Callan Bentley
NAME: Callan Bentley
CURRENT TITLE: Chancellor’s Commonwealth Professor of Geology, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, Virginia. I also blog at Mountain Beltway, tweet at @callanbentley, and serve as a contributing editor for EARTH magazine.
AREA OF EXPERTISE: Geology, teaching
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 10 years on the job!
EDUCATION:
Master of Science, Science Education – Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana. July 2009.
Master of Science, Geology – The University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. December 2004.
Bachelor of Science, Geology – The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. May 1996.
WEBSITE: http://www.nvcc.edu/home/cbentley/
What’s your job like?
I teach introductory-level geology to a diverse group of students, and that’s lots of fun. I feel privileged to get to open many students’ eyes to the wonders of Earth science, to the immensity of geologic time and our place in the grand scheme of things. I get to share how the world looks through geology-colored glasses, and students report having a richer experience of life afterwards. A pretty rock is no longer just a pretty rock – it’s evidence of an ancient tectonic collision or an underwater avalanche. It’s a humbling and exciting new way to look at our lives on Earth!
Callan Bentley teaching geology in Fort Valley, VA (April 2016). Photo by Josh Chamot
There is no research expectation for faculty at my school, but I have a couple of initiatives that I am involved in. Most prominent is my geology outreach on the internet, including a blog and twitter feed, and to a lesser extent Facebook. I am a principal investigator (P.I.) on a grant from the National Science Foundation to make useful digital geology teaching media and to disseminate these products to those who can use them to teach and learn.
What’s a typical day like?
My days vary a lot. I live out in the Appalachian mountains, a long way from the campus where I teach, and I’m fortunate in that I only have to drive into school a couple of days each week. That means I have several long teaching days (a lecture and two labs or two lectures and one lab) on those days, plus office hours (plus several hours of listening to audiobooks or podcasts in the car!).
I wake up at home, work a little bit on the computer – something light on the brain like a blog post, answer easy emails, etc. Then I leave home around 9 a.m. (after rush hour) and drive to campus. On campus, I have office hours (really, more time for email and managing research/outreach initiatives), and then teach a lecture, followed by a lab, followed by more office hours and an evening class. I drive home around 9 p.m. It’s a long day.
However, the other days of the week, which are typical in their own way, involve working from home (online meetings, writing, GigaPan curatorial tasks), or heading out into the field to gather GigaPan images or scout out new samples, participate in colleague’s field trips, or deal with “life” stuff – like picking up my kid from school, going grocery shopping, mowing the lawn, doctor’s appointments, etc. The nice thing about these other days is I get to schedule my own time, and that’s really satisfying.
What’s fun?
Most of it is fun. I feel jazzed up about geology, and my own enthusiasm propels me forward and in many cases encourages my students to get excited, too.
My college supports field trips, so I’m delighted to lead several of these each year to local sites of interest. Each summer, I run a field course in the Rockies of Montana, and that is a formative experience for many students.
Callan Bentley on a field trip in Fort Valley, VA in April 2016. Photo by Dan Doctor, United States Geological Survey
What’s challenging?
Bureaucracy. NOVA, my college, is enormous. Getting stuff done – like planning for travel, or getting grant subawardees paid, or hiring students to serve as learning assistants, is a nightmare. The many levels of bureaucratic structure, the shifting rulebook, and delays in/absence of communication really discourage me from innovating. I do it anyhow, but each bureaucratic snafu adds to this accumulating pile that ultimately makes me want to simplify my work life.
What’s your advice to students?
Teaching at a two-year college is a great career. You get to inspire the next generation of geoscientists without the stress of “publish or perish,” tenure committees, or the need to have a PhD (all of which make the prospect of teaching at a 4-year university unappealing to me). It’s an ideal fit for someone like me, and maybe also for you. You should consider joining the National Association of Geoscience Teachers’ Geo2YC Division (two-year-college division). You should seek out opportunities to teach (TA) when you are working on your graduate degree, and you should be eager to inspire and guide your students towards their educational goals.
Chancellor’s Commonwealth Professor of Geology, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, Virginia.