Embodied Access: Investigating Robotic Proxies in Geoscience Field Courses
Tuesday
1:30pm-4:00pm
Poster Session Part of
Tuesday Poster Session
Field education is a foundational part of the geosciences, yet many traditional field sites present accessibility barriers that entirely exclude students with disabilities. To address this gap, the University of Florida's GeoSPACE Project (GeoScientists Promoting Accessible Collaborative Education) builds accessible, technology-rich field learning environments. Using participant data and observations from our Summer 2026 course in Arizona, this poster examines how we can use technology to deeply engage students in the construction of geological and planetary knowledge. We specifically focus on how remote students use mediated technology and robotic proxies to conduct fieldwork not as passive observers, but as active, distributed cognitive geoscientists. By observing how students interact with these proxies, we are exploring the stages of remote embodiment to understand how effectively virtual or remote participants can project their presence, exercise agency, and drive independent scientific inquiry in a landscape they aren't physically standing in. Preliminary results suggest that robotic proxies are not merely an accessibility workaround; rather, they enable genuine cognitive and spatial connections to the field environment. Here we share what these conceptual insights and outcomes mean for the integration of remote technologies into geoscience field education and how these results may contribute to more equitable and inclusive field practices.




