BORDER TO BELTWAY: AN INNOVATIVE FIELD EXCHANGE PROJECT BETWEEN EL PASO COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Community colleges currently represent over 40% of the undergraduate student population in the United States. Often, community colleges are underfunded or lack the support and resources to conduct formative field experiences which engage undergraduates and introduce them to the idea of entering the geosciences as a career. Border to Beltway is the first field exchange between two community colleges, El Paso Community College (EPCC, Texas) and Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA, Virginia) to engage 2YC students in formative outdoor settings. Supplemental funding from EPCC’s SOLARIS (Student Opportunities in Learning Advanced Research In the geoSciences) Program enabled 13 EPCC students and 13 NVCC students to participate in a week of formative field experiences in the Basin and Range of West Texas and Southern New Mexico, and another week in the Valley and Ridge, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, and Atlantic Coastal Plain provinces of the mid-Atlantic region. Participants utilized sites such as the Guadalupe Mountains and Shenandoah National Park, to apply knowledge gained through peer teaching conducting during the project. Participants were required to apply this knowledge to understand various geologic settings and perform field techniques like observation, note-taking, sketching, interpretation, and sample identification. The Border to Beltway Project sought to provide field-based learning experiences and real world challenges encountered in the field to non-traditional students (returning students, veterans, minorities, females, etc.). The 26 participants included 15 males and 11 females ranging from traditional college age to senior citizen, and represented a wide range of cultural, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds.