Revisioning and reinvigorating a hydrogeology distinguished lecture tour through learner-engaged workshops

Abstract

Abstract As geoscience and water related enrollment and degrees continue to decline, new methods are needed to recruit and engage students in these interesting and challenging interdisciplinary fields. An existing water-themed distinguished lecture tour was reinvented and reinvigorated to include a workshop to (1) promote interdisciplinary collaboration and (2) increase student engagement in earth sciences. The Geological Society of America has dedicated foundation support for a domestic and international lecture tour to promote the scientific discipline of hydrogeology. In addition to the lecture tour with a standard presentation and meetings with faculty, staff, and students, a half-day, interactive field demonstration of the inventory and assessment techniques for springs ecosystems was conducted at a spring near the lecture site. Local faculty hosts were encouraged to engage students in the planning and implementation of the demonstration workshop. The students were provided additional training to enter the interdisciplinary ecosystem data into a cloud-sourced database and to be actively engaged in producing a publication related to the springs ecosystems inventories and assessments. Of the participants of the demonstration workshops, students at eight of the host institutions became co-authors of the resulting manuscript. With the significant investment of time, resources, and logistics to implement a lecture tour, an additional interactive, hands-on, demonstration workshop is a cost-effective way to increase student engagement and provide interdisciplinary collaboration.