Building a New Minority Geoscience Awareness Program in an Area Impacted by the Relocation of Residents after Hurricane Katrina

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This SGER-funded project is establishing a new pipeline for minority student recruitment into the geosciences in the Houston-New Orleans corridor, in response to the catastrophic disruptions for the New Orleans educational systems brought on by Hurricane Katrina. The project is exploring the portability of a model program for student recruitment operated at the University of New Orleans for 35 years by recreating its essential elements at UTEP, but working with students and teachers from the Houston area. Of particular interest is whether the model is still effective for students who have been displaced from New Orleans to Texas and for students in an environment where the demographic profile is very different from that of New Orleans, which was more homogeneously African-American. Through this project, minority high school students and teachers from Houston to El Paso will be engaged in activities and field trips that will open their eyes to educational and career pathways in the geosciences. A nework of secondary school science teachers from New Orleans, Houston, and El Paso will be developed through joint professional development and graduate degree programs. Displaced participants from the UNO geoscience programs who have not yet been able to find alternative academic programs will be sought out and supported for study at UTEP.