Two adjunct faculty members at Austin Community College District (ACC) are gaining national attention for their innovative work in geoscience education, which is reshaping research access for community college students.

Kusali Gamage and Leslie Davis, longtime ACC instructors, were awarded the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) — one of the highest recognitions for part-time geoscience educators in the U.S.

“For the first time in the history of our institution’s Geology Department, we successfully secured two NSF grants, bringing innovative research opportunities to the community college and opening doors for our students,” wrote Gamage. “The OAFA recognized and validated these efforts, providing a platform to showcase how adjunct faculty can drive transformative change and create lasting impacts in geoscience education.” 

Together, Gamage and Davis secured two National Science Foundation (NSF) research grants totaling more than $500,000, designed to provide hands-on, real-world scientific research experiences for ACC students.

• A $307,000 grant for Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Course (SUREC) in collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, allowing science majors to study scientific ocean drilling and sediment analysis in their first two years of college — a research path usually reserved for upper-level university students.
• A second $201,000 grant funded a citizen science program that engaged both science and non-science majors in data collection and analysis following Hurricane Harvey, helping to build crucial skills in environmental research and climate resilience.

These grants mark a first for ACC’s Geology Department — and a model for what’s possible when community colleges are empowered to lead.

With NAGT’s recognition came a financial reward — $750 in 2021, which was increased to $1,000 in 2023. Both faculty members used the funds to create a sense of belonging and purpose by providing meals and community-building activities during long research days, and covering conference costs to bring student voices into national geoscience conversations.

“These simple gestures transformed routine learning environments into bonding moments,” Gamage wrote in the NAGT newsletter. “They helped our students feel like they belonged.”

Read more in the NAGT March Newsletter. For more information about ACC’s Geoscience program, visit austincc.edu/geology. 

Tags: Geology, National Association of Geoscience Teachers, National Science Foundation, Science