Socrates Fellows Who We Are 2009-2010 Johnnie Lyman
Entering the graduate program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2003, Johnnie Lyman became the first person in her family to attend post-graduate school – an achievement that is a source of pride to her as she looks back on the challenges she faced growing up in Alaska. “I grew up poor, so I know what life is like for poor students,” says Johnnie, About Socrates"The Socrates program has helped change the course of my career by showing me new connections between education and scientific research. I discovered that there are many different types of positions out there that will use the skills I am acquiring as a researcher and as a Socrates Fellow."who received her B.S. degree in Geology from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, graduating with high honors. “As a Socrates Fellow, I appreciate the chance to show students that their economic background does not translate directly to how far they can make it in school.”
Her primary goal upon completing graduate school is to teach at the college level. “However, I would like to teach as much as possible while pursuing my degree so I can be the best teacher possible for my college students, which is why I welcome the Socrates Fellowship experience, she says. ”I want to know what students are learning at the high school and junior high level to see what they are coming in to college with, and to influence students who might not have the best background in science.”
In addition, as a graduate student, she has already gained valuable teaching experience by instructing informal audiences in science through the Birch Aquarium, and through various assignments as a graduate teaching assistant.
Johnnie’s graduate research (under mentor Richard Norris) centers on paleoclimate, which involves looking at large inputs of carbon dioxide occurring naturally 55 million years ago. She studies both ocean and land samples using carbon and oxygen isotopes to reconstruct temperature and carbon gradients on land and in the ocean.
