FROM YOUNG LEARNER TO YOUNG PROFESSIONAL: CREATING A GEOSTEM ECOSYSTEM WITHIN A LARGE GEOSCIENCE COLLEGE

The Jackson School of Geosciences (JSG) at the University of Texas at Austin has had a proven investment in broadening participation and improving diversity in the geosciences since the Department of Geological Sciences, formerly within the College of Natural Sciences, joined the Bureau of Economic Geology and the Institute for Geophysics in 2005 to become the Jackson School of Geosciences. GeoFORCE Texas, started in 2005 as part of an ongoing collaboration with HBCU Fort Valley State University, launched the diversity efforts and is the largest and longest-running high school geoscience outreach program in the country. In recent years, as the program and its alumni have matured, we have enhanced our efforts to provide opportunities for the transition to college experience and for undergraduate students. Here we describe, from a program management perspective, the entities, relationships, pathways and feedbacks that contribute to student achievement and fulfillment in a GeoSTEM ecosystem. We present the details of two programs within the JSG Office of Broader Impacts in Geoscience Research (BIGR) that extend the GeoFORCE student experience into continued participation in the geosciences. The GeoSTEM Math and Science Institute is a bridge program for entering college freshmen majoring in STEM, and Geo-VISION: Geosciences Visualization, Imaging and Simulation in Online Networks is a research traineeship experience (RTX) for undergraduates and recent graduates. Both programs are effective in maintaining engagement with underrepresented minority students majoring in the geoscience majors and other STEM majors. They serve as potential gateways for future opportunities within and outside the JSG. Crucial to the success of the programs is the involvement of JSG staff, faculty, researchers, graduate students, undergraduates and – importantly – alumni of GeoFORCE.