Support for students from underrepresented institutions and groups to attend the 2018 Goldschmidt Conference; August 12-17, 2018; Boston, MA

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The annual V.M. Goldschmidt Conference plays an important role in introducing young researchers to the world of geochemistry, the geosciences discipline that focuses on the chemistry of the earth and the solar system. This project seeks to increase the participation of members of underrepresented groups at the 2018 Goldschmidt meeting in Boston, MA, with participant support. The proportion of underrepresented minorities in the geosciences in the US is appallingly low, even worse than other STEM fields, and there is a large pool of talented students in small colleges and universities without Ph.D. programs who lack the resources to attend international scientific meetings. For example, over the past decade between 200-300 geoscience PhDs have been awarded each year to US citizens and permanent residents, yet there was not a single year in which more than two African American women or six men received geoscience Ph.D. degrees, and for Hispanics/Latinos the maximum numbers are seven women and eight men, Moreover, there is a large pool of talented students in small colleges and universities without Ph.D. programs, who do not have the resources to attend international meetings. Many of these institutions serve low-income students, and/or first-generation students, which represent a great potential reservoir of talent. International scientific meetings are the primary networking outlet for researchers of all experience levels. For students, these meetings are often the first opportunity to interact with eminent members of the international scientific community. It is hoped that by facilitating their participation in the Goldschmidt Conference, they will be turned on to pursue higher degrees, and will meet researchers who will take them on as mentees (as postdocs or graduate students), thus contributing to the need to increase diversity in the geosciences.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.