Element 5 - Education & Outreach

Appendix 5.1.2 - Biosketch

Robert de Groot is the Special Projects Consultant for the outreach office at the Southern California Earthquake Center. He designs and implements science education programs in formal and informal educational settings. Currently he is redesigning Seismic Sleuths, an earthquake education curriculum for grades 7 - 12 originally developed by FEMA and the American Geophysical Union. In addition, he serves as a content and pedagogy advisor for an earthquake television program based on Seismic Sleuths scheduled to air in the coming year on Assignment Discovery and The Learning Channel. Mr. de Groot is facilitating the development of a multi-media earthquake exhibit at the Riverside County Youth Museum. He also facilitates professional development programs related science content and teaching for educators and administrators.

As a member of the SCEC outreach team, Mr. de Groot brings with him nearly eight years of classroom experience in secondary and college settings. His work as an educator is enhanced by three years of program design experience with The California Science Center and Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. His work has also taken him into the lab and the field to study stratospheric ice clouds, river ecology, enzyme biochemistry, and most recently the faults of the Los Angeles region. Mr. de Groot holds an MA in Teaching with an emphasis in Chemistry from Northern Arizona University. He is currently completing an MS in Science Education with a focus in Earth Science at the University of Southern California.