Two popular and innovative geoscience instructors – one a high school teacher in Oklahoma, the other an assistant professor in Louisiana – have been named the recipients of this year’s top geoscience educator awards presented by the AAPG Foundation.
They are:
- Shannon Chatwin, a science teacher at Owasso High School in Oklahoma, who has been named the AAPG Foundation’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, awarded annually to a K-12 teacher in the United States who has demonstrated excellence and outstanding leadership in the field of geoscience education.
- Davide Oppo, Pioneer Production endowed professor of geology and faculty adviser at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, who is this year’s AAPG Foundation Inspirational Geoscience Educator Award recipient, also awarded annually for university and college level educators who have creatively and with excellence inspired their geoscience students.
Both will receive a $6,000 prize. And for the first time, both will be recognized and offer brief remarks at the Foundation Chairman’s Reception, scheduled Aug. 30 during IMAGE.
Providing fiscal support and encouragement for geoscience education – plus promoting the legacy of how geoscience informs, inspires and provides a lifetime of awareness of the Earth’s dynamics – are at the core of the AAPG Foundation’s mission.
“Supporting and promoting geosciences is a major part of what we do,” said AAPG Foundation Chair Jim McGhay, “especially when we’re doing what we can to advance geoscience education. So, making an announcement like this is always an exciting occasion for us.
“Both of our 2023 honorees have earned the accolades and enthusiastic encouragement of their peers, and it’s easy to see why,” he said. “They have continuously demonstrated excellence in, and a passion for, geoscience education.
“We celebrate their achievements and say congratulations to them for teaching and inspiring the next generation of geoscientists.”
Looking Ahead
Support for the two awards, as well as all Foundation initiatives toward promoting geoscience excellence, is possible because of gifts to the AAPG Foundation.
A huge portion of those gifts, in turn, are directly used to support, promote and encourage geoscience education around the world, for people of all ages – millions of dollars have gone toward grants, scholarships and geoscience education development and encouragement.
For more information on the programs or how to easily contribute to the funds, visit the AAPG Foundation website, or email [email protected].
Applications for the 2024 awards will begin early next year, but you can start now to be part of the initiative in two important ways:
- Submit an application to nominate a teacher for the honor: Administrators, colleagues, students, parents, faculty members – all can nominate a teacher.
- Support the AAPG Foundation – contributions are your way to continue the legacy of excellence in geoscience education for the next generations.
Shannon Chatwin, AAPG Foundation Teacher of the Year
Whatever you thought it meant to be a “hands-on teacher,” get ready for a new standard.
Shannon Chatwin, this year’s AAPG Foundation Teacher of the Year, raises the bar when it comes to giving her high school students a geoscience experience that isn’t just fun, nor just creative, but lasting.
“As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘Tell me, and I forget,’” Chatwin likes to say. “Teach me, and I may remember.
“Involve me, and I learn.”
Chatwin recently completed her 16th year as a science teacher at Owasso High School, located just north of Tulsa, where she leads three science courses along with three after-school STEM clubs.
“My philosophy is to get my kids outside and to experience the world firsthand,” she said, “and get them to learn to see outside their box.”
Those activities may be night hikes to nearby parks or treks to far off places like Costa Rica and China to “study the different biomes and explore the culture and natural ecosystems,” where her students “noticed the extreme differences in the local flora and fauna as well as the geology of volcanoes and hot spring areas.
“These experiences get kids to want to learn about the environment around them,” Chatwin said. “I believe that inquiry labs, research, hands-on activities and field trips instill greater ownership of the world around them.”
And Chatwin’s experience suggests measurable success in using her involvement-engagement approach.
“I have observed more learning happening with student-centered exploring and data collecting versus a touring or lecturing style only,” she said. “Also, I’m lucky to have a supportive staff at Owasso Public Schools.”
Incidentally, Chatwin also is licensed to drive a bus. Often, she literally transports her students to where they need to be for a learning experience.
