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Bulletinof the Eastern Section of the National Association of Geoscience TeachersVolume 69, Issue 4: Fall 2019The next step is to identify members willing toservice on a steering committee to help organize thespecial meeting. The committee will work to shareadditional details in our next bulletin: estimatedcosts, tentative itinerary, programming, etc.Interested members may contact me no later thanOctober 15, 2019 at: jpetula@millersville.edu.NAGT-ES Special Meeting 2021by Jason PetulaMillersville University of PennsylvaniaNAGT-ES Past PresidentThe premise of the special meeting is to holdthematic talks and field trips at each port and/orwhile at sea. The special meeting will be acollaboration between Millersville University ofPennsylvania and NAGT-ES. The university’sOffice of International Programs and Services (IPS)will provide logistical support, whereas NAGT-ESmay provide programming. Once the steeringcommittee has the special meeting set, we maymarket the program to a national audience. It isimportant to share a few cruise details withmembers unfamiliar with cruises. First, the cost ofcabins will likely be the most expensive part of theprogram. Most cruises lines insist on 2-passengersper cabin. Hence, if you travel solo you must pay asingle supplement. In contrast, 50% discounts arecommon for the 3rd or 4th guest staying in the samecabin.In a previous bulletin, I proposed an idea to hold aNational Association of Geoscience Teachers –Eastern Section (NAGT-ES) special meeting. The‘special’ means having our meeting abroad.Enough of our membership, responded to theNAGT-ES Special Section Meeting Survey,indicating a desire to move forward.The results of the survey reveal most participantsprefer to hold the special meeting during a twoweek cruise in August 2021. It is impossible topredict what cruise offerings will be available in2021. The cruise itinerary we will strive for isshown on the map, including stops in Nova Scotia,Greenland, and Iceland before finishing in Ireland.Views along the way include Newfoundland, theFaroes, and Scotland. And plenty of icebergs!1

“Thanks to pioneers like Janet, women across theworld have more opportunities in scientific fields;mathematics, technical, and engineering fields,”said Margaret Latimer, vice president and provostof the Germantown Campus and College-wideSTEM Unit. “We still have work to do, but we havecome a long way because of the courage, passion,and the unquenchable curiosity of women like JanetCrampton.”Montgomery Collegenames geology labafter Janet CramptonJanet received the outpouring of praise with hercustomary grace. As for her gift, she said, “I havehad such a fortunate life. Just seems to make goodsense to me.”by Alan CutlerMontgomery CollegeJanet Crampton, known to many as a longtimeNAGT member, geologist, educator, editor, writer,friend, and all-around inspiration has been honoredby Montgomery College in Montgomery County,Maryland. The college has named its 24-seatlecture/lab classroom and adjoining geologycollections room the “Janet Wert CramptonGeology Lab”. Located on the college’s Rockvillecampus, the lab houses extensive mineral, rock, andfossil collections, plus microscopes and thecollege’s seismograph.Janet has been very generous to the college over theyears, recently donating most of the art collectionthat she and her husband amassed over nearly 60years of marriage. But what prompted the newhonor was a gift of a lifetime: an unrestrictedbequest commitment to the Montgomery CollegeFoundation that will serve the needs of hundreds ofstudents long into the future.At the naming ceremony in September 2018, shewas joined by friends, colleagues, and faculty forrefreshments and a tour of the facility, includingnew public displays of choice specimens from thecollections. She delighted the faculty by mincing nowords in urging the college administrators whowere present to give the Earth sciences moreprominence at the college. And as a decades-longmember of the American Association of UniversityWomen (and former president of AAUWMaryland), Janet, along with some of her AAUWcolleagues at the ceremony, shared with studentsher experiences as women in science.Janet Crampton (right) poses in front of hernamesake geology lab with Montgomery CollegeProvost Margaret Latimer.Photo credit: Pete Vidal, Montgomery CollegeYou can contribute to the Bulletin!Consider writing up your recent teachingtriumphs, field trip locations, geosciencethemed travels, or essays. This issue offers awealth of examples you might emulate forfuture editions of our newsletter.2

Galway and Donegal were nice towns to visit(especially our ancestral castle) but it was severaldays later that we experienced that moment whenwe had the time to talk about the geology of an area.We spent a night in Carrick in the west of CountyDonegal and the next morning decided to drivefurther west to a place called Sliabh Liag(pronounced sleeve league, love the language).While hiking about on a mild summer’s morning, Inoticed the rock pictured here and perhaps got alittle excited. My brother then asked what I wasdrooling over and also noticed the rock. Adiscussion ensued with general explanations of whatmay have happened geologically to cause theformations we saw. I hope he appreciated our talkthere (though later he posted some quip onFacebook about his brother mumbling excitedlyover a rock) as I was certainly enjoying passing onthe little knowledge I have.Donegal Castle,Donegal, IrelandA Teachable Moment in Irelandby Michael O’DonnellBlue Ridge Community & Technical CollegeNAGT Eastern Section PresidentAll of us have similar experiences. Cherish themand embrace them. Informal education is asimportant as formal. Until next time!As an educator I am often fascinated by theteachable moments that spring up at the oddesttimes. Those with young children have experiencedthis on family vacations. (My three kids stoppedasking questions at a young age as they grew wearyof the lecture that would ensue when driving by aroadcut at 70 mph and we caught a brief glimpse ofsomething interesting! “Don’t push the geologybutton!”) I was pleasantly surprised this past Julywhen a teachable moment arose while traveling thewilds of northwest county Donegal in Ireland.Migmatitic gneiss outcrop, Sliabh Liag,County Donegal,IrelandMy brother, niece, and I made a trek to Ireland thissummer hoping to flesh out some of our ancestry.We spent a few days with cousins in Limericklistening to stories of when my mother, as a 5-yearold, spent a year in Ireland with her family whenher father went back to care for his mother. Then,we packed up our stuff, climbed in a car and headedup the west coast. Unfortunately, the day we headedout was foggy and rainy, so we drove right by theCliffs of Moher (I will have to go back there atsome point in time.) and continued up to Donegalby way of Galway. Alas, I was the one driving thatday, so my brother would caution me to payattention to the road instead of the rock outcrop Ispied out the window!3

