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Geology is not apolitical. Here, we explore what decolonising the curriculum means, both in a wider sense and specifically for the discipline of geology. We outline some of the colonial past of the discipline and also point to its colonial present in the hope that we can do better in the future. We explain some of the discipline-specific jargon, theory, and practice associated with decolonising. Some suggestions are included to help geology teams begin their decolonising the curriculum journey.

Virtual field trips have become a crucial resource during the COVID-19 pandemic within geoscience education. This study presents a critical evaluation of their use, using real-world examples delivered to a masters-level class at the University of Aberdeen. Our work highlights several key findings which can be used to help plan virtual field trips and how associated disadvantages of their use can be mitigated through a blend of physical and virtual field trips.

The fictional landscape of Hisui from Pokémon Legends: Arceus is inspired by the real-world island of Hokkaido, Japan. This paper illustrates how the game can be used to explore geological concepts including volcanology, economic geology, and hazard mitigation, by comparing in-game features to their real-world counterparts on Hokkaido. Applications from this study include increasing geoscientific interest and facilitating the self-learning or formal teaching of geoscience worldwide.

In this paper, we discuss the instrumental role of the press in informing and educating the public on the subject of climate science and climate change. We illustrate this using an example of a dissemination format called Weather Stories, published daily in one of the most read newspapers in Spain. The particularities of this journalistic format are described using a practical example of a relatively complex physical concept: the jet stream.

We designed interactive, open-ended video games to simulate field geology to address the learning goals of traditional, in-person exercises for geology students. When these simulations were implemented in college courses, students used virtual versions of standard geology measuring tools to collect data but could also visualize and collect data in new ways (i.e., a jetpack and instantaneous graphing tools). The games were for remote learning, but the tools can also enhance in-person instruction.

Natural events like earthquakes provide an opportunity for geoscientists to communicate Earth science with the public. YouTube has a large number of users, but little is known about how YouTube videos on natural events engage and communicate geoscience to the public. Our results show that timely videos about geologic events in the news better engage younger and more diverse audiences to be interested in Earth science and stimulates more meaningful dialogues with certain YouTube users.

In this manifesto, we offer six points of reflection that higher education geoscience educators can act upon to recognise and unlearn their biases and diversify the geosciences in higher education, complementing current calls for institutional and organisational change. This serves as a starting point to gather momentum to establish community-built opportunities for implementing and strengthening diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice holistically in geoscience education.

Virtual field trips are used to engage students who are unable to go into the field with geological field work. Here, we investigate the perceptions of staff and students before and after a virtual field trip, including the investigation of the success of mitigation measures designed to decrease barriers to engagement and inclusion. We conclude that negative and positive perceptions exist and that effective mitigation measures can be used to improve the student experience.

This paper extracts key learning from two case studies (India and Mozambique), outlining solutions and approaches to challenges in developing forecast products. These lessons and solutions can be used by forecasters and practitioners to support the development of useful, appropriate, and co-designed forecast information for institutional decision-makers to support more effective early action in advance of disasters.

To determine the best strategies for geoscience communication on TikTok, we created a TikTok account called Terra Explore. We produced 48 educational geoscience videos and evaluated each video’s performance. Our most-viewed videos received nearly all of their views from TikTok’s algorithmic recommendation feed, and the videos that received the most views were related to a recent newsworthy event (e.g., earthquake) or explained the geology of a recognizable area.

This paper outlines educational materials appropriate to teach upper division or graduate-level geoscience students how to produce and interpret high-resolution topography data. In a remote implementation, students were able to independently generate high-resolution topographic data products that can be used for interpreting hazards such as landsliding and flooding. Students met course learning outcomes while learning marketable skills used within environmental jobs or research settings.

This paper reports on research insights from a collaboration between UK climate scientists and artist researchers to advocate for a more creative and emotionally attentive approach to climate science engagement and advocacy. The paper highlights innovative ways in which climate change communication can be reimagined through different art forms to enable complex concepts to become knowable, accessible, and engaging to the wider public.

Educational research highlights that improved careers education is needed to increase participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Current UK careers resources in the space sector, however, are found to perhaps not best reflect the diversity of roles present and may in fact perpetuate misconceptions about the usefulness of science. We, therefore, compile a more diverse set of space-related jobs, which will be used in the development of a new space careers resource.

