ED23A-0080 1340h
AMS Online Weather Studies: The National Dissemination of a Distance Learning Course for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences
Our nation faces a serious challenge in attracting young people to science and science-related careers (including teaching). This is particularly true for members of groups underrepresented in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology and is especially acute in the number of minority college students majoring in the geosciences. A formidable obstacle in attracting undergraduates to the geosciences is lack of access, that is, no opportunity to enroll in geoscience courses simply because none is offered at their college or university. Often college-level introductory courses are a student's first exposure to the geosciences. To help alleviate this problem of access, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) has developed and implemented nationally an introductory weather and climate course, Online Weather Studies, which can be added to an institution's menu of general education course offerings. This highly successful course has been licensed by over 230 colleges and universities nationwide, among them 72 minority-serving institutions which have joined via the AMS Online Weather Studies Geosciences Diversity Program since 2002. This program designed to reach institutions serving large numbers of minority students has been made possible through support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences (OEDG) and Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement-National Dissemination (CCLI-ND) programs. Online Weather Studies is an innovative, 12- to 15-week introductory college-level, online distance-learning course on the fundamentals of atmospheric science. Learner-formatted current weather data are delivered via the Internet and coordinated with investigations keyed to the day's weather. The principal innovation of Online Weather Studies is that students learn about weather as it happens in near real-time - a highly motivational learning experience. The AMS Education Program designed and services this course and makes it available to colleges and universities as a user-friendly turnkey package with electronic and printed components. The AMS Geosciences Diversity Program, in cooperation with the National Weather Service (NWS), facilitates institutional participation in Online Weather Studies. Prior to an instructor's initial offering of the course, he or she is invited to attend a one-week course implementation workshop at the NWS Training Center at Kansas City, MO. Participants are encouraged to share best practices ideas in science content and teaching strategies related to their offering of Online Weather Studies. Through the course homepage, students are provided with information on further studies in the atmospheric sciences, opportunities for internships and summer research, and career counseling. Meteorologists-in-Charge at NWS Weather Forecast Offices across the nation have interacted with minority-serving institutions to encourage adoption of the AMS weather course. Also, participating faculty members are invited to the Educational Symposium of the AMS Annual Meeting where they will attend a special Diversity Session and are encouraged to present posters.
ED23A-0081 1340h
Connecting With the River: Introducing Urban Students from Hartford, CT to Earth Science
For the past 3 summers we have organized and evaluated 4 different, but related programs designed to introduce urban middle and high school students to the Earth Sciences through field and laboratory measurements of rivers. During the first summer (2002) two different programs were organized. Program one was a two-week, non-credit high school enrichment experience with the majority of the students coming from a science and math magnet school. Program two was a six-week program working with students from at risk-high schools. Students in this second program were paid and received one high school science credit. In both programs students measured water quality parameters, analyzed data and presented their results. All students from both programs were invited to participate in monthly field trips during the academic year. The third summer (2003) students who participated in the academic year program were invited to return to the program. They were hired for a two-week period to review what had been learned the previous summer and to teach the material to middle school students enrolled in another program. This provided them with an opportunity to mentor younger students. During the fourth summer (2004) we continued our work with the middle school program that we collaborated with in the previous year. We provided an earth science component to a four-week middle school summer enrichment program that focused on fish habitats. Students were taken in boats to learn about the Connecticut Riverbed. They collected grab samples of the sediment and imaged the bottom with a side-scan sonar and subbottom profiler. Conclusions: 1) Summer enrichment programs can have an impact on student interest in pursing additional learning about and careers in the earth sciences. 2) Most students thought the programs would help them to do better in math and science classes. 3)The most successful of our programs was the longer program, where students participated for two summers with monthly field trips during the academic year and had the opportunity to mentor younger students.
ED23A-0082 1340h
The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling Efforts to Increase Diversity in Space Science
The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM) is a Science and Technology Center (STC) funded by the National Science Foundation. Like other STCs, CISM has a strong education program and a commitment to increasing diversity in science. In this paper we will review efforts that CISM is making to improve diversity in space science. In particular, CISM is working to support and develop a new space science graduate program at an historically black university. We will also discuss efforts to recruit and retain outstanding students from historically underrepresented groups by providing them with exciting research and career development opportunities.
