GP-GO: Fostering a learning ecosystem for interdisciplinary Earth scientists through service learning and conservation in Jamaica

大多数本科生没有接触到根植于地球科学的各种科学领域，因此很少选择地球科学作为学习领域或职业目标。“地球路径：GO”项目旨在招收和留住具有不同地球科学背景的新学生，并为他们在全球背景下工作做好准备。这项研究的目标是在牙买加建立一个以社区为中心的多年保护网络。该研究小组领导了地球科学不同方面（例如生态学、水文学、生物地球化学、古生物学和地球科学教育）的持续研究，并与西印度群岛大学的当地专家和牙买加非政府组织合作，在牙买加建立了多个相互联系的保护研究项目。牙买加是美国和加勒比科学家和学生合作的理想地点，因为它拥有许多重要而复杂的生态系统，如雨林、红树林、珊瑚礁和海草床。从历史上看，这些生态系统的稳定性和动态没有得到积极的监测，或者科学家在没有当地社区或专家参与的情况下进行研究。在这个项目中，本科生和研究生将选择并领导对他们以及牙买加当地社区有意义的研究项目（即与文化相关的服务学习经验）。这项基础研究将通过多个地球科学学科之间的合作，支持岛屿景观、生物多样性和文化的保护。该项目将促进建立有效、公平的国际合作的有希望的做法。迫切需要招收和留住地球科学专业的学生。该项目将创建一个以保护为基础的项目，重点关注地球科学发现，培养广泛的学习者社区。该项目旨在通过参与涉及古生物学、生态学、化学、水文学、文化史以及横跨陆地、海岸线和海洋的社区参与等方面的服务学习来招募地球科学专业的学生。德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校是一所面向西班牙裔学生的研究型公立大学，将与其他面向少数族裔的院校合作，招收非地球科学专业的学生。整个夏天，项目团队将展示研究人员和他们的项目，向学生介绍(a)地球科学中不同的、相互关联的元素；(b)合作促进自然保育的社区和人士；(c)联合起来保护自然世界和濒危社区的不同学者群体。学生将制作一个故事地图或虚拟实地考察，分享他们在牙买加的经历和研究。这些项目将成为一个保护网络的基础，该网络整合了不同的地球科学学科，以了解陆地和海洋的长期和短期变化。服务学习的重点将帮助学生融入材料，提高他们成为（地球）科学家的动力。为了评估该项目是否达到了招聘和保留目标，评估将采用全面的案例研究方法来了解参与者在整个项目中的经历（例如，评估个人成就，对地球科学的看法，对追求地球科学的兴趣）。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。

Most undergraduate students are not introduced to the diverse scientific fields rooted in Earth science and thus rarely choose the geosciences as a field of study or career goal. This GEOPaths:GO project aims to recruit and retain new students with diverse backgrounds to the Earth sciences and prepare them to work in a global context. The research goal is to establish a community-focused multi-year conservation network in Jamaica. The research team lead ongoing studies of different aspects of Earth science (e.g., ecology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, paleontology, and geoscience education) and have established multiple, connected conservation research projects in Jamaica, in collaboration with local experts at the University of the West Indies and Jamaican non-governmental organizations. Jamaica is an ideal location for this collaboration between US and Caribbean scientists and students as it is home to many vital and complex ecosystems such as rainforests, mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass beds. Historically, the stability and dynamics of these ecosystems have not been actively monitored, or scientists conducted their research without involving local communities or experts. In this project, undergraduate and graduate students will select and lead research projects that are meaningful to them, as well as the local communities in Jamaica (i.e., culturally relevant, service-learning experiences). This foundational research will support conservation of island landscapes, biodiversity, and culture through collaborations amongst multiple Earth science disciplines. This project will foster the establishment of promising practices for effective, equitable international collaborations.There is a profound need to recruit and retain students in the Earth sciences. This project will create a conservation-based program focused on Earth science discovery that fosters a broad community of learners. The project aims to recruit students to the geosciences through engagement in service learning that touches on aspects of paleontology, ecology, chemistry, hydrology, cultural history, and community engagement across the land, coastline, and ocean. University of Texas at Austin is a research intensive public, Hispanic-serving university and will partner with other minority-serving institutions to recruit non-geoscience students. Over the summer, the project team will showcase researchers and their projects to introduce students to (a) the different, connected elements of Earth sciences; (b) the communities and people that collaborate to promote conservation; and (c) the diverse community of scholars uniting to preserve the natural world and at-risk communities. Students will build a story map or virtual field trip to share their experiences and research in Jamaica. The projects will be the foundation of a conservation network that integrates different Earth science disciplines to understand long-term and short-term changes to the land and ocean. The focus on service-learning will help students engage with the material and improve their motivation to become (geo)scientists. To evaluate whether the project has met the recruitment and retention goals, the assessment will take a holistic, case study approach to understand participants’ experiences throughout the project (e.g., assessing personal achievements, perception of the geosciences, interest in pursuing 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.