Studying the Worlds Oceans through Adaptive Technologies
Dr. Amy Bower, Senior Scientist in the Department of Physical Oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has been chasing ocean currents in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans for over 25 years, primarily by releasing acoustically tracked floats far below the sea surface. Legally blind since her mid-20s, Amy uses...
Geoscience Graduates in High Demand: Increasing Need for Advanced Access and Inclusion in Geoscience Training?
According to the latest Status of the Geoscience Workforce Report from the American Geoscience Institute, released May 2014, jobs requiring training in the geosciences continue to be lucrative and in-demand. Even with increased enrollment and graduation from geoscience programs, the data still project a shortage of around 135,000 geoscientists...
Instructional Accommodation Workshop Held at AGU
Members of the IAGD once again held the Instructional Approaches to Access, Accommodation, and Inclusion for Students with Disabilities in the Geosciences workshop at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. Participation included undergraduate and graduate students, high school teachers and geoscience faculty, from six states and from six different...
The IAGD Celebrates Five Years
In November of 2008, a national advisory group was established to reverse a noticeable trend in the underrepresentation of individuals with disabilities in the geoscience profession. This advisory group was built around stakeholders in the geosciences, science education, disabilities education and members of various research organizations. The advisory was...
A Final Review of the IAGD Events at the 2013 Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting
The IAGD network continued to build momentum in Denver, CO, USA at the 125th Anniversary Annual Meeting of GSA. A lot has happened since our first official meeting in Charlotte, NC, USA last year: an approved Constitution and By-laws, an elected Executive Committee, being formally recognized as an Associated...
Academic Resource Center Guides Geology Student Off the Beaten Path
Originally published May, 2011. “Good morning everyone,” began an email written by Kirsten Nicolaysen, assistant professor of geology, to the students of her spring semester “Volcanoes” class. “A reminder that today is one of two optional field trips. We will leave at 12:30 p.m. from the Hall of Science...
Revisiting the NSTA Position Statement on Students with Disabilities
This academic year marks the 10th anniversary for the development of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Position Statement on Students with Disabilities, which were published in May of 2004. The IAGD would like to begin a conversation on effectiveness of the position statement since it was created, and...
ED Awards Funding to Help Individuals With Disabilities Purchase Assistive Technology
The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday the award of $1.9 million in grants to organizations in California, Missouri and Washington to help individuals with disabilities purchase the assistive technology they need. Under the Assistive Technology Alternative Financing Program, the funds will be used to help people with disabilities...
Teaching How to Teach
A blind PhD student teaches others how to make their classrooms more inclusive. Story by Erik Potter Due to a degenerative retinal condition, Gina Ceylan’s vision had been slipping slowly — sometimes quickly — since childhood. Then, one morning in the middle of her master’s program in geology at...
