2019-2020 Internationalization Award of Excellence

Rajeev Nair
Leadership in Internationalization Award - Faculty
Geoscience

For Faculty of Science students, field opportunities are transformative as students understand their discipline in a deeper way. Over the past four years, Dr. Rajeev Nair has led groups of geoscience students to the Hawaiian Islands to study volcanism. The success of this field program lies in the evolving curriculum and new and innovative approaches to team-based learning. In 2018, the field school was in Hawaii during the Kilauea eruption, giving students the opportunity to learn from USGS and National Park Service scientists. The 2019 course expanded on these experiences by providing students with insights into how science is integrated with communities, the role of geologists in studying and understanding risk, and the challenges in communicating information to the public.

A champion for science engagement, Dr. Nair willingly shares his experiences with colleagues. His presentation on the ‘pedagogy of uncertainty and the pedagogy of engagement’ led to an opportunity to collaborate with a faculty member from Biological Sciences to explore the connection between geology and biodiversity in the Hawaiian Islands. This led to a successful GSP development grant from UCalgary International to expand the program.