ED23A-0083 1340h
The Young Engineers and Scientists Mentorship Program
The Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) Program is a community partnership between Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and local high schools in San Antonio, Texas (USA). It provides talented high school juniors and seniors a bridge between classroom instruction and real-world, research experiences in physical sciences (including space science and astronomy) and engineering. YES consists of two parts: 1) an intensive three-week summer workshop held at SwRI where students experience the research environment first-hand; develop skills and acquire tools for solving scientific problems, attend mini-courses and seminars on electronics, computers and the Internet, careers, science ethics, and other topics; and select individual research projects to be completed during the academic year; and 2) a collegial mentorship where students complete individual research projects under the guidance of their mentors during the academic year and earn honors credit. At the end of the school year, students publicly present and display their work, acknowledging their accomplishments and spreading career awareness to other students and teachers. YES has been highly successful during the past 12 years. All YES graduates have entered college, several have worked for SwRI, and three scientific publications have resulted. Student evaluations indicate the effectiveness of YES on their academic preparation and choice of college majors. We acknowledge funding from local charitable foundations and the NASA E/PO program.
http://yesserver.space.swri.edu
ED23A-0084 1340h
Recruiting the Future Workforce in the Geosciences And the Role of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
The declining interest in the physical sciences among U.S. students has been recognized as a vital issue for the continued health of science. In particular, the declining number of geoscience students, especially US citizens, threatens the country's future preparedness in natural hazards mitigation, resource development, national security, and education. Furthermore, the geosciences suffer from poor representation among underrepresented groups, even by comparison to other sciences and engineering. Thus, exciting young scientists from all backgrounds into the geosciences must remain a high priority for all geoscientists, educational institutes, national laboratories, and industry. Exciting young scientists into the geosciences must remain a high priority for all geoscientists, educational institutes, national laboratories, and industry. I identify some key factors that may be contributing to the decline in the science workforce as well as the geoscience workforce, including generational and cultural attitudes, and the changing demographics in the U.S. I propose that the workforce and diversity issues are intertwined and both must be addressed for the survival of geoscience. To address diversity specifically, several organizations have been successful in mentoring and recruiting minorities into science. The Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) focuses on encouraging undergraduate and graduate Hispanic and American Indian students to pursue higher degrees. For over 30 years, SACNAS has provided strong national leadership in improving science and math education, as well as expanding opportunities for minorities in the scientific workforce and academia. Currently, SACNAS has added a geological science emphasis to its existing programs to address the need to diversify the field. This presentation will also outline this approach, and outline how SACNAS has been able to grow over the past 30 years.
ED23A-0085 1340h
Paleoclimate of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, CA: Research Participation Opportunities for Improving Minority Participation and Achievement in the Geosciences
Numerous studies have shown that one of the best ways to draw students into geoscience programs is to expose them and their teachers to research projects designed to investigate issues relevant to their lives and communities. To be most effective, involvement in these projects should begin at the pre-college level and continue throughout their college career. Recognizing the importance of genuine research experiences, the Department of Geology at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB), with support from the National Science Foundation's {\it Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences} program, provides research participation opportunities for teachers and students from the Bakersfield City School District and the Kern High School District. Both districts have a high percentage of low-income and minority students that normally would not consider a degree or career in the geosciences. The project centers around a four-week summer research program and follow-up activities during the school year. The research investigates the climate history of the southern San Joaquin Valley as well as the frequency of flooding in the valley. Many teachers and students are familiar with periodic flooding from personal experience and are aware of the larger issue of climate change in the past and present from news reports. Thus, they can directly relate to the relevance of the research. The project draws on the faculty's expertise in paleoclimatology and geochemistry and takes advantage of CSUB's existing research facilities. Sediments in the dry lake basins of Buena Vista Lake and Kern Lake preserve a record of the regional climate history and flooding of the Kern River and its tributaries. In the first year of the project, 6 teachers and 10 high school students worked with CSUB faculty and students. Three cores from the lake basins were collected. The cores were analyzed using established geophysical, geochemical, lithological, and micropaleontological techniques. The analyses of the sediment samples range from simple tasks such as core descriptions or total organic carbon analysis to complex procedures such as the separation, identification, and chemical analysis of ostracode shells. Thus, the participants can find tasks appropriate to their diverse backgrounds and experience. CSUB students served as mentors and role models for high school students. Surveys conducted before and after the summer program indicate that knowledge of climate change and local geology of both teachers and students increased. Student's attitudes towards the geosciences and possible geoscience careers improved.
