Paper No. 105-1
Presentation Time: 5:30 PM
EARTH SCIENCE FAIR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: HANDS-ON EARTH EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH
ROBAKIEWICZ, Elena, Department of Geosciences, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, 72070, Germany; Department of Geosciences, University of Connecticut, STORRS MANSFIELD, CT 06269, BEAMER, Dawn, Department of Geosciences, The University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, COOPER BOEMMELS, Jennifer, Department of Earth Science, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515; Department of Geosciences, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road - Unit 1045, Storrs, CT 06269, BRISSON, Sarah K., Department of Geosciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, DOW, Samantha, Department of Geosciences, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road - Unit 1045, Storrs, CT 06269 and VANDERLEEST, Rebecca A., Department of Geology, Oberlin College, 52 West Lorain Street, Oberlin, OH 44074
As global environmental stress adds pressure on social, economic, and political decisions and increasingly polarized rhetoric divides the public, politicians, and scientists, geologists must actively engage with the community to ensure their trust and prove why our research is vital, worthwhile, and, most importantly, fun. Each fall at the University of Connecticut, the Geosciences Graduate Group, composed of the Department of Geosciences’ Master’s and PhD students, organizes its annual “Earth Science Fair”: a day of educational, geology-themed activities for school children, educators, undergraduates and their families. The goals of the Earth Science Fair are
(1) to decrease barriers between scientists and our local community by engaging in conversations to explain what geosciences is, why we study it, and why the community should support our efforts;
(2) to support direct conversations between undergraduates and their families and participating geoscience faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students about opportunities available within geosciences (study abroad, career opportunities, etc.);
(3) to provide resources for local educators to integrate geology into their curriculum, given that earth system sciences are often underrepresented in primary and secondary education; and
(4) to encourage geological curiosity and questioning among visiting Elementary and Middle school children.
Since this event began in 2016, we have noted increased local participation, exhibiting the success of this event to break down barriers between our department and the public. Because of this, we created an activities booklet, to be adapted and used by other universities, that describes our Earth Science Fair to the broader geosciences community that is available at UConn’s Department of Geosciences homepage. Going forward, the Geosciences Graduate Group at UConn aims to increase this event’s visibility, communicate with other geosciences departments to improve our event, encourage other departments to increase their communication and visibility with their local communities, and begin to analyze our community’s response to this annual event with metrics to better cater this event in the future.
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