GP-UP: Strengthening the Geo-STEM Learning Ecosystem: Undergraduate Connections to Community Water Resource Partnerships

Geoscience as a profession is at a crossroads with respect to attracting individuals from diverse populations and training future geoscientists. Western Oregon University (WOU) will develop a Geo-STEM learning ecosystem, which is a collaborative partnership between a four-year public university, natural resource focused government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and regional geoscience employers. The goal of the partnership is to cultivate Earth science literacy and motivate novel solutions to local environmental issues, while connecting diverse student populations to the geoscience discipline with altruistic motivations for pursuing future careers as professionals. The project will engage and invigorate a new generation of geoscience professionals, particularly those who have been structurally excluded in the sciences. Existing elements of WOU’s Earth and Environmental Science program will be strengthened with the intentional cultivation of an enhanced Geo-STEM learning ecosystem that provides professional mentorship and career-outreach experiences, designed to increase awareness of opportunities for professional outcomes in early career undergraduates who otherwise lack access. The overarching project goal is to strengthen a Geo-STEM learning ecosystem and engage more young people in geosciences at the undergraduate level. The project will focus on mentored geoscience education through development of community water resource partnerships. Given that water resources and river restoration are iconic scientific themes in the Pacific Northwest, the WOU GEOPAths project team has adapted fundamental concepts of floodplain connectivity to the Geo-STEM learning ecosystem model, with the analogous intent of increasing connections between early career undergraduates to the geoscience profession. Specific objectives include: (1) increasing enrollment, diversity, and retention in the geosciences; (2) strengthening the statewide Geo-STEM learning ecosystem by fortifying connections to the professional community; and (3) testing novel approaches to recruitment of diverse populations in the geoscience profession. Extra-curricular experiences and training in the geosciences with a focus on service-learning and workforce training will lead to increased probabilities for student engagement, academic success, and positive career outcomes. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.