GP-IN: Geoscience Exposure and Training in Texas (GET Texas): High School through Undergrad

招收更多的地球科学本科生对于解决预计的就业短缺和为社会面临的复杂问题制定解决方案至关重要。然而，许多高中晚期和社区大学的学生仍然不知道地球科学是一门学科，也不知道它有前途的职业道路。在许多州（包括德克萨斯州），地球科学和环境科学相关的课程不是高中毕业的必修课，许多学生、他们的父母和老师都不知道地球科学领域有各种各样的职业。如果我们要解决地球科学员工短缺问题并增加地球科学劳动力的多样性，我们必须：1)在学生的学术生涯早期向他们普及地球科学概念；2)向那些即将进入高校的学生展示地球科学是如何适用和就业的；3)从更广泛的潜在学生中招募；4)与学生和教育者建立持久的关系。为了实现这些目标，孤星学院和山姆休斯顿州立大学将与当地博物馆、夏令营和当地高中教师建立关系，以提高人们对地球科学的认识。该项目将通过研讨会和一个简短的夏季桥梁项目对教师和早期职业地球科学家进行培训，该项目涵盖当地活跃的和历史的地质过程以及环境问题。学生参与者将在整个项目期间以及在社区学院和大学的地球科学教育期间得到教师和同伴指导的支持。鉴于地球科学职业对德克萨斯州经济的重要性，pi期望该项目所涉及的许多学生和教师将有助于弥合未来就业短缺的预测，同时使地球科学多样化。GET Texas将通过创建一个基于地点的地球科学学习生态系统（GLE）来提高人们对地球科学的认识，并帮助满足当前和未来雇主的需求，该生态系统包括非正式机构（休斯顿自然科学博物馆和当地的基督教青年会）、高中、休斯顿地区最大的社区学院系统（Lone Star college）和一所区域性的四年制本科大学（Sam Houston State）。该项目通过以下方式提供地球科学培训和接触机会：1)高中外展和继续教育教师讲习班，介绍地球科学的相关性；2)一个基于地方的夏季桥梁项目，重点关注德克萨斯州东南部的沉积物和水问题；3)通过提供持续的地球科学开放日来维持教师和学生的指导，同时促进地球科学领域的许多职业道路。夏季桥梁项目是学生从高中过渡到学院和大学地球科学项目的关键之一，它将包括一个结合实地和实验室的方法，涵盖地球化学、水文学、地貌学，以及墨西哥湾沿岸平原和德克萨斯州中部的活跃和历史沉积过程。虽然许多与stem相关的研究为如何招募和留住多样化的学生提供了基础，但该项目超越了实地经验，建立了一个全面的师生招聘GLE，让参与者参与多个论坛和全年的活动，以保持同伴和教师的指导关系。这些持续的关系对于在西班牙裔服务机构孤星学院（Lone Star College）和新兴的西班牙裔服务机构萨姆休斯顿州立大学（Sam Houston State）招募和留住代表性不足的少数族裔学生至关重要。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Recruiting more geoscience undergraduates is vital to addressing projected employment shortfalls and developing solutions for the complex problems that society faces. However, many late high school and community college students remain unaware about geoscience as a discipline and its promising career paths. In many states (including Texas), geoscience and environmental science-related courses are not required for graduation from high school, and many students, their parents, and teachers are not aware of the variety of careers available in the geosciences. If we are to address the geoscience employee shortfall and increase geoscience workforce diversity, we must: 1) get geoscience concepts to students earlier in their academic careers; 2) show those in transition to colleges and universities how the geosciences are applicable and employable; 3) recruit from a wider pool of potential students; and 4) develop lasting relationships with students and educators. To meet these goals, Lone Star College and Sam Houston State University will build relationships with a local museum, a summer camp, and local high school teachers to increase geoscience awareness. This project will train teachers and early-career geoscientists during workshops and an abbreviated summer bridge program that covers active and historical geologic processes and environmental issues in the local region. Student participants will be supported with faculty and peer mentoring throughout the project and the duration of their geoscience education at both the community college and university levels. Given the importance of geoscience careers for the Texas economy, the PIs expect many of the students and teachers that this program reaches will help bridge future employment shortfall projections while diversifying the geosciences.GET Texas will increase geoscience awareness and help meet current and future employer demand by creating a place-based geoscience learning ecosystem (GLE) that includes informal institutions (Houston Museum of Natural Science and a local YMCA), high schools, the largest Houston-area community college system (Lone Star College), and a regional four-year, undergraduate-focused university (Sam Houston State). This project provides geoscience training and exposure opportunities through: 1) high school outreach and continuing-education teacher workshops to introduce the relevance of the geosciences; 2) a place-based summer bridge program focused on sediment and water issues in southeast Texas; and 3) sustained teacher and student mentorship by offering continuing geoscience open houses to maintain peer and faculty mentoring while promoting the many career paths in the geosciences. The summer bridge program, one key for transitioning students from high school into college and university geoscience programs, will include a combined field and laboratory approach that covers geochemistry, hydrology, geomorphology, and active and historical sedimentary processes in the Gulf-Coastal Plain and Central Texas. While many STEM-related studies provide a foundation for how to recruit and retain diverse students, This project goes beyond the field experiences and builds a holistic teacher-student recruiting GLE that engages participants in multiple forums and at events throughout the entire year to maintain peer and faculty mentoring relationships. These sustained relationships are key for both recruiting and retaining underrepresented minority students at Lone Star College, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, and Sam Houston State, an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution.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.