Enrollment in geoscience departments is currently decreasing, which is projected to cause a major shortage of geoscientists in the workforce over the next decade. It is crucial that we reverse this trend as geoscientists are vital for studying and combating the effects of climate change and other geological hazards. This study aims to increase geoscience enrollment and overall engagement by identifying and transforming misperceptions of geoscience among students and the general public. This work involves the investigation of student and public perceptions of and motivations for pursuing geoscience via publicly available enrollment data and survey responses. This study follows the Input–Environment–Output model to evaluate how inputs (e.g., student demographics, backgrounds, and perceptions) and environment (e.g., departmental factors) influence outputs (e.g., enrollment trends). Geoscience outreach conducted through the YouTube channel, GEO GIRL, has also provided useful data revealing major public misperceptions of geoscience. This channel has accrued over 2.5 million views and reached viewers in over 150 different countries. Through surveying both university geoscience students as well as viewers on YouTube which vary widely in demographics, these data provide a diverse pool of respondents with which to draw broad conclusions regarding geoscience perceptions. With the findings from this work, we plan to develop more effective outreach and recruitment strategies for geoscience departments that will increase both student enrollment and public engagement. This work is ongoing, but this presentation summarizes our preliminary findings, future plans, and outlook.

Climate change has become an increasingly pressing issue, both to scientists and the public. While adults grapple with their own concerns, children are also experiencing eco-anxiety, and studies show that children seem to experience these levels of anxiety associated with environmental degradation and climate change at rates much higher than adults. The authors have a unique opportunity this year to study the effects of choral music on cognitive, affective, and behavioral development in children aged 10-18. For their 150th anniversary celebration in 2024, the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia commissioned a major choral piece about climate change and approached Commonwealth Youthchoirs to collaborate with the composer, Dr. Melissa Dunphy to bring the voice of children into the text. Our mixed methods research will document the effect of participating in this process—in the creative design, the learning of the music, and performance of the music—and how it may influence children's cognitive, affective, and behavioral relationship with climate change. In this presentation, we will share a preliminary model focusing on cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains that address education, eco-anxiety, and empowerment, and our in-process methodological approaches.

Future efforts to recruit the next generation of geoscientists would benefit from understanding what motivates students to succeed and what students hope to achieve in earning their degrees. In this work, we observe how introductory geoscience students' career motivations relate to their interest in geoscience. The research population of the study is 414 students, all of which were enrolled in an introductory geoscience course. There were a total of four courses surveyed from across two universities. Data analysis was conducted through various t-tests. To run a t-test based on student interest, we divided the students into two groups: students with higher interest and students with lower interest. Students who scored above the sample average, µ = 2.9 (with 1 being the lowest possible interest score and 7 being the highest possible interest score), were considered higher interest and all students under the sample average being lower interest. Out of the 15 career motivation questions asked, eight questions resulted in significantly higher results for higher interest students in comparison to lower interest students. In addition, we ran t-tests between different identity groups based on traditionally represented and traditionally underrepresented students within the geosciences (information collected included race/ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ+ identity, and students with a disability). All identities were self-selected by the participants. Analysis based on identity resulted in several significant differences in different groups including race/ethnicity (3 significant differences), gender (3 significant differences), and LGBTQ+ identity (4 significant differences). Our work highlights how students with various interest levels and identities prioritize different career motivations. Understanding these differences amongst students can aid departments to better understand what students hope to accomplish through their participation in their course or program and can provide insight as to how to structure and change material to best serve the students within their programs.

Harassment experienced by minoritized genders within geosciences has been documented for decades. This harassment ranges from microaggressions, negative assumptions about career motivations, bullying, and sexual assault. Fieldwork can be especially hostile for women and genderqueer scientists due to the potential for remoteness and isolation. Additionally, academia and industry have been shown to push out minoritized genders from early career onward. Due to these and other problematic cultural norms within geosciences, a systematic literature review was done to assess the current research surrounding the experiences of minoritized genders within the geosciences. Three databases were searched (Web of Science, Scopus, and Georef) and using several inclusion parameters nineteen papers were selected to be included. A total of nineteen papers were included for this literature review. Multiple themes emerged from the literature: the ack of representation of genderqueer scientists, the "leaky" pipeline, academia post-Ph.D., conferences, the impact of intersectionality, sexual assault, the representation of women in geoscience, role models, and fieldwork. These were then grouped into larger themes of Actions, Negative Environments, and Outcomes. All three categories impact each other and contribute to the loss of women and genderqueer scientists within geosciences. Moving forward geosciences should look inwardly at the experiences of these underrepresented scientists with intentions to better support and change the current climate within geoscience places and spaces.

To address the issue of underrepresentation of historically excluded groups (HEG) working in STEM occupations, we developed GEODUC - "Geoscience Education, Oceanographic Discovery, Undergraduate Collaboration", a place-based summer bridge followed by a year-round mentoring program designed to increase student interest and retention in the geosciences. The goal of the program is to introduce core science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors and STEM-adjacent majors to real-world, practical applications and careers in the geosciences. Our program is divided into three core phases: (1) recruitment, (2) bridge program, and (3) a mentoring seminar series. Recruitment into the program is focused on community college students who are transferring into the University of Washington (UW) as community colleges are an important route to STEM careers for students of high potential from marginalized communities. The bridge program is a 10-day immersive experience Friday Harbor Laboratories, UW's marine station on San Juan Island, WA, before fall quarter begins. This residency program facilitates organic collaboration and community among the participants while also building foundations in critical thinking and skills in scientific inquiry. During their first academic year at UW, the participants enroll in a one-hour weekly mentoring seminar. Seminar themes vary by quarter, and include: academic success (fall), getting involved in research (winter) and career opportunities (spring). Programming is assessed using frequent surveys: pre- and post-residency program, daily during the bridge program, weekly during the quarter seminar courses. Assessments are aimed at exploring program impact on science knowledge and skills, geoscience research and career network, sense of belonging within, and outside of, major. After their first quarter at UW, participant experience and attitudes are assessed through interviews. Preliminary results and lessons learned from the first two cohorts will be presented.