During the 2020 school year, members of the Earth Science faculty at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) participated in course design activities within the 'General Oceanography' course. The design activities were based on: AACC's commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion; the AACC 'model course' initiative; and strategies from the 'Supporting & Advancing Geoscience Education at Two-Year Colleges' (SAGE 2YC) program.

A team of Earth Science instructors designed an Oceanography course with the intent of incorporating best practices for teaching & learning, increasing quality of instruction, and providing a solid framework for instructors to work from.

Based on a project through the SAGE 2YC program, an AACC cohort of five Earth Science instructors conducted, as a culminating project, a 3-part virtual workshop with focus on diversity, equity, & inclusion in the classroom during the Fall 2020 semester. A part of this series of workshops included the incorporation of "Earth Scientist Spotlights" within their Earth Science courses. "Earth Scientist Spotlights" assignments are meant to:

- bring student awareness of the many Earth Scientists from different backgrounds, who have made scientific contributions in their respective fields, and

- provide avenues for minority students to identify with those scientists sharing similar backgrounds and similar challenges.

As a result of preparations through the SAGE 2YC program activities, experiences through the 3-part workshop, and lessons through the model course initiative, different variations of the Scientist Spotlights assignments were attempted during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.

This presentation is meant to report on initial experiences, lessons learned, and also ask for any shared experiences and insights about the topic.