GEO teachers of the year: Brian Dermody and Marjolein Naudé

Brian Dermody (Sustainable Development teacher) and Marjolein Naudé (Earth Sciences teacher) are the lucky winners of the GEO Teacher Awards 2024. On Thursday 21 December, both received this prize, consisting of a cheque for 1,500 euros to spend on work-related matters. Of the seven lecturers nominated by our study associations, Brian Dermody won the GEO Teacher Award 2024 and Marjolein Naudé won the GEO Teacher Talent Award 2024. Congratulations!

The jury was impressed by the nominations of teachers from all educational institutes. It is very inspiring to gain insight into the motivations of nominated colleagues, their initiatives to keep improving education and the appreciation they receive for this from students and colleagues.

Winner Teacher-Talent of the year: Marjolein Naudé

Marjolein's enthusiasm, inexhaustible positive energy and hardworking attitude make her an indispensable addition to the Earth Sciences teaching team. She is exactly what students need to motivate them. She has a talent for dealing with people and is a naturally good teacher. With Marjolein, students can be themselves. Her talent in dealing with people makes students feel both at ease and heard with her.

Excerpt from jury report 

From her passion for education, Marjolein shows great commitment to students, especially on the topic of inclusiveness and diversity. Together with colleagues, she has set up training on social safety during fieldwork. An inclusive educational environment produces healthy, curious and empathetic students, and we appreciate Marjolein's contribution to such an environment. Her students appreciate this too, because: 'with Marjolein, you can be yourself'.

Besides her duties within the programme, Marjolein is also involved in the 'Hoe?Zo! Show', in which she enthuses young children about science. She has also collaborated on the 'Geo Tour de France' in which the geological background of the areas through which the Tour de France passes is explained. In this way, she also interests the general public in knowledge about the origins of the landscape and subsoil.

Winner Lecturer of the Year: Brian Dermody

With his extraordinary enthusiasm and kindness, Brian conquers lecture halls with his story and inspires a new generation of students in the field of sustainability. Moreover, Brian innovates in his teaching, as evidenced by his use of transdisciplinary and game-based teaching methods. To continuously improve his teaching, Brian is also active in a wide range of initiatives within and outside UU.

Excerpt from jury report

According to his students and colleagues, Brian is open to feedback. He listens to people when they have something to say. He is described as "caring and dedicated". He goes out of his way to create a pleasant environment for all fellow teachers involved in a course. Students see Brian as approachable, kind, understanding and very enthusiastic.  He helps them think about their own role and potential contribution as sustainability professionals after graduation and teaches them how to effectively contribute to positive change in the real world.

As a systems thinker, Brian realises that the boundaries of our current education system do not necessarily overlap with an ideal learning system. In an innovative yet caring way, he is pioneering this educational ideal by building bridges with real-world stakeholders and collaborating with different disciplines. As faculty, we are happy to have such a pioneer on board.