GP-UP: Authentic Cruise and Research Experiences for Underrepresented Students (ACREUS).

University Of Rhode Island, Kingston RI

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Large and growing segments of the US population are not adequately represented in educational pathways that lead to careers in the STEM workforce. This project seeks to recruit, prepare, and promote retention of students from historically underrepresented groups into the STEM career pipeline with a primary focus on Earth and ocean sciences. The approach will include partnering with undergraduate and associate-degree institutions to recruit diverse cohorts of student participants. The program will provide a total of twenty-four students with professional development and experiential training that will prepare them for participation in a range of possible research cruises. Program activities will provide students with opportunities for workplace skill-building via data collection, data analysis, and visualizations for on-the-water and remote oceanographic research projects. Professional development activities and post-program support will assist students with identifying and pursuing educational opportunities or careers in STEM and Earth/ocean science fields. The University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO/URI) will work with the University of Massachusetts Boston, the Puerto Rico Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, and the Community College of Rhode Island to recruit students to participate in the professional development activities. The program will expose diverse cohorts of early-career community college and undergraduate students to a range of authentic oceanographic field experiences from shore (telepresence and small-boat) at GSO/URI during a one-week summer program and at sea as shipboard science party members of an oceanographic research cruise. The activities will provide students with opportunities for workplace skill-building via data collection, data analysis, and data visualization for on-the-water and remote oceanographic research projects. Professional development activities and post-program support will assist students with identifying and pursuing educational opportunities or careers in STEM and Earth/ocean science fields. The strategy is to immerse students in a broad spectrum of oceanographic research to help them identify their primary areas of oceanographic interest and provide fundamental content knowledge and transferable instrumentation and data analysis skills that are important for workplace skill building. The strategy enables the development of networks for the students both within their cohort and outwards into the established oceanographic community of researchers and operators. The model also includes maintaining communication with the participants after the program to assist with navigating educational and career opportunities. This program builds upon established models of providing real-world experiences to aspiring ocean scientists, but also explores how best to apply at-sea participation and science-party integration to recruit and retain students from historically underrepresented groups. 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.