DEVELOPING A PIPELINE OF UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY STUDENTS FOR THE GEOSCIENCES THROUGH AFRICA-ARRAY

AfricaArray (www.africaarray.psu.edu) is a 20-year initiative to meet the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) requirements for continent-wide cooperation in human resources development and capacity building. The name “AfricaArray” refers to arrays of scientists working on linked projects across the continent; arrays of shared training programs and observational networks; and above all, a shared vision that Africa will retain capacity in an array of technical and scientific fields vital to the sustainable development of its natural resources.

In addition to its focus on capacity building in Africa, AfricaArray also has a strong educational focus in the U.S., funded by NSF, a consortium of petroleum companies and Penn State, that is targeted towards improving diversity in the geosciences by providing physics, math, engineering and earth science majors at minority-serving institutions opportunities to do research in Africa and/or related to African problems. Key components of this effort include a summer field courses in South Africa, a summer workshop for high school science teachers, support for geoscience curriculum development and teaching, and funding to support graduate students from minority-serving institutions drawn to AfricaArray. The intent of this program is to build a pipeline of underrepresented students into the geosciences by working with high school teachers and undergraduate educators to increase the number of students enrolling in science fields at minority-serving institutions and continuing on to geoscience graduate programs. This paper will provide an overview of the AfricaArray educational program for U.S. students with information on educational outcomes.