Natural Resources, School of

 

Date of this Version

6-2013

Citation

Published in Eos, Vol. 94, No. 25, (18 June 2013), pp. 221–222.

Comments

Copyright © 2013. American Geophysical Union; published by John Wiley. Used by permission.

Abstract

The geosciences have an important role to play in addressing whether humans can live sustainably on Earth. From water to energy, from climate change to natural hazards, geoscience is central to solving a wide range of problems.

Two projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) support faculty in incorporating aspects of sustainability in their teaching: the Interdisciplinary Teaching of Geoscience for a Sustainable Future ( InTeGrate) Center in the Geosciences and the On the Cutting Edge Faculty Development Program in the Geosciences. The former is funded by NSF’s Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Faculty Development Program, and the latter is funded by NSF’s Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM Program. These programs, led by faculty across the country, engage members of the geoscience community and their colleagues in allied disciplines in sharing their existing teaching materials and strategies and in collaboratively developing new materials to meet recognized needs.

For example, materials currently in development address human dependence on mineral resources, environmental justice, and freshwater resources, among other topics. Together, the On the Cutting Edge and InTeGrate projects provide instructors with online access to several resources that support the teaching of geoscience and sustainability, both within geoscience

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