“Many teachers are afraid to do this because it is controlled chaos at times,” she said. “People often tell me it is too risky to leave the school grounds, but I feel very strongly about getting them to go on several field trips and do several labs each semester.
“If I don’t do it with them,” she asks, “who will?”
Support for these activities have come from a variety of places – the local Geoscience Foundation of Tulsa, for example, and the Oklahoma Geological Foundation as well as the Geological Society of America, which made it possible for her students to not only attend a national GSA conference but also present their work.
“The super exciting news that came out of taking kids to GSA,” Chatwin said, “is that two are definitely going to become geologists.”
Goals and Impacts
Chatwin, a native of Grand Junction, Colo., and graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, enjoys giving her students diverse and varied settings for their geoscience education.
Recent trips this past semester have been in Oklahoma, to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, where students learned the types of geologic features needed for a wind farm; Little Sahara State Park, to study, explore and enjoy its 1,600-plus acres of sand dunes; to Alabaster Caverns State Park, where they explored and studied one of the world’s largest gypsum caves; and to the spectacular Gloss Mountain State Park, to study the area’s spectacular scenery and geology.
“This experience of interacting with the environment (was) life-changing for many students,” she said.
Those trips – which don’t include a host of other hikes, field trips and geo-opportunities – are all designed to help achieve her teaching goals, which include:
- Providing students with “the scientific principles, concepts and methodologies required to understand interrelationships in the natural world”
- Increasing her own knowledge as a teacher and a scientist
- Evaluating “the relative risks associated with low-income or low-performing students,” and examining “alternative solutions for resolving and/or preventing those risks”
- Providing students with information on careers and opportunities in the STEM field
- Helping her students “to develop the relevance and rigor that science requires, as well as hands-on experiences that help make lessons come to life”
“I also encourage students to talk with other adults in different professions for social skills as well as knowledge,” she added.
“It’s not easy to become confident in what they are discussing,” she said. “If we don’t expose our students to the possible options and opportunities found in the various science majors and minors, then we will not be able to staff the many areas where scientists are needed.”
According to her peers, she’s had an award-winning approach. The Foundation’s TOTY prize is confirmation of a job well done.
“We are thrilled for Mrs. Chatwin and extremely proud of her,” said Owasso Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Coates. “This recognition is very well deserved – she is an outstanding educator and is constantly striving to create activities, projects and lessons that are engaging for her students.
“Her passion is evident in everything she does.”
“She diligently works to reach students where they are when they enter her course,” noted Karah Whiddon, Owasso High assistant principal. “(She) not only provides students with rigorous coursework, but offers countless hands-on opportunities through field trips, science competitions and her outdoor classroom.”
And from Owasso High science department chair Starr Wilson, the observation that “Shannon is the definition of a lifelong learner who continues to enhance.
“Her impact in this state has been tremendous,” Wilson noted, “due to her commitment to STEM education.”
Davide Oppo, AAPG Foundation Inspirational Geoscience Educator
Sometimes, the answers are obvious.
The questions: What professor inspired you to not only love geoscience but also motivated you to pursue a geological career?
Or, what professor – through instruction, training, coaching and, sometimes most importantly, in caring about your journey into the geosciences – literally changed your life?
Every geoscientist probably has an answer to those questions, but here’s one more name you can add to the list.
Davide Oppo, the Pioneer Production endowed professor of geology and faculty adviser at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, has been named the recipient of this year’s AAPG Foundation Inspirational Geoscience Educator Award.
The reason he was selected is obvious, too – his peers and students are passionate and enthusiastic in their praise for his teaching and willingness to instill a love of geosciences into their lives.
More on that in a bit. But first, a word from the IGEA honoree himself:
“I am ecstatic to receive the AAPG Foundation’s IGEA,” Oppo said when told of his honor. “Knowing that my colleagues and the students I worked with nominated me for this award touches me profoundly. It’s my personal reminder that I am making a difference for some, and it’s a boost to keep dedicating myself to this profession.
