91传媒 professor awarded for work in geoscience education by national teacher organization
Contact: Madison Welzbacher
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 Mississippi State professor is being honored nationally for her outstanding contributions to geoscience education.
Renee Clary, an 91传媒 professor in the Department of Geosciences, is the recipient of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers鈥 2021 Transformation Award. NAGT promotes innovation and improvement in the geoscience education research community. The organization鈥檚 Transformation Award is given to those who have made impactful contributions to the field.
Clary鈥檚 work focuses on bringing geological and biological education to both formal and informal settings, as well as online. She has attained over $3 million in grant funding for her efforts and has written 80 journal articles, 30 book chapters and 300 peer-reviewed research presentations, all of which have been shared on at least five continents.
Clary said she is honored to have been chosen as a recipient of this award.
鈥淭he Department of Geosciences pioneered online education, developed an online master鈥檚 program for practicing teachers, and supported geoscience education research to determine what pedagogical techniques and course design work best to optimize their online programs,鈥 Clary said. 鈥淚 was fortunate that the College of Arts and Sciences includes both physical and social sciences, so my position as a tenure-track faculty not only received support for the geoscience education research that I conducted, but also the time allocation needed for my research. I was able to research and publish on a variety of GER topics and levels鈥攆rom K-12, college, teacher professional development and informal science learning.鈥
One of her contributions includes serving as co-principal investigator/STEM director for the leaderSTATE STEM program, a series of week-long summer camps that bring over 300 JROTC high school students to 91传媒 to learn about geosciences, leadership and fitness.
She also is director of 91传媒鈥檚 Dunn-Seiler Museum as well as director of the 15 Degree Laboratory, the EarthScholars Research Group and co-founder of the GeoViz Laboratory.
Clary said winning this award for 91传媒鈥檚 geosciences department affirms that the university has a solid program.
鈥淚 anticipate we will attract graduate students who want to focus upon, or include, geoscience education in their research,鈥 Clary said. 鈥淲e continually strive to optimize our online course delivery, and the possibilities within online education continue to grow. I am excited for the future, and interested to see what technological innovations it will bring.鈥
For more about the 91传媒鈥檚 Department of Geosciences or the university鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, visit and .
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .