Polar Education Conference: Improving JEDI for students interested in Polar STEM Careers

尽管大多数环境挑战不成比例地影响着代表性不足的社区，但很少有全国性的环境项目有效地支持或指导来自这些群体的学生。在极地和气候科学方面培训学生的项目中尤其如此。地球科学长期以来缺乏多样性，并且受到许多障碍的阻碍，无法让代表性不足的学生进入。与极地和气候研究相关的野外环境可能成为学生获得所需设备、用品或野外前培训的障碍。代表性不足的学生通常在学校接触到的相关内容也很有限，并且在这些领域的职业生涯中面临着内在的文化担忧。为了解决这些问题，缅因大学将组织并支持一次会议，与会者将重点关注：1)制定新的策略，让在极地科学领域中代表性不足的学生参与进来，无论是在实地还是在课堂上；2)发展高中教育工作者、非正式教育工作者和专业极地科学家之间的关系和合作；3)在教育工作者和极地STEM社区之间建立长期参与的对话。与会者还将有机会与朱诺冰原研究计划（JIRP）项目的学生互动。积极的本科经历和户外兴趣是吸引本科生进入地球科学领域的两个因素，与导师的紧密联系以及夏季研究经历是留住本科生的主要因素。因此，开发项目，为目标人群中的学生提供长期的教师指导机会，并激发他们的暑期实地或非实地研究经验，是一个重要的目标。本次会议的重点是利用现有的研究和教育资源，为极地社区的学生提供这些机会。本次会议将支持发展新的长期合作，重点是支持代表性不足的学生参与极地STEM领域。与会者将就如何通过实地经验和为传统课堂开发以数据为中心、以问题为基础的教育资源来改善极地STEM教育制定战略。这些机会不仅会使与会者受益，也会使他们所教的学生受益。为学生提供学习极地科学职业的机会是在该领域增加更多样化劳动力的第一步。会议将向来自全国各地的地球科学教育工作者和极地科学家以及布法罗大学阿拉斯加、华盛顿、缅因州、佛罗里达州和布法罗大学其他项目的教师和教育工作者开放。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。

Although most environmental challenges disproportionately impact underrepresented communities, few nation-wide environmental programs effectively support or mentor students from these populations. This is particularly true of programs that train students in polar and climate sciences. The geosciences have long lacked diversity and are hampered by many barriers to entry for underrepresented students. The field environment associated with polar and climate research can be a barrier to students who have limited access to required equipment, supplies, or pre-field training. Under-represented students also often have limited exposure to related content in school and are confronting intrinsic cultural concerns about a career in these fields. To address these issues, the University of Maine will organize and support a conference where participants will focus on 1) developing new strategies for engaging under-represented students in polar sciences, both in the field and in the classroom; 2) developing relationships and collaborations between high school educators, informal educators who are part of the Upward Bound (UB) program and professional polar scientists; and 3) establishing a dialogue towards long-term engagement between educators and the Polar STEM community. Conference attendees will also have an opportunity to interact with students in the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) program. Positive undergraduate experiences and outdoor interest are two factors that have been attributed to attracting undergraduate students into geosciences, and a strong connection with mentors as well as summer research experiences are dominant factors in retention. Therefore, development of programs that provide opportunities for long term mentoring from faculty and inspiring summer field or non-field research experiences for students within target demographics is an important goal. This conference focuses on developing these opportunities for students in the Polar community by leveraging existing research and education resources. This conference will support the development of new long-term collaborations focused on supporting the engagement of under-represented students in Polar STEM fields. The participants will strategize on how to improve polar STEM education through field experiences and through the development of data-centric, problem-based educational resources for the traditional classroom. These opportunities will not only benefit the attendees, but also the students whom they teach. Providing opportunities for students to learn about a career in Polar science is the first step in increasing a more diverse workforce within the field. The conference will be open to earth science educators and polar scientists from across the nation and to UB faculty and educators in Alaska, Washington, Maine, Florida and other UB programs.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.