John Brady, Smith College, Recognized as the 2011 Geosciences Undergraduate Research Mentor
Newswise — Washington, DC-The Geosciences division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) annually recognizes an individual with the Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. The awardee is an individual who serves as a role model for productive and transformative student-faculty mentoring relationships and for maintaining a sustained and innovative approach to the enterprise of undergraduate research. CUR is pleased to announce the first recipient of the award Professor John Brady, Department of Geosciences, Smith College. The award will be formally presented at the Geological Society of America Meeting in Minneapolis on October 9, 2011.
Evidence of transformative student-faculty mentoring relationships include: leadership in fostering and sustaining the undergraduate research enterprise, student-mentor collaborations culminating in presentations at national or regional meetings and/or publication with student co-authors in peer-reviewed journals, and innovative approaches to involving undergraduates in research experiences incorporating research activities into the classroom and service learning.
Brady’s nomination package assembled by former students and current colleagues speaks of transformative experiences and a style of mentoring that motivates a range of students and instills ownership of and a life-long passion for science. Former student Lynne Elkins highlights the continued impact Brady’s influence has had on her career, “It is to John’s lessons and advice that I gravitate to when I seek out tried and true course materials for new classes, and it is his example that I seek to emulate when I aim to support and teach my own students how to learn better, how to approach scientific questions, and how to conduct their own research”. He has advised over 50 special studies and honors thesis students as well as developing a first-year seminar “Geology in the Field” that introduces women to science; it starts by making observations in the field and transitions to quantitative analysis and construction of geological narratives. One of the goals of the course is to get the students to believe that they can become scientists.
Brady credits his own undergraduate research experience, one that involved fieldwork examining amphibole mineral assemblages, in shaping his approach. He learned field techniques, laboratory equipment skills, and how to take the initiative to ask questions and explore on his own. He feels that students must be given a good problem to investigate, balanced with the right amount of mentoring versus freedom of exploration and ownership of the work. In an interview with Brady, he stated, “Having an undergraduate research experience was the best part of my going to college.” No doubt many of the students whom Brady has mentored are making that same exact statement today.
Council on Undergraduate Research: The Council on Undergraduate Research (www.cur.org) supports faculty development for high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. 600 institutions and over 6500 individuals belong to CUR. CUR believes that the best way to capture student interest and create enthusiasm for a discipline is through research in close collaboration with faculty members.
RSS