the Year, 2005

  26. “The Crises in New Orleans or Banda Ache is one of education as much as anything else.” Before NSTC SubCommittee on Education 9/8/05

  27. National Academy of Sciences National Research Council “Now, for the first time in our nation’s history, we have a call to action, a dramatic call for change, and one that specifically states that all students, at all grade levels, should receive earth science instruction.” Earth Science Physical ScienceLife Science

  28. Establish professional partnerships

  29. Each activity consists of a workbook and an accompanying web site • The workbook poses questions and anchors the activity with background material • The web site gives detailed directions for accessing and interpreting the data

  30. Opportunities For Citizen Participation Shake Maps… beyond magnitude and epicenter

  31. Collaborative Efforts “To serve as a forum that fosters teamwork with USGS in conducting watershed assessment, identifying priority protection measures, educating affected interests, and promoting practices that protect the Watershed.”

  32. A word about lobbying – we don’t “from my cold dead hands” “legislative workshops”

  33. “The NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits are an educational affair and fun can be found around every corner.” “Youngsters at the Annual Meeting had fun educated and involved the future of their organization.”

  34. “It is of great importance that the general public be given the opportunity to experience the efforts and results of scientific research. It is not sufficient that each result be taken up, elaborated, and applied by a few specialists in the field. Restricting the body of knowledge to a small group deadens the philosophical spirit of a people and leads to spiritual poverty.” Albert Einstein, 1948

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