Verosub wins teaching prize
By Carol Cruzan Morton
Question: Why study geology?
(a) Because you can impress your friends when you're watching "Jeopardy"
on television by screaming out "WHAT IS BAUXITE!" for an answer
about a mineral from which aluminum is extracted.
(b) Because you can prepare yourself and family for surviving the next
"big one"--be it an earthquake, flood or landslide--and be able
to pick a geologically suitable spot for a house or business.
(c) Because UC Davis geology professor Ken Verosub is teaching the class.
Directly from the keyboards and pencils of students, the comments below
help explain why Verosub pops up as "the answer" for many students
and why he has won the $30,000 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching
and Scholarly Achievement this year.
"I think he is a great teacher," comments a student from last
year's Geology 1 class. "I had a course from him before, and that was
my sole reason for taking this course." A student from a fall Geology
17 class writes, "The enthusiasm of the professor is exceptional. Class
is exciting; it is never boring."
Believed to be the largest annual award of its kind in the nation, the
prize pays tribute to faculty members on campus who combine outstanding
undergraduate teaching with remarkable scholarly achievements. It was established
by the UC Davis Foundation through gifts from the Davis Chancellor's Club
Fellows. The award was increased this year from $25,000.
The prize is significant because "it recognizes those who can teach
undergraduates and at the same time do the things they need to do to maintain
their scholarship and excel in research," says Ken Nitzberg, chair
of the foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports UC Davis. The
prize will be awarded to Verosub at a gala dinner May 30 in Freeborn.
His secret is enthusiasm
"Professor Verosub has found the antidote to what could be a large
and impersonal lecture class--slides, demonstrations, discussions, class
participation and e-mail--but the real secret to his teaching success is
his enthusiasm, relevance and clarity," said Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef.
"Every day, he shows that a teaching scientist can engage and inspire
students, even while unraveling paleomagnetic mysteries in a world-class
research laboratory."
For as long as he can remember, Verosub, 51, wanted to be a teacher. He
was the first person in his family to earn a doctoral degree, joining the
UC Davis geology department in 1975. He has since gone on to receive numerous
accolades for his research and teaching. Known as an energetic classroom
teacher, in 1988 he was awarded the UC Davis Distinguished Teaching Award
by the Academic Senate.
In fact, Verosub has set out to completely revise the way undergraduate
science courses are taught to non-science majors. He says he will do almost
anything to avoid yammering for 50 minutes to a quiet, passive audience
in a large introductory university lecture class. And his students are grateful.
Students can think on their own
"Memorizing terms isn't what [this class] is all about," one
student pointed out in last year's class essay. "True, I can tell you
what a moraine is, and I know what a pixel is, but from this class I have
gained an understanding of concepts; I feel I can think on my own."
Verosub's always thinking about teaching. "Paper or plastic,"
his grocery clerk asks. Great question. He'll use that one in the class
on waste disposal later this term, the one that opens with Ravel's "Bolero,"
which, like solid waste, just keeps building up.
Verosub's commitment to engage students as active learners extends beyond
the class. He directs the new Davis Honors Challenge, a campuswide undergraduate
honors program. He has worked toward improving earth science teaching in
grades kindergarten through high school with teacher training workshops,
teacher education research and participation in the adopt-a-scientist program.
He has become a leader in the national movement to reform science education,
participating in
national conferences, advising government and private organizations, and
contributing to the literature.
A leader in magnetic properties research
Meanwhile, Verosub is recognized as one of the leaders in research on the
magnetic properties of sediments and sedimentary rocks. With the perspective
of a physicist-turned-geologist, Verosub looks beyond his data to ask fundamental
questions about the geological, geophysical and geochemical processes that
have created that data.
As a result of his studies, Verosub is widely acknowledged as someone who
fully understands what rocks and sediments are telling him about global
changes in climate over the past 2.5 million years, tectonic activity in
California in the past 10 million years and the history of the Earth's magnetic
field for the past 100 million years.
This broad perspective on research makes it easy for Verosub to convey
to students the ragged, irregular and sometimes chaotic way that scientists
actually work. With this realistic view of science, students often raise
questions that point to new avenues of research.
"Research enhances and informs the teaching," Verosub says, "while
the teaching stimulates and inspires the research."
Mary Graziose/Department of Geology photo
