Collaborative Research: GP-EXTRA: Oceanographic shipboard and lab research for diverse students: experiential learning as a gateway to geoscience careers

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Part 1: A significant shortage of United States geoscientists is predicted by 2022. Recruitment and training of a diverse workforce of geologists and related scientists is critical for national health, prosperity, welfare and defense. However, recruitment of underrepresented minorities into geosciences faces many obstacles. This project employs novel high-impact educational practices to increase the number and diversity of geoscience majors entering the geoscience career pipeline and trains K-12 teachers to inspire their students? interest in geosciences. Underrepresented students and pre-service teachers will engage in innovative marine geoscienceexperiences, mentoring programs, and courses using exciting technologies, career opportunity exposure, and hands-on learning. This project will target and recruit underrepresented students into geoscience majors at a private liberal arts university and a Minority (Hispanic-Serving) Institution that has a high percentage of rural, low-income, first-generation students who have very little exposure to marine science. We will evaluate the impact of engaging exposure to oceanography on the recruitment and retention of geoscience students and the preparation of K-12 teachers. Under the mentorship of research scientists, students will conduct authentic research, advancing our understanding of marine resources and environmental changes on the Pacific margin of the U.S.Part 2: The proposed project is an inter-institutional, co- and extra-curricular, participatory field-based oceanographic research program in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) to train and inspire diverse students to pursue careers in the geosciences. This program will integrate students from a private urban coastal campus (University of San Diego; USD) with generally rural, minority, low-income students from a minority-serving public inland campus, California State Univ., Bakersfield (CSUB), with established ?geoscience career pipelines? to bring high-school students into geoscience majors and place graduates with geoscience employers. We intend to examine the idea that a multifaceted approach including integrated marine science experiences in the lab, at sea and in the classroom can enhance recruitment and retention of students in the geosciences. This project builds on a successful program of shipboard education/research developed by USD and Rathburn. The broad goals of the program are to: 1) Increase oceanographic research and education opportunities at a minority-serving institution (CSUB); 2) recruit underrepresented students into geoscience programs; 3) engage geoscience majors, non-majors, and educators in shipboard and follow-up oceanographic research and internships in partnership withScripps Institution of Oceanography; 4) enable students to conduct authentic oceanographic research using techniques employed by industry, government and marine researchers; 5) train pre-service teachers with mentors; 6) develop and test a virtual research voyage and exportable laboratory modules; 7) assess program efficacy and examine the influence of this approach on recruitment and retention; and 8) disseminate research findings. As a consequence of this multifaceted approach to sustainable geoscience recruitment andengagement, we will quantitatively evaluate the value and impact of: a) unique experiential learning at sea as a means to engage geoscience majors; b) oceanography and paleontology as means to attract non-majors to geosciences; c) the educational and recruitment/retention value of course integration with hands-on learning at sea; d) teacher/researcher mentorship and programengagement on pre-service teacher interest and competence in geosciences; and e) the use of sustainable marine educational materials as a means to engage teachers and attract students to geosciences. This sustainable project will: a) increase recruitment of diverse underrepresented students into the ?geoscience career pipeline?, b) improve interest, knowledge of career opportunities, preparation, and competency to enter and move through different stages of the GCP, c) generate novel curricula that incorporate authentic research and oceanographic samples into high-school and college courses, d) high-school teachers who have increased willingness, enthusiasm, and confidence to integrate geoscience research into their classrooms, and e) disseminate ?lessons learned? from this program which will contribute to the evidence base about novel, multifaceted approaches to increase students? interest, preparation, and success ingeoscience careers.