New edition of Pennsylvania Geology availablewonderful time to praise those teachers who haveexcelled and are perfecting their craft, and promoteand inspire students to learn, understand, andappreciate geoscience.by Gale BlackmerState Geologist of PennsylvaniaInformation about all our Eastern Section awardscan be found on our section website. Please notethe deadline is being/has been changed toSeptember 30! So start thinking and get thoseforms filled out now! Completed nomination formsshould be sent to me at croemmele@wcupa.edu.However, you must place your nomination via theonline forms found on the National NAGT web siteat http://nagt.org/nagt/programs/oest.htmlThe newest version of Pennsylvania Geology canbe found at the following documents/document/v49no2.pdfPlease forward this link to anyone who you mightthink would be interested in the geology ofPennsylvania and ask them to contact us at RApageology@state.pa.us to subscribe.Here is a list of our awards. Perhaps there is onewith your (or a colleague’s) name on it!OUTSTANDING EARTH SCIENCE TEACHERFor previous versions of Pennsylvania Geology,please ments/document/dcnr 20033210.pdfThe OEST Awards program was adopted by NAGTin 1971. Its purpose to honor pre-college teachers ofearth science, their excellence and commitment toteaching and teaching earth scienceDIGMAN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE INGEOSCIENCE EDUCATIONNew archived copy of an NAGT-EasternSection field guide placed onlineThe Digman Award is designed to recognize anindividual who works to bring geoscience to thegeneral public. We look for individuals who are notteachers, but work in a capacity that educates thegeneral public in areas of the geosciences. Museumdirectors, curators and assistants, state surveyemployees, mine and quarry public relations peoplewould all qualify for this award. The nominationinformation for this award is also on our sectionwebsite.by Randy NewcomerRandy’s BooksI think the last one I uploaded was 1983.It is at http://bit.ly/NAGTES1983JAMES O'CONNOR MEMORIAL FIELD CAMPSCHOLARSHIPAward nominations updateThe James O'Connor scholarship is given to acollege geology or earth science major who isattending a geologic field camp course (typicallyover the summer) as part of their college degreeprogram. The 500 scholarship assists the student incovering the expenses of their field camp. Nominatea student currently enrolled in your geologyprogram. Nomination information appears on thesection website.by Christopher RoemmeleWest Chester UniversityHello geoscientists and geoscience educators!It’s time to send in your nominations for all theawards our section offers. Maybe you work with adedicated, diligent, and passionate teacher, or knowsomeone whom you feel deserves this recognition.I strongly urge you to nominate this educator forone of our Eastern Section awards, or one of theNational NAGT awards. Winners will be invited tothe Eastern Section meeting next June, which is aDISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD FOR THEEASTERN SECTIONThe Distinguished Service Award is given to amember of the Eastern Section (still activelyteaching or retired) who has, over the years,contributed to the growth and activities of the4

Eastern Section. This person should have a historyof continued service to the Eastern Section.Nomination information appears on our website.The Bulletin is edited by Callan Bentley, NorthernVirginia Community College. Please get in touchwith your ideas & feedback: cbentley@nvcc.eduJOHN MOSS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDINGCOLLEGE TEACHINGThe John Moss award is reserved for instructors andprofessors who, at the college level, model andpromote outstanding teaching in the geosciences.Nomination information appears on section website.I have also included (from the same 1991guidebook) the summary of awardees for theEastern Section John E. Moss Award “OutstandingEarth Science Teacher” for college and universityinstructors; not to be confused with the currentNAGT “OEST” award. Hopefully the names ofthese past awardees will bring back fond memoriesof fellow geoscience educators.From the Archives: Fall 2019by Steve LindbergUniversity of Pittsburghat JohnstownNAGT Eastern SectionArchivistThe 1991 annual meetingwas held on April 26-28at Greenfield CommunityCollege in Greenfield,Massachusetts and was ajoint meeting between theEastern and New EnglandSections of NAGT.The field trips focused onthe Geology Of WesternNew England with theguide book edited byLawrence R. Matson. Oneof the featured field tripson Saturday wasOverview of ConnecticutValley Geology AlongRoute 2. The field tripwas led by Don Wise,UMass. and Ed Belt,Amherst College.Here is the guidebooksummary of the GeologicEvolution Of TheConnecticut Valley.5

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