GP-IN: Graduate soft skills development through mentoring pre-university students through diverse geoscience experiences

地球科学特别适合培养和多样化STEM劳动力，并促进STEM素养，因为它可以应用于与人类唯一家园——地球相关的现实问题。这个跨学科领域为地球科学学生在地球科学内外的成功STEM职业做好准备。然而，地球科学面临着人才缺口，少数群体的代表性严重不足。招收越来越多不同类型的学生进入地球科学本科专业学习是未来繁荣的必要条件。让即将升入大学的高中生在进入大学之前了解一门特定科学的重要性，可能对他们选择STEM职业有长期的好处。招收和培训多样化的学生进入该领域将有助于确保可持续和包容的未来地球科学工作者将成为美国多元文化社会的代表。pi提出了一种双管齐下的方法，针对地球科学人才管道中不同关键时刻的学生：1)决定大学和专业的高中生，以及2)致力于地球科学学术和非学术职业的研究生。这个项目的两个主要目标是：1)增加有意选择地球科学作为专业的高中生的数量和多样性；2)巩固研究生作为地球科学领导者和终身导师的态度、技能和身份。高中学生优先从有大量传统少数民族学生的三所合作高中录取。每个高中暑期实习生在一名研究生的监督和指导下完成一个单独的项目，并结合有组织的、基于队列的接触和小型培训，包括计算和数据科学、实地工作和仪器仪表以及通信。研究生导师通过一系列研讨会和个人反馈会议在指导实践中接受正式培训和建议。他们还帮助实习生设计和提供真实的地球科学接触和小型培训。实习生的项目以研究生撰写的项目建议书为指导，在项目负责人的指导下进行修改。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。

The Geosciences are particularly suited for nurturing and diversifying a STEM workforce and promoting STEM literacy on account of the diverse applications to real-world problems related to humanity’s only home: the Earth. This interdisciplinary field prepares geoscience students for successful STEM careers within and beyond geoscience. Yet, the geosciences are faced with a talent gap and suffer from a serious underrepresentation of minoritized groups. Recruiting more and more diverse students into undergraduate geoscience programs of study is a necessity for future prosperity. By exposing rising high school seniors to the importance of a particular science before they enter college could have long-term benefits in favor of STEM career choices. Recruiting and training diverse students into the field will help to ensure that sustainable and inclusive future geoscience workers will be representative of America’s multicultural society.PIs propose a two-pronged approach that targets students at distinct critical junctures in the geoscience talent pipeline: 1) high-school students deciding on colleges and majors, and 2) graduate students working towards academic and non-academic careers in geoscience. The two main goals of this program are 1) to increase the number and diversity of college-bound high-school students who intentionally choose geoscience as a major, and 2) to solidify graduate students’ attitudes, skills, and identities as geoscience leaders and lifelong mentors. High-school students are preferentially recruited from three partner high schools with large populations of students from traditionally minoritized groups. Each high-school summer intern completes an individual project under supervision and mentorship from a graduate student in conjunction with organized and cohort-based exposure to and mini-training in computing and data science, field work and instrumentation, and communication. The graduate student mentors are formally trained and advised in the practice of mentoring via a series of workshops and individual feedback sessions. They also help design and deliver authentic exposure to and mini-training in geoscience to the interns. The interns’ projects are guided by project proposals written by the graduate students and revised with coaching from the PI.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.