Chuck and Cathy Williamson
Science Communication Fellowship
The Williamson Fellowship is aimed at increasing geoscience communications and encouraging diversity in the geosciences. The Williamson Fellows will develop relationships with 7-12 public school programs, engage youth in geoscience, increase public science literacy, and provide opportunities for U of U geoscience students to gain outreach and science communication experience.
All teaching resources & activities
Kiri and Ashley!
2024-2025 Williamson fellows
Kiri Maza
Ashley Morris
Ashley Morris is a 2nd year Ph.D. student in the Department of Geology and Geophysics working with Dr. Sarah Lambart. Her graduate studies focus on the petrology and geochemistry of a variety of igneous rocks from across the ocean floor aimed at understanding a range of tectonic and chemical processes. Ashley earned her bachelor’s degree in Geosciences from the University of Iowa before moving the SLC and earning her master’s at the U before starting her Ph.D. program. Throughout her academic career she’s become excited about not just learning science but sharing it with others as well. Outside of the lab, whether skiing, hiking, or just being together, she loves spending time with her friends, family, and her dogs. As a Williamson Fellow, Ashley hopes to practice developing new ways to inspire young scientists while sharing her own enthusiasm for the natural world.
2024-2025 Blog Posts
Field Day at the Great Salt Lake!
What lives in the Great Salt Lake? Why did the lake shrink 30,000 years ago? How does shrimp poo turn into sand? These are all questions we explored with the Salt Lake Center for Science Education Bryant students at the Great Salt Lake this week. Despite being the city’s namesake, some students had never been before and what better place to learn science? Students explored three stations, learning about the ecology of the GSL, the geology of the area, and the unique weather patterns created by the lake. They will be able to draw on this experience in the classroom throughout the semester making concepts more realistic than reading a text or listening to lecture. At the geology station we compared the ooid sand, formed as minerals deposit around particles like brine shrimp poo, to more common quartz sands. Watching students draw connections between the sand they scooped up from beneath their feet and the ecology station where they watched brine shrimp swim made the value of these experiences very apparent.
So far this year, we have also seen how the Williamson Fellowship has progressed and left impressions on previous fellows. Kiri, and I were joined by Tori Pavlovics, who was a Williamson Fellow two years ago happy to be back out with students as well as Zach Knettles, a Williamson Assistant from two years ago who came to add observation hours to his current teaching license journey. As the first field trip as a Williamson Fellow, I am left inspired to get more students out in field this year and develop more experiences like this one.
Ashley Morris - October 2, 2024
4th Grade Field Trip to The U of U Fredrick Albert Sutton Builidng
4th graders visited FASB and were taught about sediment transport and grain size differences with the stream table!
7th Grade Class at Bryant Middle
Kiri Maza teaches 7th graders how mountains move and grow by comparing different mountain ranges around the world.
High School Students at the U and in the Dirt
Last week the SLCSE high school biology students ventured across town to explore a handful of the research taking place here at the U. I tagged along with a group who visited the Puri Lab in the Crocker Science Center. Here students observed how biochemists grow methanotrophs to learn about the role these tiny microorganisms play in Earth’s climate. Later, in the Caron lab, students saw how researchers can train fruit flies and study how their brain perceives odors. They even got to test their own skills by sorting the bitty little fruit flies under a microscope and smell the smells of the fruit flies. These opportunities to see real laboratories and meet active scientists appeared to be very inspiring to a number of students, they asked lots of particularly scientific questions.
The AP Environmental Science students at SLCSE experienced a different sort of field trip. Heading out of the class just across the street they met with some volunteers for the city doing restoration work along the Jordan River. After a successful pop quiz about the importance of using native plants to kickstart an ecological restoration project, students grabbed a pair of gloves and a shovel to compete for the most plants planted over the duration of the class period. Students contributed about 20 plants each to the Jordan River project.
Though quite different from one another, both of these field trips showed students the value of what they learn in the classroom. And, in most of their opinions, it seemed more fun and rewarding than another day in the classroom.
By Ashley Morris
November 11th, 2024
Meet Tommy Good
Tommy Good, a science teacher at SLCSE Bryant Middle School, will oversee this year’s cohort of the Williamson Science Communication Fellows. Tommy received his Bachelor’s degrees in Music and Geoscience from DePauw University (2010), his Master’s of Science in Geology from the University of Utah (2013), and his Master’s of Education from DePaul University (2015). He taught in Chicago Public Schools before moving back to Utah to help further the mission and expansion of the Salt Lake Center for Science Education within the Salt Lake City School District.
Goal: Our main goal this year is to develop and organize a variety of field trips around the Salt Lake City area. Research shows clearly that experiential, in-situ experiences help students make connections to academic learning, increases student awareness of our community, and helps to shrink the opportunity gap. These field trip plans will be widely shared to be accessed by educators in Salt Lake and beyond.
Department of Geology & Geophysics Outreach:
Dr. Holly Godsey | holly.godsey@utah.edu