Advocacy Committee

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US Senate chambers, Photo: Eric Haynes, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Provenance: Photo: Eric Haynes, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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The NAGT Advocacy Committee promotes (geo)scientific literacy, advocates for all levels of geoscience education, and encourages the use of geoscience information in public decision-making. The Advocacy Committee provides expertise to NAGT and works with affiliated organizations on matters of public policy and advocacy. The Advocacy Committee reports to the NAGT Executive Committee.

The Advocacy Committee's efforts include:

• Serving the organization's mission
• Maximizing the impact of NAGT work on behalf of members and all geoscience educators
• Supporting initiatives that reflect our mission by local, state, national, and international entities, including professional organizations, non-profits, and government institutions
• Recommending development of position statements or white papers, either as stand-alone NAGT documents or co-authored documents with partner organizations; or recommending endorsements of statements authored wholly by other organizations
• Authoring, co-authoring, or signing letters of support for initiatives (e.g. legislation, public comments, non profit programs)
• Responding to advocacy-related requests from other organizations, and from NAGT sections and divisions
• Monitoring emergent issues at federal, regional, and state levels

Get Involved with the Committee

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Cover of April 2017 issue of In the Trenches

Provenance: In the Trenches cover from 2017
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There are several ways to get involved:

• If you are interested in joining NAGT's Advocacy Committee, please complete the nomination form and/or contact committee chair Mike Phillips. The committee meets every other month, and committee members serve three-year terms.
• If you are interested in discussing and receiving updates on NAGT's work on Advocacy, join the NAGT Advocacy email discussion list.

Past Committee Activities

• March for Science (see also the official March for Science website)
• Advocacy articles in In the Trenches
  • July 2021 article on teacher leader standards by Kathy Ellins and Suzanne Metlay
  • April 2021 article on advocacy by Catherine Riihimaki and Mike Phillips
  • April 2021 article on running for school boards by Mike Phillips and Catherine Riihimaki
  • April 2021 article on climate advocacy by Frank Granshaw
  • April 2017 issue with several articles by the Advocacy Committee
• November 2019 Advocacy webinar on Advocacy 101 by Catherine Riihimaki and Mike Phillips
• Purposeful Alternatives to Protest by Suzanne Traub-Metlay, NAGT Teacher Education Division (TED) President, highlighted in the NAGT TED June 2017 newsletter

Kick Start Your Advocacy

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Mike Phillips and family talking with Senator Dick Durbin.

Provenance: Courtesy of Mike Phillips
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The Advocacy Committee encourages all NAGT members and affiliates to advocate for resources and policies geoscience education. Below are resources that you can use in your personal advocacy efforts.

NAGT Position Statements

NAGT has developed position statements on specific issues that affect or are affected by geoscience education. These positions were proposed by the membership and approved by the NAGT Council. NAGT members and affiliates can use these position statements as a basis for advocacy actions like discussions with elected officials, letters to the editor, and conversations with voters. Specific position statements are:

• Earth Sciences Education for Each K-12 Grade Band
• Teaching Evolution
• Climate Change
• The Importance of Dual Credit and Concurrent Enrollment to the Geosciences

NAGT members can provide feedback on draft position statements available for comment.

NAGT Advocacy Partners

Other professional geoscience organizations that have advocacy resources include:

• American Geophysical Union
• Geological Society of America
• American Geosciences Institute

Other Resources

• In 2009, NAGT developed an information sheet (Acrobat (PDF) 2MB Mar14 09) about NAGT's interests and involvement in public policy issues for any members who conduct Congressional or state legislative visits.
• Critical Needs for the Twenty-First Century: The Role of the Geosciences from the American Geological Institute (AGI), provides a list of seven critical needs followed by national policy actions to help the nation meet these needs.
• Why Earth Science? from AGI lays out why Earth Science is important for study, research and funding. There are also a short video version and a Spanish version of the report.