LEVERAGING FEDERALLY FUNDED STATE BLOCK GRANTS TO DEVELOP THE NEXT GENERATION GEOSCIENCE WORKFORCE: GEOFORCE TEXAS

GeoFORCE Texas encourages a diverse group of co-ed youth from underserved schools to excel in the sciences and pursue higher education in scientific fields especially those related to the energy industry. Students are selected from middle schools where the majority of students are identified as economically disadvantaged. The students are provided four summers of spectacular geologic field experiences with college professors, research scientists, high school science teachers, and energy company geologists and geophysicists. Funding sources include energy companies, private foundations, and government agencies such as the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).

A major function of the TWC is workforce development. TWC has provided funding for GeoFORCE over the 11 summers of its existence. TWC funding supports the summer field experience before grade 9. Most of the funding of TWC is through federal sources including block grants such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds from the Department of Health and Human Services. Exercising the latitude provided states in how to allocate block grants, TWC allocates block grant funds to the Governor’s Summer Merit Program (GSMP). GSMP provides scholarships for Texas middle school and high school students between 14 and 21 years of age to increase the number of students served in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills-related summer learning experiences. GSMP is key to the success of GeoFORCE Texas. In the summer of 2015, 615 high school students engaged in the field in cohorts of up to 40 students. Demographics are 80% underrepresented minorities and 53% first generation in college. As of 2015, 96% of the students go on to college. GeoFORCE college students numbered 563, with 126 BS/BA graduates in 2015. Over 58% are pursuing STEM majors, with 23% of the STEM majors in the geosciences, including 23 students in the Jackson School of Geosciences.