Collaborative Research: GP-UP: A near surface geophysics field experience to improve the recruitment and retention of under-represented minority students in the geosciences

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。在种族和民族多样性方面，美国的本科生地球科学教育落后于其他科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域。对于来自STEM领域历来被排除在外的社区的学生来说，这一差距尤其明显，这意味着劳动力和研究生水平的差距更大。值得注意的是，在过去的40年里，获得地球科学博士学位的学生的种族和民族多样性并没有改善。研究表明，多样性已显示出对科学进步的好处，包括不同的观点提供了解决问题的独特方法；这些观点对于迎接挑战和解决地球科学的复杂问题是必要的。为了解决这一差距，PIS设计了一个实地项目：“近地表地球物理：学生的户外激励体验”。该项目旨在激励学生主修地球科学，并帮助这些学生培养在地球科学职业生涯中取得成功所需的一些工作场所技能。该项目将为学生参与者提供一种引人入胜的户外实地体验，这将影响他们对专业的选择，为高水平的本科生提供指导机会，创造积极和持久的学生与学生和学生与教师的指导关系，为学生提供有意义的研究经验，并创建一个强大的跨院校学生队伍。该计划的目标是：(1)招收多样化的本科生；(2)支持学生学习临界区科学和地球物理；(3)提高学生的科学交流、解决问题、团队合作和领导技能；(4)加强与STEM领域保持相关的心理社会因素；(5)增加对地球科学研究的参与；(6)增加对地球科学职业和研究的积极态度；(7)提高导师的领导力和专业技能。通过实现这些目标，PIS建议在参与机构和更广泛的科学界内建立一个学生的地球科学学习社区，并将增加这些学生在地球科学学位和职业方面的招聘和留住。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Undergraduate geoscience education in the United States lags behind other Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields when it comes to racial and ethnic diversity. This deficit is particularly notable for students who come from communities that have been historically excluded in STEM fields and translates to a larger gap in the workforce and at the graduate level. Notably, there has been no improvement in the racial and ethnic diversity of students earning doctoral degrees in the geosciences over the past 40 years. Research has shown that diversity has demonstrated benefits for scientific advancement, including that diverse perspectives provide unique approaches to problem solving; these perspectives are necessary to meet the challenges and to solve the complex problems of the geosciences. To address this gap, the PIs have designed a field program: “Geophysics of the Near-Surface: an Outdoor Motivational Experience for Students” This project aims to inspire students to major in the geoscience and help these students develop some of the workplace skills necessary to succeed in geoscience careers. The project will provide an engaging outdoor field experience for the student participants that will influence their choice of major, provide mentorship opportunities for upper-level undergraduates, create positive and lasting student-student and student-faculty mentor relationships, provide meaningful research experiences for the students, and create a strong cohort of students across multiple institutions. The goals of the program are: (1) Recruit a diverse cohort of undergraduate students; (2) Support student learning in critical zone science and geophysics; (3) Increase students’ science communication, problem solving, teamwork, and leadership skills; (4) Enhance psychosocial factors that are linked to retention in STEM fields; (5) Increase participation in geoscience research; (6) Increase positive attitudes towards geoscience careers and research; (7) Increase mentors’ leadership and professional skills. By attaining these goals, the PIs propose to build a geoscience learning community of students across the participating institutions and within the broader scientific community and will increase recruitment and retention of these students in geoscience degrees and careers.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.