GP-UP: Applied Geosciences at the Soil, Water and Energy Nexus

College Of Wooster, Wooster OH

Investigators

Abstract

Some of the most critical issues facing society are related to the geosciences, yet the future U.S. geoscience workforce is expected to be insufficient to meet demand and not representative of the Nation’s diverse talent pool. Individuals from racially and ethnically diverse groups face barriers to entering and remaining in the geosciences; this, in part, is due to a lack of mentoring and knowledge of geoscience careers. This program addresses these barriers by providing undergraduate students with authentic, career-based experiences that address local, community-oriented geoscience problems. The College of Wooster Department of Earth Sciences is partnering with regional government agencies, non-profit organizations, and employers in the environmental geoscience industry to provide students with hands-on summer internships and professional development opportunities. The primary goal is to build a bridge from the first year of college to a geoscience major. The PIs hope to establish a program that can be readily transferred to other colleges and increase the numbers students from underrepresented groups majoring in the geosciences. This project will establish a geoscience learning ecosystem (GLE) that addresses local community-oriented problems and increases the number of underrepresented students earning Earth Science degrees at The College of Wooster. The GLE focuses on local needs at the nexus of soil, water, and energy within our rural, agricultural community. This framework provides a societally-relevant driver for community-oriented student research projects while supplying relevant workforce experience for our students. As students interact with the GLE at critical points in their educational development, they can begin to imagine themselves in successful careers as geoscientists. Students will participate in a coordinated program of summer internships, geoscience career exploration experiences, and peer mentoring that provides an intentional pathway to the major, develops students’ geo-STEM identities, increases students’ awareness of geoscience careers, and equips students with skills and professional networks that are directly transferrable to the geoscience workforce. By integrating evidence-based strategies for broadening participation with a framework that leverages many structures existing at predominantly white and primarily undergraduate institutions, our transferable program has the potential to transform how these institutions approach broadening participation of racial and ethnic minorities in the geosciences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.