Teaching Public Policy in the Earth Sciences

Robert W. RidkyEducation Director

U.S. Geological Survey

On the Cutting Edge

Professional Development for Geoscience Faculty

April, 21, 2006

USGS Mission

Providing the Nation with reliable scientific information and analysis.

Biology

Hydrology

Geology

Geography

Science You Can Use

• Visible• Viable• Valuable

Earthquakes and Volcanoes

• Monitoring in situ,

remote sensing• Warning systems

• Products – ShakeMap

– Did You Feel It maps

InSAR Early warning at “dormant” Three Sisters

Landslides

Wildland Fires

Water – A Vital Resource

Streamflow data

• Real-time streamgage network• Hazards applications• Products:

– online data

– streamflow maps

Energy Resource Assessments

Mineral Resources Assessment

ACTIVE PAST PRODUCER DEPOSIT OCCURRENCE SHOWING

The National Map• National digital backbone: consistent, current

• Products: – still paper maps

– But more and more

online data

Human HealthWest Nile virus

Mission and Strategic Goals of USGS Education

“Education and research are always in the public service and therefore are inextricably bound at all levels”

We must distribute our understandings among the people. How shall it be done?

(May 1890)

began career in one room schoolhouse teaching for seven years

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY COMMITTEE MEMBERS included…

THOMAS C. CHAMBERLlNGEORGE L. COLLIEW. M. DAVISISRAEL C. RUSSELL

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.

Only 2 Federal Agencies Have Anything About Education In Their Authorizing Language

 

Department of AgricultureDepartment of CommerceDepartment of DefenseDepartment of EnergyDepartment of Health and Human Services

Department of Homeland SecurityDepartment of Housing and Urban Development

Department of the InteriorDepartment of the InteriorDepartment of LaborDepartment of State

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

Information Transfer, Knowledge Acquisition

• Hearings• Briefings• Workshops

Quality science, relevant for a changing world and effectively communicated, is the most important product.

Great Basin Carbonate Aquifer SystemPhysical Setting Ruby Valley

Isostatic Gravity Map

s

Bowen-ratio method

RN = G + H + E

Barcass study area

Alaska at the CrossroadsHighly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

And, as we meet …Science 21 April 2006:Vol. 312. no. 5772, p. 347News of the WeekSCIENCE POLICY:NSF Begins a Push to Measure Societal Impacts of ResearchNext 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."

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 PublicChip Groat, USGSVice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr. NOAA

“ Everyone should study earth science.”

Tilly SmithChild of the Year, 2005

“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

Earth SciencePhysical Science Life Science

“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.”

National Academy of SciencesNational Research Council

Establish professional partnerships

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

Shake Maps…beyond magnitude andepicenter

Opportunities For Citizen Participation

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.”

“ To obtain data of the highest possible quality, rigorous sampling protocols are being developed, and personnel from the USGS are training volunteers, many of whom are Thompson Valley School students … ”

“from my cold dead hands”

“legislative workshops”

A word about lobbying – we don’t

“The NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits are an educational affair andfun can be found around every corner.”

“Youngsters at the Annual Meeting had fun educated and involved the future of their organization.”

“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