CREATING GEOSCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN EL PASO

The Geological Sciences Department at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) has a number of programs to recruit high school students into the Geosciences. The programs fall into 2 categories, 1) those that work directly with high school students and 2) those directed toward high school teachers. Both have proven to be effective and the number of students we can recruit into our geoscience degree programs through these activities is primarily limited by our available resources. The program that directly impacts high school students is a “pipeline” that creates initial interest in lower division high school students through a two-week summer program (Pathways) where approximately 30 high school freshmen and sophomores meet on the UTEP campus, conduct activities with a variety of faculty members and go on field trips around the area. This initial program is followed by an opportunity (METALS) for 10 upper division high school students to travel to National Parks and elsewhere for 2 weeks. Nearly all of the high school seniors that go on the METALS trip choose to attend UTEP as geology or geophysics majors. As undergraduates in our department, they are included in another program, PREP, where they conduct research projects and get additional training on a variety of topics related to their potential careers. The PREP students are required to apply for summer internships and scholarships as part of their training and most of our students travel internationally to learn more about their career opportunities during the summers. One outcome of this program is that students see themselves as researchers, choose to attend graduate school, and are publishing papers. Our teacher-oriented programs include a MA degree in teaching science with an emphasis in Geology, a program where PhD students are paired with local teachers to help the teachers develop materials for their classes, two professional development programs, and several field and research opportunities. Many of our research grants include projects for teachers and we work closely with the school districts to improve the quality of teachers in our region. The results of these programs are a greater awareness of geoscience career opportunities and the incorporation of geology related problems and examples in many science courses in our high schools.