Jackson School Students Win Top TA Awards

The Jackson School of Geosciences was the best represented school among the January 2024 winners of the Outstanding TA Award from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT).

Three Jackson School students — Eric Hiatt, Sinjini Sinha and Travis Stone — were among the 14 teaching assistants to be honored in January. The Jackson School winners are all doctoral students in the school’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Fellow doctoral student Trevor Brooks also won an Outstanding TA Award later in 2024.

Department Chair Danny Stockli noted that talented teaching assistants are critical to the success of the department’s teaching mission. “These four students are wonderful examples of what it means to go beyond expectations in contributing to our goal of educational excellence. A well-deserved recognition,” he said.

Winners receive a one-year membership in the NAGT, which includes an online subscription to the Journal of Geoscience Education and the organization’s quarterly magazine, In The Trenches. Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for the award. Students are selected based on nominations from people familiar with their instruction and outcomes in the classroom.

Professor Sean Gulick nominated Hiatt, who taught the fall semester of Gulick’s GEO 416E course, “Solid Earth Processes.” Professor Rowan Martindale nominated Sinha and Stone, who taught lab and lecture sections for Martindale’s GEO 405 course, “Life Through Time.” Stone also developed virtual field trips used by the new GEO 416S course, “Earth and Planetary Processes Through Time.” Professor Dev Niyogi nominated Brooks, who taught the GEO 303E, “Earth in 2100” course; and EJC 311, “Introduction to GeoHealth & Climate.”