Recruiting and Training the Next Generation of Geoscientists: Geosciences Diversity Enhancement Program (GDEP) Track 2

California State University-Long Beach Foundation, Long Beach CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Geosciences Diversity Enhancement Program (GDEP) Track 2 project extends a successful, innovative partnership (GDEP 2002-04) to recruit and mentor students from underrepresented groups into research and education programs in the geologic, physical geographic, and archaeologic disciplines. GDEP Track 2 builds on unusually strong inter-college and interdisciplinary activities among sixteen faculty members from CSULB''s geology, geography, geoarchaeology and environmental science disciplines to create a working prototype for a comprehensive, integrated geoscience program that includes faculty from four departments in two colleges. The project utilizes an innovative and proven collaborative partnership with high schools (Cabrillo, Lakewood, Long Beach Polytechnic, Millikan, and Wilson) and community colleges (Cerritos, Compton, El Camino, Long Beach City, Orange Coast, Saddleback, and Santa Monica) that will promote education and careers in the geosciences. Faculty mentors from CSULB are implementing a program of mentored summer research projects, community outreach field trips and workshops, classroom visits and public/private sector internships. A target population will enter and flow through the GDEP-Track 2 network of classroom exposure, focused field research and supported internships while a larger number of students and their families, as well as Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) students, will be exposed to the geosciences through classroom visits, workshops, and community outreach field trips. Through partnerships, CSULB will leverage its scientific and educational resources to attract, retain, and better prepare undergraduate students for opportunities in the geosciences. GDEP Track 2 establishes a network and model to change the culture of the community and to foster awareness of the geoscience disciplines and their potential.