Gary B. Glesener

Gary Glesener is the Director of the Geosciences Modeling and Educational Demonstrations Laboratory (MEDL) and a TLOS Faculty Fellow at Virginia Tech. The focus of his work is on developing hands-on physical models and demonstrations for education and public outreach.
Currently, Glesener is establishing the Geosciences MEDL-CMC, a new kind of curriculum materials center specializing in hands-on physical models and demonstrations in science education. The primary goals of the Geos MEDL-CMC are to (1) increase teaching capacity by promoting the use of physical models which afford active hands-on learning and visualization, (2) provide a variety of support structures to reduce instructors lesson preparation time, and (3) actively develop the MEDL-CMC to be aligned with educational standards and the changing needs of students and instructors.
Education
M.A., Education, UCLA, 2016
B.A., Earth Science, UCLA, 2004
Homepage
- Improving Hands-on Groundwater Hydrology Education at 4-VA Institutions, 4-VA Collaborative Endeavors Grant RFP, Virginia Tech
- Initiating the Services and Development of the MEDL-CMC, Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS)
- Technology-Enhanced Learning and Online Systems Faculty Fellow
- Virginia Tech Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, Process Documentation Award for exemplary process communication, at ICAT Day, on May 2, 2016.
General Public Outreach
- Presented “A Hands-on Journey in the Geosciences” at ICAT Day in 2016 (https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/geos-medl/outreach?authuser=0) (Virginia Tech)
- UCLA: Lead EPSS contribution in UCLA’s Exploring Your Universe Event (2009-2015)
K-12 Outreach
- Organized visits by local grade schools to UCLA to hear talks by professors in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences
Department Alumni Events:
- Presented an overview of the Geosciences Modeling and Educational Demonstrations Laboratory at the Department of Geosciences Alumni Day Event in 2016 (Virginia Tech)
- Organized hands-on exhibits and presentations for UCLA Alumni Day Events (UCLA) Undergraduate
Recruiting
- Creator and Lead on the Summer Camps with the Geosciences Program
- Geosciences Faculty Champion for 2017 and 2018 HBCU/MSI Research Summits at Virginia Tech