Geoeducation
Susan Brown
Curry Fund Secretary & Rockwatch Chairman
The Geologists' Association
Burlington House
Piccadilly
LONDON
http://www.rockwatch.org.uk
The Geologists' Association (GA) and Rockwatch, the junior club of the Geologists' Association, both engage in informal geoeducation through lectures, field meetings and publications for their members and through geology festivals open to the general public as well as their own membership.
The Geologists' Association
The GA was established in 1858 to promote the study of geology through a range of activities and publications, to promote an interest in geology at all levels and to promote awareness of our geological heritage. During the mid-1980s, thanks to a generous benefactor, the GA set up and grant giving section (the Curry Fund) to support initiatives within geology that might not otherwise be possible, to encourage innovation and to help a wider public to understand and enjoy geology.
The Curry Fund achieves these aims through support for a range of geological activities such as geological publications, providing support to organisations for geological conservation, to museums for curation of geological materials and for other geological initiatives as the Committee approves, including awards to individuals. The Curry Fund Committee meets four times a year in March, June, September and December.
The activities of the Curry Fund and of the GA have a distinguished record of providing support for a very wide range of geological initiatives, which includes geoeducation in its widest sense, both to its own membership and to the wider public.
Rockwatch
Rockwatch, the junior section of the GA was established at the beginning of the 1990s. The age range of members is from 7 to 17 generally, although members of any age, schools and organisations are most welcome.
Rockwatch aims to encourage and develop members interest in, and understanding of, geological sciences and good environmental practice. It does this through a range of responsible educational activities such as the magazine and field meetings.
Members receive a high quality magazine three times a year, containing up-to-date articles commissioned from research scientists and practising geologists, including those employed by our sponsors. Articles encourage observational and practical skills and include hands-on activities. We encourage members to contribute to the magazine and have received some excellent articles, illustrations, letters and jokes. The magazine is edited, voluntarily, by two geologists, both of whom are highly experienced authors of a range of geology books.
We run field meetings throughout the country. These encourage the development of skills such as observation, recording, field interpretation and safety. Field meetings are usually of one day's duration, but more often we are now developing residential meetings during the school holidays, which are proving immensely popular. Members must always be accompanied by a parent or guardian at Rockwatch events. We also run activities in museums, organise talks for members by eminent scientists and give talks and run demonstrations and activities in schools.
We need to look at how effective our activities are in generating a greater awareness of our geological responsibilities and promoting geoducation and this we will be doing over the coming months.
back to 'Education' Homepage