New "Drilling Prospects" to Feed the Geoscience Workforce Pipeline

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"New 'Drilling Prospects' to Feed the Geoscience Workforce Pipeline" is a focused expansion of the Earth Science Outreach Program (ESOP) at the State University of New York College at Oneonta (SUNY Oneonta). ESOP provides college credit for advanced geoscience courses taught in high schools, in direct response to the absence of Advanced Placement (AP) opportunities in the geosciences. Preliminary data shows that this increased exposure to the geosciences in high school increases student interest in majoring in a geoscience and could potentially improve the flow in the geoscience workforce "pipeline". Professional development workshops assist teachers in developing ESOP proposals, and ongoing mentoring of ESOP teachers and dissemination of information (regarding the shortage of geoscience professionals, salary information, etc.) to school administrators and guidance counselors build constituency for ESOP and dual-credit geoscience programs at other institutions. Focused recruitment of schools in urban areas increases opportunities for groups that are historically underrepresented in the geosciences. "Drilling Prospects" will also evaluate the efficacy of dual credit programs in increasing numbers of geoscience majors and feeding the workforce pipeline. "Drilling Prospects", and the expansion of ESOP at SUNY Oneonta, can serve as a model for other colleges interested in launching similar programs.