PROYECTO DINOSAURIOS: HOW ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING, FIELD WORK, AND TRAVEL PROVIDE MINORITY UNDERGRADUATES WITH THE SKILLS NEEDED TO SUCCEED IN THE EARTH SCIENCES

Community colleges are key targets to mitigate the severe underrepresentation of minorities in the geosciences. Proyecto Dinosaurios is an ongoing internship building a network of cooperation between community colleges in the greater Los Angeles area and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLA). The main goals of Proyecto Dinosaurios are to: expose minority (primarily Hispanic) students to the academic activities of graduate students, professional paleontologists, and supporting staff; help students recognize career and schooling options within the geosciences; encourage students to transfer to a 4-year college and continue to graduate studies; and create awareness and familiarity of the process of scientific endeavor and increase understanding of the nature of science. There have been four classes of Proyecto Dinosaurios interns since 2007, with initial funding from NSF, and current support from the Ahmanson Foundation.

Participating students rotate through a series of training modules working in pairs with a professional in all aspects of paleontology carried out at NHMLA: fossil preparation, curation, scientific illustration, specimen digitization, and scientific research. Additionally, students participate in a series of workshops related to continuing education and public speaking. A key component of Proyecto Dinosaurios is field research. Students accompany museum researchers on expeditions where they learn diverse field methods. Students also visit sites of geological or archeological significance throughout the American West, such as national parks and other museums.

Proyecto Dinosaurios creates awareness about professional possibilities within the geosciences and encourages students to pursue majors and graduate programs in paleontology or other earth science disciplines. Over all, Proyecto Dinosaurios provides hands-on experiences in most aspects of the paleontological endeavor. Program alumni success includes several students admitted into Earth Sciences programs at major universities and a current paleontological preparator employed at the NHMLA. Survey data have been collected throughout all program years, noting in particular a greatly expanded understanding of the nature of science and a broadened sense of opportunity in the sciences.