New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

In this interactive poster presentation, we report on the Notable New Mexico Geologists (Online) project, an ongoing collaboration between the New Mexico Geological Society (NMGS) and the Technical Communication program at New Mexico Tech. Since spring 2013, students in a popular science writing class have worked on an online supplement to Kues, Lewis, and Lueth’s (2014) special publication, A Brief History of Geological Studies in New Mexico, hosted on the NMGS website. Students in the course research and interview active and retired New Mexico scientists and engineers who have made significant contributions to our knowledge of geology, hydrology, geosciences, planetary science, mining, and so on. Students then create lively profiles for the website telling the stories of these scientists’ life and work. Current and in-progress profiles include Wolf Elston, Penny Boston, Kent Condie, Ginger McLemore, and more. (See profile page: http://nmgs.nmt.edu/notablegeologists/home.html).

The project’s primary goals are twofold: To recognize the contributions of notable scientists, mentors, and colleagues and preserve their stories for future generations of geologists; and to provide students with authentic opportunities to practice principles learned in the class and to publish their work. This project also aligns with current discussions among scientists and science communicators about the important role of storytelling in engaging non-specialist audiences. (See for example Dahlstrom [2014]; also refer to the MIT / Culture Kettle public engagement initiative: http://www.cultureofscienceengagement.net/initiative/culturekettle/). Thus, this project has the potential to supplement efforts to introduce broader audiences of teachers, students and inquisitive residents to New Mexico geology.

Students from the spring 2015 Science Writing class will present this poster with the class instructor and will be available to collect future profile suggestions from conference attendees. Attendees may also contribute their own stories about their professors, mentors, collaborators, and colleagues to the project at the “Story Swap” table near the poster.

References:

1. Dahlstrom, M.F. (2014). Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences. PNAS 111(Suppl 4): 13614–13620.
2. Kues, B.S., Lewis, C. J., & Lueth, V.W. (2014). A brief history of geological studies in New Mexico; with biographical profiles of notable New Mexico geologists. Socorro, NM: New Mexico Geological Society.