Essays on Broadening Access to the Earth and Environmental Sciences

These essays were contributed in association with the February 2014 workshop on Broadening Access to the Earth and Environmental Sciences held at Arizona State University. Workshop participants and community members submitted essays in response to the prompt:

Submit a 1-2 page essay describing how your programs help students understand the relevance of their learning about the Earth to issues they care about. What does it mean to be "societally important" and "relevant" to your student population? How does this work inform the department's work throughout the cycle of attracting new students, supporting them through the major, and preparing them for careers?

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Results 1 - 10 of 31 matches

Using hazards to engage students
Eric Baer, Highline College
This essay page from the InTeGrate project showcases a geologic hazards course at Highline Community College that leverages local risks—such as earthquakes and flooding in the Puget Sound region—to engage students through community-based, applied learning focused on risk analysis, mitigation strategies, and dissemination of scientific knowledge to families and local groups. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Institution Type: Non-minority-serving

Geoscience Community College Programs of Societal Relevance and Importance in the Wind River Basin and Range
Suki Smaglik, Heritage University
This webpage is an essay detailing geoscience education initiatives at Central Wyoming College within the Wind River Basin and Range, emphasizing culturally relevant, interdisciplinary programs—such as Environmental Technician, Outdoor Education, and Earth, Energy, Environment (E³)—that integrate local community needs, undergraduate research, partnerships with NOLS and EPSCoR, and workforce development to broaden access and relevance in Earth and environmental sciences for diverse student populations, including Native American communities. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Institution Type: Non-minority-serving

Outreach, Diversity, and Education at LacCore and the Continental Scientific Drilling Coordination Office, University of Minnesota
Amy Myrbo, Science Museum of MN
This webpage is an essay from the InTeGrate project discussing strategies for broadening access to Earth and environmental sciences through outreach, diversity, and education initiatives at LacCore and the Continental Scientific Drilling Coordination Office, emphasizing community-driven research, cultural relevance, interdisciplinary collaboration, and inclusive mentoring to support underrepresented students in STEM. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Institution Type: Non-minority-serving

Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students (RESESS): Engaging and Supporting Historically Underrepresented Students in the Geosciences
Aisha Morris, George Mason University
An essay page detailing the RESESS program, an NSF-funded initiative that supports historically underrepresented undergraduate students in the geosciences through multi-year research internships, professional development, financial aid, and sustained mentoring to improve retention and success in the field. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Institution Type: Non-minority-serving

A Relevant and Applicable Geography
Adriana Martinez, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
This webpage is an educational essay discussing how geography education can be made more relevant and applicable by emphasizing human-environment relationships, geospatial technologies like GIS, workforce-aligned skills, and inclusive practices to broaden access for underrepresented students in Earth and environmental sciences. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Institution Type: Non-minority-serving

A Career Path for African-American Students from HBCUs to National Laboratories
Robert Liebermann, Stony Brook University
We have already had great success in recruiting students to this 2-year program leading to a MS degree in Geosciences instrumentation at Stony Brook and positioning them for employment as Science Associates in national user facilities of the DOE, such as the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven.

Institution Type: Historically Black College/University (HBCU)

The SOARS Program - Engaging Minority Students through Geoscience Research Experiences
Rebecca Haacker-Santos; Rebecca Haacker, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric and Related Sciences (SOARS) combines a summer internship with year-round mentoring, conference travel, and publishing support. During their ten week internship at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), SOARS protégés get to choose a research topic and will explore it with the help of their scientific mentors. They also attend a weekly scientific communication workshop, seminars about graduate school and career choices, and complete end-of-summer poster and oral presentations. Topics of research span the broad field of climate and weather, including computing and engineering in support of the atmospheric sciences.

Institution Type: Non-minority-serving

Maintaining Undergraduate Geoscience Education Excellence in a Climate of Emerging Research Institution
Tania Anders, Mt San Antonio College
This webpage is an essay from the InTeGrate project discussing strategies for maintaining excellence in undergraduate geoscience education at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, a Hispanic-serving emerging research institution, through initiatives like undergraduate research, writing-intensive courses, internships, and participation in high-impact practices such as the LEAP initiative to support student success and broaden access. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Institution Type: Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)

Developing a strong Geology Program at the University of Puerto Rico
Hernan Santos, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
Essay page detailing strategies for strengthening a geology program at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, focusing on student recruitment, retention, undergraduate research, field experiences, summer internships, and graduate school preparation within a Hispanic-Serving Institution. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Institution Type: Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)

Learning about the Earth at the University of South Alabama
Carol Sawyer, University of South Alabama
This webpage is an academic essay detailing how the University of South Alabama's Earth Sciences program engages region-serving students through coastal hazard education, natural processes, and career-focused geoscience curriculum, emphasizing environmental and emergency management applications in a sustainability context. auto-generated The author of this page didn't provide a brief description so this one sentence summary was created by an AI tool. It may not be completely accurate.

Institution Type: Non-minority-serving