Are you interested in joining the GSA GBGM Executive Committee?

It's almost time to vote in the 2020-2022 GSA Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division leadership. As it stands, we currently have a great set of Division officers that have been serving you (the GBGM community), but we are always looking for new, enthusiastic folks to be part of the team. We are also looking for a student rep if you know anyone interested!

If you would be interested this year, please email Rowan Martindale <martindale@jsg.utexas.edu> by June 31st (next Tuesday). If you might be interested in the future but can't commit for the next 2 years, let us know so we can keep you on the list. 

All the best,

Rowan (Chair), Vicky (Vice-Chair/Incoming chair) and the GBGM Division Officers

P.S. We still have over 60 bios that need to be adopted for our "Diverse Faces of Geobiology" website (and that list keeps growing). If you are inspired to write up one (or several) of these bios about the fabulous rainbow of humans who have helped build our field, please email the project coordinator, Carie Frantz <cariefrantz@weber.edu> (subject: “Diverse Faces of Geobiology”) and she will put you to work!

“Using Digital Field Tools for Remote Teaching”- free webinar series by GSA/NAGT

Check out the GSA/NAGT free webinar series “Using Digital Field Tools for Remote Teaching”. The currently scheduled webinars in this series are:

• Using Google Earth for Remote Teaching, Tuesday, 16 June 2020, 11 a.m. MDT
• Using Gigapan for Remote Teaching, Tuesday, 23 June 2020, 11 a.m. MDT
• Using Virtual Landscapes for Remote Teaching, Tuesday, 30 June 2020, 11 a.m. MDT

Details below!

All webinars will be recorded and posted in GSA's free Webinar Library, along with the Powerpoint used and some useful links prepared by the presenters. 

Using Google Earth for Remote Teaching, Tuesday, 16 June 2020, 11 a.m. MDT

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8305975126473363213

About this Webinar:

Google Earth is a powerful, but easy-to-use platform for virtually exploring natural features around the globe. The capability to create and share custom content for Google Earth has resulted in an abundance of presentations, exercises, and virtual field trips that are available to educators. This webinar will help you integrate Google Earth into remote Earth science courses by providing background on the tool and examples of its use in geoscience classes. 

In addition to the regular webinar overviewing Google Earth’s options, capabilities, and use cases, the presenters will do a follow up hands-on session two days later that will give participants a chance to work through some Google Earth activities themselves in a mentored (virtual) setting. This is a great opportunity to learn to use Google Earth the way your students would use it.

Presenters:

Steve Whitmeyer, James Madison University

Andrew Laskowski, Montana State University

Using Gigapan for Remote Teaching, Tuesday, 23 June 2020, 11 a.m. MDT

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3427553084728968459

About this Webinar

Gigapixel panoramas are high resolution 2D images that combine 'zoomed out' context with the power of 'zoomed in' details. Applied to teaching geology remotely, they are valuable web-based tools for exploring geoscience concepts with students at scales ranging from the landscape to the outcrop to hand samples, to thin sections, to SEM. GigaPans can be embedded in webpages or desktop-based Google Earth KML tours as elements in virtual field experiences, potentially gaining power when combined with DEMs, 3D models of outcrops or samples, 360° spherical photos, or video. They can also be used as 'virtual samples' in times when student access to samples is limited. This webinar will cover the technical side of producing your own GigaPan images via two hardware/software packages as well as how to deploy extant CC-licensed GigaPans in your own remote teaching and outreach.

Presenters:

Callan Bentley, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus

Jennifer Piatek, Central Connecticut State University

Using Virtual Landscapes for Remote Teaching, Tuesday, 30 June 2020, 11 a.m. MDT

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6837257389718161163

About this Webinar:

The Virtual Landscapes Project (https://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/virtual-landscapes/) uses the Unity 3D game engine to create screen based simulations of real and imagined landscapes, and interactive 3D block models of geologic and topographic maps.  It aims to enhance the training students receive in geological field and map skills, and to develop 3D visualization skills. This webinar demonstrates how virtual landscapes can be used in the online geoscience classroom to recreate aspects of geologic mapping training and augment understanding of how rock units are represented on geologic maps.

In addition to the regular webinar looking at the uses of the Virtual Landscapes, the presenters will do a follow up hands-on session two days later that will give participants a chance to explore the different virtual landscapes and their potential uses for themselves in a mentored (virtual) setting.  This is a great opportunity to explore the Virtual Landscapes the way your students would experience them.

Presenters:

Jacqueline Houghton, University of Leeds

Mark Helper, University of Texas at Austin 

#ShutDownSTEM and Diverse Faces of Geobiology Initiative

Dear Colleagues,

#ShutDownSTEM is a grassroots movement asking scientists and academics to strike (#strike4blacklives) tomorrow, Wednesday, June 10th, and use the day to work to “eradicate anti-Black racism in academia and STEM”. The #ShutDownSTEM website has resources to help all of us understand and combat anti-Black racism in STEM and the academy. Several of our geoscientist colleagues have also penned calls to action with specific actions we can all take:

• Call for a Robust Anti-Racism Plan for The Geosciences
• A Call to Action for an Anti-Racist Science Community from Geoscientists of Color: Listen, Act, Lead

As your friendly Geobiology/Geomicrobiology division officers, we invite you to join us in using the day to help us build a web resource designed to amplify the voices, stories, and research of geobiologists of underrepresented and historically marginalized groups!

