GP-GO: Growing the number and diversity of non-geoscience undergraduates in Cornell's graduate programs in Atmospheric and Geological Sciences with a Geoscience Learning Ecosystem

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).

Graduate studies in the geosciences require diverse skills and have the potential to attract students from myriad undergraduate majors including chemistry, engineering, computer science, physics, biology, geography, mathematics and the social and behavioral sciences. Further, many geoscience graduate programs prepare students for careers in societally relevant fields such as natural hazards, energy, water, and mineral resources, and climate change, that should engage students from these diverse undergraduate majors.

However, several studies have shown that student perceptions of careers in the geosciences do not match reality. PIs propose to develop a geoscience learning ecosystem that will increase the awareness of geoscience careers in students from diverse undergraduate majors at the critical juncture between undergraduate and graduate school. PIs seek to answer the question: Which strategies are most effective for increasing the number and diversity of non-geoscience undergraduate majors that pursue post-baccalaureate degrees in geoscience?

The over-arching goal of the Cornell Geopaths Geoscience Learning Ecosystem (CorGGLE) program will be to design and test a novel summer bridge program that helps students from non-geoscience fields transition into geoscience graduate programs, specifically giving them exposure to myriad socially relevant careers in the geosciences. The key elements of the project include: (1) engaging diverse undergraduate institutions and students, (2) offering societally relevant summer research projects in geosciences at Cornell, (3) highlighting professional and social development across Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields facilitated by Cornell’s award-winning Diversity Programs in Engineering, and (4) providing career mentoring.

To accomplish the creation of a connected geoscience learning ecosystem, PIs plan to develop and implement a nine-week summer bridge program, consisting of research and career mentoring for six students per summer from outside the geosciences. A novel aspect of the proposed program is that student research and experiences will span multiple disciplines of high societal relevance, including climate change, natural hazards, and water, energy and mineral resources.

By the end of the experience and proposed activities, students will 1) become aware of scientific opportunities in geosciences in areas of high societal relevance, 2) be exposed to multiple career paths, 3) develop a cohort of peers, and 4) will have letters of recommendation from geoscientists that will enhance their chances for successful admission to a graduate program.

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.