GEO 186 Teaching Assistant

Position Title:             GEO 186 Teaching Assistant

Semester/Year:         Fall 2026 Academic Year

Positions Available:  2

Job Location:             Lansing 001

Supervisor:                Tara Curtin

Payrate:                     $16 per hour

Hours per week:          6

Start Date:                 31 August 2026

End Date:                   14 December 2026

POSITION SUMMARY

The Geoscience Department seeks two students to serve as teaching assistants (TAs) for GEO 186 Introduction to Hydrogeology labs during the Fall 2026 semester, one for the Monday section and one for the Tuesday section. This student worker position pays $16/hr and requires up to 6 hours of work per week: 

Three hours during one lab session:

      Monday lab section: 1:10-4:10 pm

      Tuesday lab section: 1:10-4:10 pm

Up to 30-minutes for post-lab clean-up (4:10-4:40 pm) and van return

Up to 30-minutes for a meeting with Professor Curtin and other TAs; meeting time TBD

Up to two hours for evening office hours for students enrolled in GEO 186 students

Responsibilities

The GEO 186 TAs attend every lab meeting (for one lab section a week) and assist the professor with guiding students through lab activities safely in the lab room or in the field. This may include helping students use equipment (such as pH meters, Kestrels, current meters, titration kits), become proficient with using Excel for data management, calculations and graphing as well as answer student questions. TAs will be responsible for driving one of the campus vans to field sites. TAs will help the professor clean-up the lab and return vans to the campus vehicle pool in the Medbery parking lot immediately after lab ends. Labs meet nearly every week of the semester. TAs will debrief and review upcoming lab activities with the professor each week during a short meeting. TAs may hold up to 2 hours of office hours each week for GEO 186 students during evenings.

Qualifications

• Junior or senior status preferred, but academically strong sophomores will be considered
• Must have passed GEO 186 Introduction to Hydrogeology with a B- or better
• Geoscience major preferred, but minors or students who have taken many geoscience courses will be considered
• Dependable and punctual
• Strong communication skills
• Strict adherence to safety protocols in the lab room and field
• Takes initiative and anticipates needs during labs
• Ability to work well with peers in a productive and supportive learning environment
• Flexible and adaptable to schedule or activity changes in field or lab as needed and ability to help solve unexpected problems 
• Successful completion of van certification after hire and willingness to drive a campus van during lab to local field sites

Students hired into on-campus jobs must complete federal employment paperwork, including the Form I9. Students must present original documents indicating they are eligible to work in the U.S. Photocopies of documents cannot be accepted. Students should ensure they have their documents on campus or have a plan to get their documents to campus if they are hired to work on campus.