The DLP is intended to serve several purposes, key among them:
- To inform the interested public, research, and education communities about the GeoPRISMS Program and exciting research activities and opportunities.
- To bring GeoPRISMS research and the GeoPRISMS community to smaller institutions that may not have regular lecture programs.
- To allow researchers, students, and the public to meet and interact with GeoPRISMS researchers, both by attending their lectures, but also through informal discussions with the DLP speakers before and after their presentations.
- To enable the DLP speakers to meet a wide range of researchers, students, and others whom they might not otherwise have the chance to meet.
To best achieve these goals, the GeoPRISMS Office recommends the following best practices for institutions hosting a DLP lecture:
- Offer both public and technical lectures if possible to make the most of the speaker’s visit.
- Advertise! This is important for any DLP presentation but most crucial for the public lectures! Get the word out, produce and post flyers, inform other local institutions and organization nearby schools and colleges (including museums, science centers, and parks), interested civic groups and relevant professional organizations. This may require more than just announcing by email.
- If your institution is located in a city with a large museum, science center, or college (and even high schools) contact these institutions to tell them about the DLP presentation and inquire if they would be interested in hosting a DLP public or technical lecture. The GeoPRISMS Office may be able to assist with making these arrangements.
- Encourage local researchers, faculty, staff, and students to meet with the speaker before or after the lecture. Prepare a schedule for the DLP visit so the speaker and members of the host institution can plan their days accordingly. Be flexible in scheduling meetings and other appointments.
- Make time for researchers, faculty, staff, and students to attend the lectures! Don’t schedule the lectures against important classes or at times when they will be lightly attended such as late on Friday afternoons or during lunch unless these are regular seminar times.
- Consider organizing group discussions and/or meals with the speaker, for example with groups of students as well as researchers and faculty. The speakers may be delighted to discuss career options, research strategies, personal field experiences, and more, offering learning opportunities for everyone.
- Consider inviting the DLP speaker to speak in a relevant class. The speaker can talk about their research, the GeoPRISMS program, their career trajectory, interests, or anything else of interest to the students.
- Record the DLP presentation(s) if possible. The GeoPRISMS Office would like to build an online index of DLP presentations, and you can help! If your institution can record the DLP presentation(s) please contact the GeoPRISMS Office and let us know!
- Be flexible in your scheduling. DLP presenters are taking time out of their work to travel on behalf of the GeoPRISMS Program and the National Science Foundation to present exciting work. DLP speakers often visit their entire slate of 3-5 venues in a single workweek. As a result, it may not be possible for every venue to schedule the DLP visit during their preferred or usual lecture time. Be flexible and accommodating of your DLP speaker and their tour schedule. If you have very specific presentation requests, please note them in your DLP application. We will try to accommodate such requests when possible but cannot guarantee.