Fostering a Network of Virginia Geoscientists

Inspiring Tomorrow's Workforce with Mentorship from Today's Geoscientists

Friday, October 13, 2017
Virginia Geological Field Conference, Piedmont Community College

Registration Deadline: October 12, 2017

This workshop is intended for all geoscience faculty, students, and geoscience professionals.

During this workshop, we will facilitate career mentoring sessions for geoscience students and professional geoscientists. These professionals will share their personal experiences navigating academia and the professional world with attending students and geoscience faculty. Students will not only have the opportunity to have questions about geoscience careers answered, but geoscience faculty can also explore ways to better prepare their students for the workforce. Participants will meet prior to the Virginia Geological Field Conference business meeting on Friday evening and students will be able to informally meet with professionals and other geology students (from 2yc and 4yc). On Saturday, participants will attend the full-day field trip, providing opportunities to learn about Virginia geology, how geology is conducted in the field, scientific debates, familiarize with communicating scientific concepts, and interact with geologists from academia, government, and the private sector. Historically, student participation at the VFGC has been minimal. By encouraging student participation, we will help to sustain the VGFC organization and expose students to professional geoscientists and their networks.

We hope that students will leave with a broader understanding of job opportunities, clearer vision of possible paths to jobs in the geosciences, and faculty gain a sense of the skills employers are seeking from applicants. This workshop is part of our strategy to continue to develop a highly interactive network of geoscientists across the commonwealth.

Workshop Conveners

  • Pete Berquist, Thomas Nelson Community College, berquistp@tncc.edu
  • Karen Layou, Reynolds Community College, klayou@reynolds.edu
  • Lynsey LeMay, Thomas Nelson Community College, lemayl@tncc.edu

If you would like further information about the workshop, please contact one of conveners listed above.

This workshop is part of the Supporting and Advancing Geoscience in Two-Year Colleges: Faculty as Change Agents project and is supported by the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education through grants DUE 1525593, 1524605, 1524623, and 1524800.

Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


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