“Since my early days in academia, I have believed that the educator’s job is not always easy and doesn’t start and stop in the classroom but requires a well-rounded approach and dedication to the student’s success,” he said.
“Every day I aspire to positively impact the students,” he added, “both during their studies and after when they are in their professional life.”
For him, that’s a calling that was itself stimulated by educators.
Oppo recalled the “many mentors and friends” who helped inspire him to pursue a career in geosciences, with particular mention of Rosella Capozzi (University of Bologna, Italy) and Andrew Moore (Earlham College, Richmond, Ind.)
“They showed me what a great educator is,” Oppo said. “As my mentors have inspired me, I strive to inspire my students to love geosciences and be eager to push their knowledge boundaries further every day.”
Around the World
Oppo, who was named an assistant professor at ULL in 2018, arrived there via a global path.
A native of Ivrea, Italy, Oppo received his bachelor’s degree in marine environmental sciences from the University of Sassari, Italy, and both his master’s degree in environmental sciences-marine geology and doctorate in Earth sciences from the University of Bologna, Italy.
His teaching career started in 2016 as a faculty member/geology lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, while also teaching in the petroleum geology program at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
At UL Lafayette he teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses of basin analysis, sedimentology and stratigraphy, scientific writing, evolution of coasts and continental margins, geology field camp and petroleum geology practicum.
Among his students are two doctoral and 12 masters, plus he’s mentored 24 other students during their research projects.
Add to that slate his role as faculty adviser for ULL’s AAPG Imperial Barrel Award team, which recently won the international competition’s Selley Cup for the second consecutive year.
“My former students now work for various industries in the broad energy sector (including Fugro and Shell), the U.S. federal government or continue in academia as Ph.D. students,” he said.
“Over the years, my academic career brought me to teach across three continents to students from different cultures and backgrounds,” Oppo added. “Because of this, I built a significant experience that ultimately shaped my personality as an educator and instructor.”
Credit Where Credit Due
About those enthusiastic peers and students – it turns out there are many, and they all are eager to sing Oppo’s praises.
Among those voices:
“Dr. Oppo is enthusiastic and sincere about helping students in the department and encouraging them to pursue their interests,” said ULL doctoral candidate Gracie Babineaux. “His experience in academia and in industry, coupled with his passion and excitement, provides him with relevant expertise and knowledge and enables him to give valuable advice for success in the field of geosciences, whether with a job or in graduate school.”
She called his courses “informative, relevant and challenging,” and said his mentoring “achieves the ideal balance between supporting and challenging his students by giving frequent positive feedback while urging us to go further and dig deeper into our topics.”
Bibi Aseeya Mohamed, a ULL master’s candidate under Oppo’s mentorship, said he is “among the few individuals who have inspired my career in geoscience.
“One of the most impressive aspects of his teaching style is his ability to convey complex, technical concepts in a way that is understandable and accessible to everyone,” Mohamed said. “He encourages his students to ask questions, challenge assumptions and explore different perspectives, creating an environment where students feel empowered to take risks and make mistakes in pursuit of deeper understanding.”
There’s also praise from people who remember when Oppo was just starting his journey.
“Davide (is) a fine researcher with good instincts for finding constrained, fundable projects,” said mentor Andrew Moore of Earlham College. “More importantly, I’ve seen Davide develop a close working relationship with undergraduate researchers, and watched him as a brilliant teacher, both in and out of the classroom.”
Moore also applauded Oppo as “an enthusiastic teacher and mentor.
“I’m so amazed by his ability to reach student populations, ranging from Tanzanian grad students to first-year American undergrads, to my own 12-year-old, who has known him since she was six and looks forward to every chance she gets to see him,” he said.
For Oppo, that effort is natural:
“I have always been driven,” he said, “to share and transmit my passion for geosciences to the new generation of professionals.”
For Gracie Babineaux, the choice is obvious:
“Because of his respectful mentorship, endless kindness and thoughtfully created classes,” she said, “he is the definition of an inspirational geoscience educator.”