Climate change is increasing the risk of weather hazards (i.e. storms and heatwaves). Using open science methods, it is shown that there is a bias in weather hazard reporting in English-language news media. Storms are the weather hazard with the most articles written over the last 5 years. In comparison, wildfires are mentioned most per individual hazard occurrence with climate change. Science and media collaborations could address the bias and improve reporting.

Geological (Engineering) Field Methods is a core course at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, where students learn how to investigate the Earth. Typically, this course involves weekly field trips to visit a variety of rock outcrops to learn navigation, observation, and measurement. Remote delivery of this course in fall 2020 due to COVID-19 required a transformation using new virtual, manual, and blended tools. Although largely successful, a return to in-person teaching is recommended.

The aim of this paper is to communicate results of our survey giving a first overview and reflects how teaching of hydrology and water-related sciences changed due to COVID-19. Next to many negative aspects for teachers and students, a spirit of optimism, time of change and community initiatives could also be noticed. COVID-19 made it possible to explore novel teaching methods useful for modernizing education and making practical teaching formats accessible to all hydrology and water students.

How do kids imagine the onset and outcome of a volcanic eruption? A workshop proposed for schools tries to answer this question by collecting stories and drawings done by kids (aged 6–13). The eruption they have in mind is an excellent starting point for building classroom conversations about volcanic risk and its mitigation. Concurrently, the workshop provided us with valuable hints to improve educational materials and lesson plans to account for kids’ knowledge and beliefs.

Video games are the largest sector of the entertainment industry and often contain ancient animals (e.g. dinosaurs) and/or fossils. This may be the first or only exposure gamers have to palaeontology, and it provides a useful starting point for science outreach. However, video games are not typically designed to be educational. We investigate the use of palaeontology in video games and highlight common tropes that may skew the public perception of palaeontological science.

W.A.T.E.R. stands for Workshop on Advanced measurement Techniques and Experimental Research. It provides a structured approach for the learning and training platform to professionals with an experimental background in fluid mechanics. It offers an opportunity to learn about state-of-the-art instrumentation and measurement techniques and the latest developments in the field by partnering with academics, instrumentation manufacturers, and public sectors for sharing knowledge and good practices.

Science, technology, engineering, and maths subjects have historically struggled to be inclusive to students from diverse backgrounds. We outline here an outreach course designed to improve critical thinking for people in prison. Based on course feedback, we share advice for working with students who do not engage in formal education – specifically those who have low self-confidence. We focus on how to create a classroom dynamic that is accessible, inclusive and relatable to all students.

There has also been a stark loss of wildlife since 1970, yet climate change receives far greater attention. The warming stripes have shown how simple graphics can engage broad audiences. The nature stripes show how the loss of wildlife and biodiversity can also be presented in a similar way for positive effects.

Participants answered four questions concerning their experience writing a haiku based on a geoscience extract. Data were categorised as being part of the Task Process or Task Meaning. The themes involved in the Task Process were Identification of significant information, Distillation of information and Metamorphosis of text, while the themes related to Task Meaning were made up of Enjoyable, Challenging (which has sub-themes Frustrating and Restricted) and Valuable.

We analysed geoscientists' representations and attitudes to science communication. To understand which obstacles and factors can have an impact on predicting public engagement, we conducted a survey of Portuguese geoscientists. We concluded that what matters are factors like the area of expertise, personal experience, institutional attitude, lack of financial support and personal satisfaction. These should be the main factors to consider when designing policies to promote public engagement.

In this paper, we describe a process in which geoscientists corresponded with school classes in three different countries using handwritten letters and Polaroid photo albums. The stories they told were based on their experiences during a research expedition in the Arctic. We evaluated the process and show some of the benefits the students experienced from their correspondence with the scientists in this way.

We explored two art–geoscience case studies to provide experience-based advice for successful partnerships that aim to diversify and enhance inclusive engagement of the geosciences. Our case study approach revealed the importance of stakeholder relationship building, reflective practice, and the value of sharing art–geoscience partnerships in varied settings. These findings offer examples and preliminary advice on enabling conditions for enacting productive art–geoscience collaborations.

We analyzed 50 documents containing input from farmers, rangeland managers, and water resource managers to understand climate information needs in the U.S. Corn Belt. Practitioners want information to help them make agricultural, water, and risk management decisions to improve economic outcomes. These results can inform decision support tool development, summarize background information for future research in the Corn Belt, and provide an example for research in other sectors and geographies.