Talk about a traveler. When the "economy in Britain was in the toilet in the late
‘70s, early ‘80s," says Derek Elsworth, he took a stand-by flight to Canada to find
an engineering job. With a bachelor’s degree in engineering geology from Portsmouth
Polytechnic, and a master’s degree in rock mechanics from Imperial College (both
schools in England), Elsworth knew that he was marketable. And 24 hours later, he
landed a job in Calgary.
After that, Elsworth traveled to the University of California at Berkeley to pursue
a Ph.D. in engineering, studying fluids and rocks, nuclear waste disposal, the
stability of dams, and energy emitted from hot rocks. From Berkeley, he went back
to Canada to work at the University of Toronto. In 1985, Elsworth accepted a job
in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State, and he’s been here ever
since. The University "fits my fancy quite nicely," he says.
In over 15 years of teaching at Penn State, rarely has Elsworth, now professor of
energy and geoenvironmental engineering, participated in a field trip, other than
the occasional trip to a local mine with his mining engineering students. "I remember
going in the field and banging rocks with hammers," he says of his own educational
experience. The CAUSE 2000 seminar
reminded him how important hands-on learning really is.
Elsworth first dove into preparation for his CAUSE seminar in 1998, when the department
of geo-environmental engineering merged with the fuel science department. Up to that
point in CAUSE history, there had never been an engineering-based CAUSE seminar.
Elsworth teamed up with colleague Semih Eser and submitted a proposal to the College
of Earth and Mineral Sciences for a seminar on energy use.
"I view our roles as quite complementary," says Elsworth. While Eser is interested
in fossil fuels and society’s understanding of energy use, he continues, "I'm more
interested in nuclear energy and renewables."
Eser's experience with discussion-based collaborative learning was a tremendous help
for Elsworth because he's never been exposed to that teaching style. "This would have
been a disaster without Semih," Elsworth says, chuckling.
"Students clearly got something out of CAUSE 2000 and so did we," he says. CAUSE is
an "educational exercise for faculty," as well as for students.
Although the CAUSE students are 10 to 15 years older than his own children, Elsworth
felt like a parent as he participated in some of the students’ firsts, such as the
first time in an airplane, or the first time west of the Mississippi. "You really
see people develop in two weeks," he says. "The travel was perfect."
Derek Elsworth, Ph.D, is professor of energy and geo-environmental engineering and
associate dean for research in the College of Earth and Mineral Science, 119 Hosler
Building, University Park, PA, 16802; (814) 863-1643; elsworth@psu.edu.
