SOLVING REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS AND PROMOTING DIVERSITY IN THE GEOSCIENCES THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS AND KARST RESEARCH

The geosciences continue to lag far behind other science, technology, engineering and mathematical disciplines in recruiting and retaining minorities. A report published by the National Science Foundation in 2019, “Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering” states that from 2002 to 2018, less than 2% of the geoscience degrees were awarded to African-American students. Data also show that as of 2016, approximately 30% of African-American Ph.D. graduates obtained a bachelor’s degree from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), indicating that HBCUs are a great source of diverse students for the geosciences. This presentation reviews how a 15-year research partnership between Tennessee State University (TSU), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA) engaged students in scientific research and increased the number of students pursuing employment or graduate degrees in the geosciences. The student projects focused on water resources in a karst terrain and included a wide range of research topics including, parking lot runoff and filter efficiency, groundwater recharge and chemical transport, quantitative tracer studies, karst hydrology model development, geophysical logging, emergency spill response, geochemistry and geomicrobiology. Students are currently studying harmful algal blooms in park ponds and in the cave. Not only did these research projects provide experiential learning for students, they also addressed real-world science problems at MACA.