Proyecto Dinosaurios: A Track 2 Project for Enhancing Geoscience Education and Awareness Among Hispanic Community College Students Through Paleontological Research

洛杉矶县自然历史博物馆恐龙研究所（NHMLAC）旨在为洛杉矶社区学院的美国西班牙裔本科生建立一个多年的古生物学研究和培训综合计划。该项目建立在NHMLAC古生物学和进化生物学动态项目的核心优势、广泛的参考资料收集和科学发现教育的广泛经验之上，并利用恐龙和其他中生代脊椎动物的吸引力来增加和加强西班牙裔背景学生对脊椎动物古生物学的兴趣和教育。学生来自文化和种族多元化的洛杉矶大都会地区，进行为期一年的研究、数据收集、分析和结果公开展示。研究活动和研讨会将旨在探索与脊椎动物化石研究和地球科学职业相关的各种主题。一系列的综合讲习班和参加每周研讨会的机会将补充参与者的研究活动。为期两周的美国西部恐龙地区实地考察将为学生提供有关如何发现和收集化石的实践经验，并使他们接触到实地研究的基础知识（例如，地层学，GPS导航，数据收集）。该项目将使参与的学生接触到广泛的学术活动，以及地球科学领域的职业和教育选择，鼓励他们转学到四年制大学并继续研究生学习，并增加他们对科学本质的理解，特别是应用于古生物学和进化论。该合同为之前的Track 1 OEDG项目（GEO-0703506）提供了为期一年的延期。

The Dinosaur Institute of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) aims to establish a multi-year comprehensive program of paleontological research and training for American Hispanic undergraduates of community colleges in Los Angeles. The project builds on the core strengths of the NHMLAC's dynamic programs in paleontology and evolutionary biology, extensive reference collections, and broad experience in the education of scientific discovery, and uses the appeal of dinosaurs and other Mesozoic vertebrates to increase the interest and enhance the education of students of Hispanic background in vertebrate paleontology. Students are being recruited from the culturally and ethnically diverse metropolitan area of Los Angeles for a year of research, data collection, analysis, and public presentation of results. Research activities and workshops will be designed to explore a diversity of topics germane to the study of vertebrate fossils and careers within the geosciences. A series of comprehensive workshops and the opportunity to participate in weekly seminars will supplement the research activities of the participants. A two-week field trip to dinosaur localities of the American West will provide students with hands-on experience about how fossils are discovered and collected, and expose them to the fundamentals of field research (e.g., stratigraphy, GPS navigation, data collection). This project will expose 6 participating students to a wide range of academic activities as well as career and schooling options within the geosciences, encourage them to transfer to a 4-year college and to continue onto graduate studies, and increase their understanding about the nature of science, particularly as applied to paleontology and evolution. This award provides a 1-year extension of activities initiated through a previous Track 1 OEDG project (GEO-0703506).