CREATING UNIQUE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR TWO-YEAR COLLEGE FACULTY AND STUDENTS (URECAS): AN INTEGRATED RESEARCH AND TRANSFER PROGRAM FOR TWO-YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS IN THE EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES

Nationwide, approximately 17% of all two-year colleges offer geoscience degrees, and the two-year college (2YC) population is growing rapidly. Although 33% of 2YC students are members of underrepresented minorities, this group earned only 12% of geoscience associate’s degrees in 2008. Thus, engaging with 2YC’s represents both a potential rich source of diversity for the field and an area where much work remains to be done.

We conducted an NSF-funded workshop at the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Headquarters in Washington DC in July, 2012. This workshop gathered over fifty participants including 2YC Earth and space science faculty who conduct research with their students, some of their four-year college partners, members of other scientific organizations, and federal employees working to support Earth and space science education.

Our workshop provided an opportunity for 2YC faculty to increase their awareness of existing and successful research programs in the Earth and space sciences, and helped to identify relevant challenges to participation for both students and faculty. Additionally, faculty from four-year Earth and space science programs who have successfully transitioned 2YC students into their programs sparked a discussion of the issues and barriers involved in that process.

Outcomes from this workshop include dissemination of best practices for doing student-faculty research at 2YC and in conjunction with nearby four-year campuses or national summer research programs (see urecas.agu.org for a complete report). Our workshop built on previous efforts to coalesce a community of practice made up of 2YC faculty who conduct research in the Earth and space sciences with their students and those who are interested in partnering with or supporting them. The workshop helped to define the path forward towards the implementation of a full program led by AGU that will support 2YC students throughout their Earth and space science educational career at both the two-year and four-year institution, with a particular focus on areas where the pipeline is traditionally leaky. As a first step, AGU is piloting a virtual poster session for 2YC students in the Earth and space sciences to present their research projects at the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting.