M.E.S.A, NOT JUST A SEAT AT THE TABLE: A CHICANO GEOLOGY STUDENT'S EXPERIENCE WITH INVESTIGATIVE FIELD RESEARCH

The MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) program in California engages educationally disadvantaged students, primarily minority groups, providing the opportunity to excel in math and science and graduate with math-based degrees. The MESA program at East Los Angeles Community College selected me (a returning 24 year-old Chicano student), for a SCEC (Southern California Earthquake Center) summer internship at USU (Utah State University). The project placed me in a group with 3 other undergraduate geology students from across the continent to investigate geothermal systems in the Salton Trough and northern Utah. The peer-driven fieldwork transformed students to investigators by forcing each participant to be responsible for the success of the entire group. In this environment we rose to the expectations of managing a detailed field notebook, sampling, planning routes, field equipment acquisition and maintenance, and laboratory analyses (x-ray diffraction, water chemistry) interpretation, among other things. Mentorship from and challenges proposed by the USU project advisor further built on this scaffolding of field experience. Elements of the MESA program that helped the most were a variety of talks hosted by practicing scientists in different fields, persistent outreach by MESA staff, and a Geology Club that provides low-cost to free field trip opportunities. Merging of campus-based MESA program with NSF-funded SCEC effort furthered my success by providing an opportunity to test leadership and critical thinking skills in a practical and professional setting. As a result of my experience as a Chicano geology-major I gained the confidence and background knowledge necessary to ask critical questions and understand complex concepts that will be the basis for the successful completion of at least a Bachelor of Science degree in geology, and the pursuit of further education. The key to building that confidence was active programs like MESA that seek out opportunities for students to test their abilities in a practical environment, which can be fostered at any level.