IMSP Summer Workshops / Institutes Programs at Illinois State University

Illinois EarthScope Program

The Illinois EarthScope program is a part of the US Department of Education (DoE)/ Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) funded Illinois Mathematics and Science Partnership (IMSP) program created to organize Teacher Workshops using real data from the USGS EarthScope project. EarthScope is the largest continental geology project ever funded by the National Science Foundation in partnership with the United States Geological Survey, and with the collaboration of UNVARCO Inc., Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (lRIS), Stanford University, and NASA. Its goal is to explore the geologic structure and evolution of the North American Continent and understand the processes controlling earthquakes and volcanoes.

In just two years, from 2011 to 2013, Illinois teachers and students will have the opportunity to be part of EarthScope’s scientific effort as 30 transportable seismic stations and several ultra-high resolution GPS stations will be in operation in Illinois. Illinois EarthScope will help site these stations at middle and high schools in Illinois and train teachers to use data from these stations with their students. Partners include the Cairo Unified School District 1. The EarthScope scientific community is conducting multidisciplinary research across the Earth sciences utilizing the freely accessible data from geophysical instruments that measure motions of the Earth's surface, record seismic waves, and recover rock samples from depths at which earthquakes originate. In-depth collaborations between scientists and educators bring the excitement of cutting-edge Earth science research into classrooms, museums and parks.

For more information about this project, please contact
Dr. Robert “Skip” Nelson
(309) 438-7808