ED23A-0086 1340h
Successful Geoscience Pipeline Activities for High School and College Students
The proportion of African-American students in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) at Penn State is 3.3 percent, only slightly lower than the overall University Park campus proportion of 4 percent. Retention rates within EMS are excellent; a recent survey found that EMS ranks highest in student satisfaction overall at the University Park campus. Our goal to increase diversity in EMS disciplines requires us to attract new students to Penn State rather than recruiting from other areas within the institution. We have implemented three programs that appear successful in this regard, and are thus likely to form a viable pipeline from high school through graduate school. These programs operate at a college-wide level and are co-sponsored by AESEDA (Alliance for Earth Science, Engineering and Development in Africa). SEEMS (Summer Experience in EMS) is a partnership with Upward Bound Math and Science, adding 30 hours of directed research to their existing enrichment program. Students identified in 9th grade spend 6 weeks each summer in residence at PSU, where they receive classroom instruction in core academic areas in addition to a group research project led by faculty and graduate students. SEEMS students are likely PSU recruits: all are accepted to college, 85 percent plan to attend college within PA, and all have strong family support for education as well as for careers in EMS. Pre- and post-experience surveys indicate strong positive changes in perception of EMS careers, particularly with regard to levels of intellectual challenge and starting salary. We maintain personal contact with these students and encourage them to attend PSU when they graduate. SROP (Summer Research Opportunity Program) is administered by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the academic arm of the Big 10, and provides residential research internships for students from HBCU and MSI campuses. EMS participates in SROP by funding research interns and providing strong individual mentorships. Over the past 4 years, EMS faculty supported 29 SROP students, 69 percent of whom are currently enrolled in or applicants for graduate programs (the rest are still undergraduates or students who obtained full-time employment upon graduation). African-American students have demonstrated strong interest in learning about science as it affects Africa and Africans. To capitalize on this demand, we developed courses focusing on climate change and conflict diamonds at University Park and Delaware County campuses. Both courses are always fully subscribed and enroll up to 25 percent African-American students; they form the cornerstone of a new minor degree program "Science, Society and the Environments of Africa" that we think will be attractive to undergraduate students overall.
ED23A-0087 1340h
MECSAT: Edge of Space Investigations for Minority Undergraduates
MECSAT is a scientific balloon student-based project to fly experimental payloads to altitudes of 35 kilometers or more and recover them for data analysis. Centered in an urban minority college, the project combines science, technology and field work and provides students with an "Edge of Space" laboratory to explore experiments related to weather, climatology, earth science and space science. In addition to the experiments, students participating in the project gain a deeper understanding of the meteorological conditions supporting launch activities, local-scale climatology and the importance of team work. Students duplicate the processes involved in the planning, developing timelines, building hardware, launch, recovery and data analysis as performed in NASA missions in Earth and Space Science. The project also stimulates their interest in scientific instrumentation and discovery, embedded controllers and communications. The project spans the undergraduate level including lower-level students. It is being integrated into existing curriculum as well as being assigned for standalone research projects. The project is supported by NASA/MUSPIN CUNY NRTS and NASA/MUCERPI NYC-SSRA awards.
ED23A-0088 1340h
A Three-Day Seismic Experiment in an Urban Setting: An Introduction to Seismology for Minority Students
Summer program participants of LSU GAEMP (Geoscience Alliance to Improve Minority Participation) are non-traditional, STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math), underrepresented minorities from 9 Minority-Serving Institutions in the states of Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. During this summer of 2004, twelve students completed a six-week field and lab program across the lower U.S.A. Because of the urban background of many of the participants one three-day module on earthquakes and earth deformation emphasized the design of a non-conventional seismic experiment, field acquisition and analysis of data in an urban setting. Day one introduced stress, major fault types and their plate tectonic setting based on a case study of active growth faulting, emphasizing its effects on urban planning. Students visited the field to verify the location of faults from prior interpretations using GPS and topographic maps, and to discuss observed faulted buildings, offices and roadways. Later, students were exposed to the principles of active seismology, divided into six working groups and required to design by the next morning a realistic experiment to verify faults in the shallow subsurface. Day two was dedicated to collecting shallow ($<$300m) shear-wave seismic refraction data from both sides of a suspected growth fault, with the student expectation that a thicker sediment sequence would be observed on the down-thrown block. Day three involved pencil-and-paper analyses of data for reflection and refraction-thickness and velocity estimation, capped with a discussion and formal oral presentations of group results. The student-led design, active field deployment of equipment and formal discussion groups provided the widest range of activities to promote awareness of the relevance of seismology in modern society.
http://www.geol.lsu.edu/gaemp/
ED23A-0089 1340h
Providing Research Experiences to Minority Undergraduates: The Pathway to Success in Graduate Education?
