2004 NAGT and GSA Geoscience Education Awards

Journal of Geoscience Education, Jan 2005 by Ryan, Jeff, Picard, M Dane, Macdonald, Heather

2004 Neil Miner Award - H. Leonard Vacher

Citation for Dr. H. Leonard Vacher

I am here to introduce to you Dr. H. Leonard Vacher, my colleague and friend, who is this year's winner of the Neil Miner Award. The Neil Miner Award is given to a professor for "exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the earth sciences". Len exemplifies the love of learning, and has been a source of inspiration to both his students and his colleagues, for all his years at the University of South Florida, and before that at Washington State University.

A medical matter prevented Len from joining us today. This issue aside, it might still have been difficult to get him to sit through this event. Len doesn't like being singled out publicly - it is very much counter to his nature to stand in the spotlight. His preferred mode of interaction (aside from the formality of the classroom) is the quiet one-on-one conversation, in which he questions you, gently challenges and tests your ideas, and offers up his own views, not as the "right" answers, but as hypotheses for you to evaluate.

Len Vacher received his bachelor's degree at the University of Washington, and his Ph.D. at Northwestern University in 1971. He spent a good bit of time during his dissertation and thereafter in Bermuda, the field area for his early research. Len went from Bermuda to Washington State for eight years, before joining the Geology faculty at the University of South Florida. At USF, Len pursued his primary research focus on the hydrogeology of carbonate islands as part of the "hydro group," initially the only program in the southeast that focused on the geology of groundwater and related issues. Len's work on island hydrogeology culminated with the book he edited, Geology and Hydrogeology of Carbonate Islands, in 1997. I have heard Len say that it was upon the completion of that volume that he shifted directions into geoscience education, but those of us who know him can confirm that this predilection was present all along.

I first met Len at the Dallas GSA Annual Meeting in 1990, at 8:00 AM, the first candidate in a parade interviewing for an open position at the University of South Florida. Len was one of three USF faculty members manning the booth. While the others explained the place and department, Len quizzed me about my teaching experiences, and cautioned me as to the importance of teaching in a university position. His "interview" with me continued even after I had accepted the job - over lunch, typically. Len regularly queried me on how my classes were going, what my students were like, and what I'd heard from my students about how HIS classes were being received. My experiences were not unique - all young Geology faculty at USF have their "lunches with Len", as it is his particular means for providing mentoring and support.

I'll leave it to Len to explain how his now burgeoning activities in the realm of geoscience education began, but I can tell you where I saw them have their first major impact. Len joined our Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, with the task of revising our Bachelor's degree programs. As part of what eventually became a complete reinvention of our program - all of our majors courses were replaced with new offerings focusing on Earth systems and the development of scientific skills Len developed his course, "Computational Geology", based on a topical offering he had taught at the request of a dozen of our undergraduates. Not only did that course become the model for all our new Majors offerings - it focuses on the development of a critical skillset (in this case, quantitative skills) in addressing key Earth system questions - but it also spawned the column "Computational Geology" which Len has written for JGE for the last several years.

If there is an aspect of Len's approach to his work as an educator that creates difficulties for him, it is that he is so self-effacing that he never presumes that the good things he does might merit wider recognition or support. I saw this during my stint as Department Chair, when he came to me frustrated about how to pursue his work on the quantitative literacy of geology students, while at the same time doing his part to support the graduate program and research missions of our Department. I suggested that he seek NSF grant support for the work, so he could fund graduate students to assist him in the effort. I still remember the surprised look on his face: the NSF would PAY him to do this thing he cared about so deeply? He quickly wrote the proposal, and received CCLI-Educational Materials Development support to create and test instructional modules that help students master critical mathematical skills through the solution of geologically relevant problems. The fruits of this project (thus far) may be downloaded at http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/modules/start.htm, the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, and there are more coming, including new modules currently being developed by his students. These days, Len preaches on quantitative literacy from any stage that will have him, and he's working closely in his efforts with the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, the Mathematical Association of America, and most recently at the National Numeracy Network, a new organization for which Len sits on the founding board of directors.