Welcome to Rock Archive: A new outreach blog
Rock Archive (funded by EU-MSCA fellowship; Twitter: @RockArchiveEd; Instagram: @Rock.archive.ed) is an outreach blog that communicates to the public about the current state of knowledge on Earth’s past and present environments. The blog was co-founded in late 2020 by Dr. Kärt Paiste, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, and Ichiko Sugiyama, a Ph.D. candidate at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
The vision of Rock Archive outreach
Geoscientists work in the field, in the lab, and with computers to better understand Earth’s evolving environments. It has become increasingly important to educate the general public about Earth’s biogeochemical cycles to help inform them about the impacts of ongoing climate change. The study of geosciences is often overlooked in the K-12 educational system. This lack of exposure is among the many factors contributing to the difficulty in increasing diversity in our field. Our goal is to educate the public and inspire them to learn more about rocks, the Earth, and other planets.
To achieve this goal, at Rock Archive, we use simple illustrations and language to cover a plethora of topics from 1) the evolution of life and environments on Earth, 2) geological tools used to understand Earth history, and 3) how we can use our observations to decipher different processes on Earth (and beyond). The educational materials provided by Rock Archive target a wide range of audiences, from elementary school students and teachers to adults who want to understand more about our planet.
We hope that our initiative will help raise public awareness about ongoing research in geosciences, contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and bring excitement to those interested in STEM fields. If you have any questions or would like to contribute to our initiative, please do not hesitate to contact us at rock.archive.ed@gmail.com. If you are interested in reading some of our work, please visit our website or look out for our selected posts, which will be published soon here on the EAG Blogosphere.
About the co-founders
Kärt Paiste
Kärt is originally from Pärnu, Estonia. She is currently an MSCA postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St Louis, where she investigates the uncertainties under which biogeochemical sulfur cycling occurred at critical junctions in Earth’s history. In addition to her research work, she engages with K–12 schools via outreach activities (i.e., European Researchers Night, Back to School program, WashU’s SciZoom) and works with high school students on mentored research projects (WashU STARS) to increase diversity and encourage participation in STEM fields. To raise awareness and address racism in geoscience, she is an Unlearning Racism in Geoscience pod member at WashU (URGE).
Ichiko Sugiyama
Ichiko is originally from Tokyo, Japan, and is a Ph.D. student at the Weizmann Institute of Science investigating the role of iron minerals in regulating metal and nutrient budgets in ancient oceans. She is passionate about communicating science to the public in all STEM fields and contributes by volunteering for different organizations (EAG, EGU, GSA, SEG, etc.). As part of her outreach and DEI work, she has mentored K-12 educators, undergraduate and graduate students in North American and in the Middle East. To find out more about Ichiko, please visit her website.