UTEP is an Hispanic Serving Institution located along the U.S.-Mexico border with tremendous access to a diverse student population. The Pathways Research Experience Program (PREP) at UTEP is designed to provide students from underrepresented groups access to research under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Students are selected for the program based on GPA, letters of recommendation, and a research proposal. Since 2002, 16 students have worked on a variety of research projects under the auspices of PREP. This group has included 12 women and 10 Hispanics. Of these students 6 have graduated and 4 have continued onto graduate programs at other institutions. A key part of this project is the research stipend which enables students to focus on their undergraduate studies without having to seek outside employment. Student research topics have been diverse and have included projects in paleontology, structural geology, hydrogeology, environmental geology, and geomicrobiology. Student research projects have been presented at national meetings including the Geological Society of America and Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences, as well as research expos at UTEP. In addition to providing access to research projects the students participate in workshops on applying to graduate schools, obtaining financial aid, and good study habits. Our overall goals for this project have been to mentor students through an undergraduate degree in geology and prepare them for graduate education in the Earth Sciences. Although our project is just beginning, our preliminary results suggest that this type of research experience increases the likelihood that minority students will continue onto graduate school.
ED23A-0090 1340h
An Internship Model for Culturally Relevant Success for Native American High School Students
Culturally relevant educational practices can be challenging to implement in the workplace. In an effort to support equity in access to undergraduate internship opportunities for Native American students, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Education Office, Minority Education Initiatives offers a unique approach to supporting students from Native American reservation high schools in Washington State to participate in eight-week technical (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics related) summer internships. This talk will address the Alliance for Learning and Vision for Americans (ALVA) program's twelve years of success based on four programmatic principals, annual review and the critical support of scientists and engineers.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
ED23A-0091 1340h
Turning the Tables: Double Benefits Attained from Training HBCU Students to Teach Geosciences in African-American Communities
To make the greatest impact on African-American participation in the geosciences it is most efficient to bring programs designed to recruit future geoscientists to neighborhoods, campuses, and communities where African-Americans are actually in the majority rather than the minority. The "Natural History Interpretation Training Program" sponsored by SE-COSEE (NSF), SSU and SINERR did just that and impacted two generations of students in coastal Georgia in the process. In the first implementation of this program, ten HBCU science majors participated in an intensive week-long training program on coastal ecosystems, outdoor education, and regional internship/employment opportunities. The training session was followed by the planning and implementation of a two-day science camp for the youth of Sapelo Island, GA in which the undergraduates taught 15 children of Gullah/Geechee heritage aged 6 to 14 about the geology and ecology of their barrier island home. Key components to successfully recruiting undergraduate participants were to coordinate training activities around the college schedule to accommodate students who needed to enroll in summer courses and to base acceptance into the training program on interest rather than GPA. We facilitated the participation of campers by holding the camp on Sapelo Island, providing transportation, and charging no fees. Having HBCU students teach younger minority students served multiple purposes. It inspired the undergraduates to further their studies in science, to explore internship opportunities, and to consider careers in science education. For some it provided an opportunity to review and master material from past courses and inspired confidence in their approach to future course work. The program also piqued the curiosity of Sapelo Island youth so that they would further explore the science of their island home and, hopefully, will consider college attendance and majoring in the geosciences a natural path to follow. HBCU/MSI campuses, K-12 schools, community centers and churches with predominantly African-American membership are found throughout the U.S. and this model of one generation of students teaching a younger group can be applied to a broad range of programs and settings.
ED23A-0092 1340h
Retention and Mentorship of Minority Students via Undergraduate Internship Experiences
The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii is undertaking an Undergraduate Research Internship project to address the lack of full representation of women and underrepresented minorities in the geosciences. The overarching educational objective is to provide education and career development guidance and opportunities for students from underrepresented minorities. In collaboration with industry partners, we hope to prepare undergraduate students for life and careers in today's complex and dynamic technological world by encouraging them to attain high standards in the geosciences, thereby enabling them to compete successfully for positions in graduate programs. To achieve his goal, the project focuses on the following objectives: (1) Creating a high-quality integrated on-campus teaching and off-campus learning environment, and (2) providing an intensive introduction to geoscience careers through the guidance of experienced faculty and workplace mentors. The program will start small, collaborating with one or two companies over the next two years, offering paid summer internships. Opportunities for students include participation in geoscience-related research, obtaining experience in interpreting observations and providing information to end-users, working to improve technology and field methods, and developing the expertise to maintain, operate and deploy equipment. Program participants are assigned individual projects that relate to their academic majors, their career goals, and the ongoing research missions of our industry partners. In addition to their research activities, participants attend a series of seminars and tours dealing with current topics in geoscience to expose them to the wide variety of scientific and technical activities that occur in the workplace. The expected outcomes of this experience will be scientific growth and career development. Given that a very small percentage of all students go on to graduate school, strong mentoring relationships with a special advisor and/or professor who recognizes scientific potential will both aid in student retention in the field and encourage more applications to graduate school.