Building Pathways into the Geosciences for an Hispanic Community of Learners in El Paso

德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校（UTEP）是美国最大的为西班牙裔学生服务的机构之一，拥有约15,000名学生，其中70%是西班牙裔学生，10%是墨西哥人。UTEP学生群体的人口结构（其中85%来自埃尔帕索地区）反映了该大学服务的美墨边境两侧超过200万居民的西班牙裔大都市的人口结构。因此，社区的特点使UTEP在招收少数民族学生进入地球科学方面具有优势。UTEP拥有地质科学硕士和博士学位。该项目通过增加主修地质科学或环境科学新跨学科项目的西班牙裔学生的数量，扩大了少数族裔对大学地球科学的参与。它建议在埃尔帕索建立一个有抱负的地球科学家社区，通过建立一个外展项目来提高当地高中生对地球科学的认识。该项目为获得地质或环境科学学士学位的大学生提供奖学金，并与地球科学教师和研究生一起参与研究。拓展计划的核心是一个为期两周的高中生夏令营，向学生和老师介绍地球科学的各种主题，并展示高中课程中涵盖的生物、化学和物理如何与地球科学相结合。学生们被鼓励在大一的时候报名参加环境科学或地质学入门课程，并有机会在随后的暑期课程中担任同伴导师。

ABSTRACTBuilding Pathways into the Geosciences for an Hispanic Communityof Learners in El PasoThe University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), with an enrollment of about 15,000 students of which 70% are Hispanic and 10% are Mexican Nationals, is one of the largest Hispanic-serving institutions in the country. The demographics of the UTEP student body (85% of whom come from the El Paso region) reflect those of the dominantly Hispanic metroplex of more than two million inhabitants on both sides of the US-Mexican border that the university serves. Thus, the characteristics of the community give UTEP advantages in recruiting minority students into the geosciences. UTEP has both MS and Ph.D. programs in Geological Sciences.This project expands minority participation in the geosciences at the university by increasing the number of Hispanic students who major in either Geological Sciences or in a new interdisciplinary program in Environmental Sciences. It proposes to build a community of aspiring geoscientists in El Paso by establishing an outreach program to enhance awareness of the geosciences among local high school students. The program offers stipends to college students in exchange for progress towards a bachelors degree in Geological or Environmental Sciences and participation in research with geoscience faculty and graduate students. The centerpiece of the outreach program is a two-week summer camp for high school juniors that introduces students and teachers to a variety of topics in the geosciences and demonstrates how the biology, chemistry, and physics covered in high school courses integrates with geoscience. Students are encouraged to enroll in introductory environmental science or geology as freshmen and given the opportunity to serve as peer mentors in subsequent summer programs.