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Show By NIC MURANAKA Desk Editor Marek Matyjasik researches chemical reactions with water and mineral surfaces. He has received the Fulbright Scholarship to go to Poland and teach geology. Weber State University Matt - e - yah - shick. That’s how you pronounce Dr. Marek Matyjasik’s last name, the first skill students at Warsaw University will have to practice when he travels there early next year as Weber State University’s 11th Fulbright Scholar in the past 20 years. It won’t be the first time Matyjasik has been to Warsaw University; in fact, it’s somewhat of a homecoming for him. An alumnus, Matyjasik received his Master’s of Science degree from Warsaw University and taught there as a teaching assistant for four years. During that time, Matyjasik worked as part of the Underground Solidarity Movement, saw the fall of communism in Poland and helped craft some of the democratic practices at Warsaw University. Matyjasik is excited to see the results of one of the world’s first democratic experiments years later, one that he took part in. “I’m closing this chapter from 32 years ago,” Matyjasik said. Matyjasik teaches in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department at WSU and also serves as the adviser for the Applied Environmental Geosciences major. His research interests primarily focus on water, which he sees as a part in all the earth sciences. He describes his interest stemming from both idealism and practicality. “Water is something we all need,” Matyjasik said. “But there’s also a lot of beauty to water: the clarity of it, the sound of running water. It has a poetic vision to it.” One of Matyjasik’s students, Saige Carter, who is currently in Matyjasik’s Groundwater class, said that Matyjasik’s enthusiasm for teaching stood out to her as the most beneficial aspect of him as a teacher. “You can tell he really loves it,” Carter said. “He thanks students for coming to class.” Matyjasik sees teachers’ most important role as serving students to the best of their ability, which is why he appreciates the Earth and Environmental Sciences department’s commitment to quality teaching, department-wide. To best serve students himself, he helped secure a highly-competitive grant for scholarships for underrepresented students, which also includes a summer bridge program allowing professors to take students to national parks around the state. Matyjasik is enthusiastic about the chance for students to see places they never would have otherwise. “We really care about the success of our students,” Matyjasik said. That care is part of the reason Matyjasik applied for the Fulbright Scholarship in the first place. The program emphasizes collaborative learning; for him, collaborative learning is a natural part of being a scientist. Of course, learning other teaching methods will help him in his primary goal as well. “We (scientists) don’t want to do everything the same way all our life,” Matyjasik said. “We should learn different ways of teaching to best serve students.” Some of Matyjasik’s students most appreciate teaching methods Matyjasik employs now, though. Brooklyn Smont, another student in the Groundwa- ter class, appreciated Matyjasik’s focus on learning. Both her and student Michael Fifer described Matyjasik’s clarity in explanation as most beneficial in his teaching. Student Elizabeth Williams agreed. “He breaks it (the subject material) into little chunks for those of us who aren’t as bright as he is,” Elizabeth Williams, also in the Groundwater class, said. Many of Matyjasik’s students described an effective aspect of his teaching as his attention to demonstrating how the lessons would directly translate toward real-world application, particularly in a job in the field. On March 27, Matyjasik had his Groundwater students modeling the way water drips down through the earth in a leaky aquifer, a layer of rock that contains groundwater. “Why do we do boring labs?” he asked the class. They replied that, for their coming project on March 30, they needed to understand the way a leaky aquifer looked. On March 30, the students would be digging a well and graphing whether the water leaked the same way, which would tell them whether the aquifer in that location was leaky or not. In essence, their lab had a predictive function and a real-world application to the project they were completing later that week, a project they might do in a job. As for applying for the Fulbright award in the first place, Matyjasik described the process as long and complex but satisfying. He first wrote a proposal and secured letters of recommendation from professionals and a letter of support from the university. Then, his proposal had to be approved by a peer-reviewed board. Finally, ambassadors and Fulbright members from the host country interviewed him and weighed the benefit of his proposed project. However, Matyjasik knew he’d apply at some point. “It’s always been somewhere on my mind,” he said. He knows some of the other recipients at WSU and said they all described the experience as extremely positive as well. He looks forward to the life-long commitment Fulbright recipients have to the foundation. After his scholarship, he will review proposals for future applicants. Once he’s through, though, Matyjasik fully intends to come back to Utah, which, in his opinion, is one of the top locations in the world to do the work he does. Utah has easy access to the mountains, as well as national and state parks. “Utah is a geological paradise on Earth,” he said. “I cannot imagine any other location where I’d be as happy or impactful.” Matyjasik also described meetings he’d have with students in his adviser role where they’d describe why they were Applied Environmental Geoscience majors. “They take classes because they want to, because it’s their dream,” he said. Matyjasik’s devotion to teaching and his students runs deep. Many Fulbright Scholars have gone on to win Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes. Matyjasik’s biggest aspiration? “Help students, as best I can,” he said. Comment on this story at signpost.mywebermedia.com “WE SHOULD LEARN DIFFERENT WAYS OF TEACHING TO BEST SERVE STUDENTS.” “THEY TAKE CLASSES BECAUSE THEY WANT TO, BECAUSE IT’S THEIR DREAM.” “WE REALLY CARE ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF OUR STUDENTS.” – MAREK MATYJASIK WSU PROFESSOR ATTAINS INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM FROM THE GROUND UP: MyWeberMedia.com | April 1, 2019 | 9 BELLA TORRES | The Signpost BELLA TORRES | The Signpost |