Ocean Geopaths

Part 1: A significant shortage of United States geoscientists is predicted by 2022. Recruitment and training of a diverse workforce of geologists and related scientists is critical for national health, prosperity, welfare and defense. However, recruitment of underrepresented minorities into geosciences faces many obstacles. This project employs novel high-impact educational practices to increase the number and diversity of geoscience majors entering the geoscience career pipeline and trains K-12 teachers to inspire their students? interest in geosciences. Underrepresented students and pre-service teachers will engage in innovative marine geoscience experiences, mentoring programs, and courses using exciting technologies, career opportunity exposure, and hands-on learning. This project will target and recruit underrepresented students into geoscience majors at a private liberal arts university and a Minority (Hispanic-Serving) Institution that has a high percentage of rural, low-income, first-generation students who have very little exposure to marine science. We will evaluate the impact of engaging exposure to oceanography on the recruitment and retention of geoscience students and the preparation of K-12 teachers. Under the mentorship of research scientists, students will conduct authentic research, advancing our understanding of marine resources and environmental changes on the Pacific margin of the U.S. Part 2: The proposed project is an inter-institutional, co- and extra-curricular, participatory field-based oceanographic research program in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) to train and inspire diverse students to pursue careers in the geosciences. This program will integrate students from a private urban coastal campus (University of San Diego; USD) with generally rural, minority, low-income students from a minority-serving public inland campus, California State Univ., Bakersfield (CSUB), with established ?geoscience career pipelines? to bring high-school students into geoscience majors and place graduates with geoscience employers. We intend to examine the idea that a multifaceted approach including integrated marine science experiences in the lab, at sea and in the classroom can enhance recruitment and retention of students in the geosciences. This project builds on a successful program of shipboard education/research developed by USD and Rathburn.