REU site: Research Experience for Community College Students (RECCS) in Critical Zone Science

“关键区域科学社区大学生研究经验”（RECCS）项目每年夏天将邀请10名科罗拉多州社区大学生参与环境科学研究项目，并指导他们从项目定义到执行，最后向科学界提交报告。这些学生通常在种族、民族、年龄和收入水平方面有着不同的背景，他们可能是第一代大学生、退伍军人，或者在科罗拉多州来自农村地区。在大学的第一年，以多元化和非传统的学生为目标，将对他们的职业选择产生强烈的影响。RECCS的研究环境旨在提供由科学家、专业发展培训师和RECCS工作人员提供的多层指导，以及同龄群体的互动，以灌输对学生群体的归属感。这种结构将确保参与者获得他们在项目中取得成功所需的支持，并对他们的科学能力和学术技能获得信心。来自不同社区学院的学生的参与将对他们周围的学生产生连锁反应，希望能激励其他社区学院的学生追求科学实习和其他研究经历。为社区大学学生提供研究机会和专业发展培训，将有助于为学生进入四年制大学和研究生院创造一条管道，这将增加STEM劳动力的多样性。该项目的成功与否将通过学生前后的访谈和调查来衡量，其中包括对项目校友的年度反思调查。项目对导师的影响将通过事后调查进行评估。形成性反馈将在整个项目中收集。

The Research Experience for Community College Students (RECCS) in Critical Zone Science will engage ten Colorado community college students each summer in research projects on environmental sciences and will guide them from the project definition through its execution and final presentation to the scientific community. These students often have diverse backgrounds with respect to race, ethnicity, age, and income level, and they may be first-generation college students, veterans or, in Colorado, come from rural areas. Targeting diverse and non-traditional students in their first years of college will have a strong formative aspect with respect to career choices. The research environment of RECCS is designed to provide several layers of mentoring by scientists, professional development trainers and RECCS staff, as well as peer-group interaction, to instill a sense of belonging to the student cohorts. This structure will ensure that participants receive the support they need to succeed in their projects and to gain confidence in their scientific abilities and academic skills. The engagement of students from different community colleges will have a ripple effect on the students around them, hopefully inspiring other community college students to pursue science internships and other research experiences. Providing research opportunities and professional development training to community college students will help create a pipeline for students to move on to four-year colleges and possibly graduate school, which will increase the diversity of the STEM workforce. The success of the program will be measured through pre and post student interviews and surveys, including an annual reflection survey of program alumni. The impact of the program on the mentors will be assessed using a post-survey. Formative feedback will be collected throughout the program.