We plan to launch a rich “Diverse Faces of Geobiology” website at the end of this month and need help writing bios and collecting stories about the fabulous rainbow of humans who have helped build our field. If you would like to join this effort, please email the project coordinator, Carie Frantz, at cariefrantz@weber.edu with the subject header “Diverse Faces of Geobiology” for details.

Sincerely,
Your Geobiology & Geomicrobiology Division Leadership Team

GSA GBGM's commitment to our members

GSA Geobiology & Geomicrobiology recognizes that diversity in the geosciences is a major ongoing problem. To our Black and minority members from every country: You belong here. We hear you. We support you. We have to do better for you and we will. Not just in times of crisis, but always. Not with words, but with actions. The GBGM Division Leaders vow to educate ourselves about issues of racism in science and work to improve inclusion within GBGM. Racism of any kind is not tolerated by GSA and has no place in our division. All members are expected to practice ethical behavior and to follow the GSA code of Conduct (www.geosociety.org/gsa/membership/code-of-ethics/gsa/membership/code-of-ethics.aspx). Any member that does not adhere to this code of conduct will not be welcome in the GBGM Division and inappropriate behavior will be immediately reported to GSA.

Position in Paleobotany at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

The Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin is currently hiring for a paleobotanist. This is basically equivalent to a curator position in other museums, with research and collections-based duties, and a ’tenure review’ after two years. Fluency in German would eventually be required as part of the job, but non-speakers are strongly encouraged to apply and will not be disqualified.

The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin provides an excellent research environment. It houses comprehensive and excellent palaeobotanical collections as well as an herbarium, state-of-the-art laboratories for palaeontological preparation, 3D-visualization (including its own CT scanner), histology, molecular genetics and computation. Numerous independent research groups are working in a wide range of research fields including palaeobiology, evolutionary biology and biodiversity research.

Deadline 31 July 2020. Applications preferably submitted online.
Job posting in English: https://jobs.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/jobposting/3a1af7026643a3a1b12358a05e6d91c3f39a509a

Job posting in German: https://jobs.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/jobposting/a8401440e136c0b8ae01219e5a6035b86467603f

Please contact committee head Mark-Oliver Rödel with any questions Mark-Oliver.Roedel@mfn.berlin

NSF Rotator for Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is searching for a Rotator to serve as a Program Director in the Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology (SGP) program in the Division of Earth Sciences (EAR). If you or someone you know might be interested in spending one to three years at NSF in Alexandria, VA, we would like to hear from you. You can read the job posting and eligibility requirements on the NSF website at https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/ear19001/ear19001.jsp

We are open to applicants from the full range of program expertise and career stages. Although our primary workplace is near Washington, DC, funds are made available to rotators to return home on a regular basis, and the continuation of one’s research program is encouraged and supported. The agency also has flexible work schedules and telework options (greatly expanded to protect NSF staff and the community against COVID-19). Details about NSF’s Rotator Program can be found at https://beta.nsf.gov/careers/rotator-programs

If you are interested in learning more about this position, please get in touch with Dena Smith-Nufio, SGP Program Director.

Visiting Assistant Professor, Paleoceanography - UC Davis

The Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences at the University of CaliforniaDavis, invites applications for a Visiting Assistant Professor to teach undergraduate courses and conduct research during the 2020-2021 academic year, with the possibility of renewal through academic year 2021- 2022 (recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF03550). Candidates must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in a Geosciences, Oceanography or related field. Preference will be given to candidates who have a background in the fields of Paleoceanography or Marine Geology.

The successful applicant will be expected to demonstrate an interest in and ability to conduct research in Paleoceanography and/or Oceanography in an Earth system science context. The successful applicant will be required to teach four undergraduate courses/year which could include: The Oceans (a general education introduction, offered two times/year), Oceanography (an introduction at an upper-division level for majors), Physical/Chemical Oceanography (upper-division, for majors), Geological Oceanography (upper-division, for majors), and/or similar courses as needed by the Department. The candidate should be prepared for some component of this teaching to be online, if necessary. The selected candidate will interact closely with the Marine & Coastal Science and Geology undergraduate majors and have opportunities to mentor undergraduate students within this program.

The selected candidate will have access to a broad range of facilities for scanning, geochemical, and isotopic analysis that exist in the Department and associated with interdisciplinary centers across campus. The candidate will also be part of the Coastal & Marine Sciences Institute community and will have access to facilities at the Bodega Marine Laboratory. The annual salary for this position is $70,100. To apply, submit the following electronically to: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF03550

• Cover letter
• CV
• Statement of research
• Statement of teaching experience and interests
• Statement of contributions to diversity
• Names and addresses of three references

For more information about the department, see http://geology.ucdavis.edu. Questions concerning the submission of application materials should be directed to Acacia Steimer-Wilson (alsteimerwilson@ucdavis.edu). This position will be "open until filled," however for full consideration, completed application materials should be submitted by June 30, 2020.
UC Davis is an affirmative action/equal employment opportunity employer and is dedicated to recruiting a diverse faculty community. We welcome all qualified applicants to apply including women, individuals from underrepresented groups, individuals with disabilities, and veterans.