REIMAGINING A TRADITIONAL GEOLOGY FIELD COURSE: PROGRAM ELEMENTS AND IMPACTS OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL FIELD AND CAREER PREPARATION PROGRAM FOR UNDERGRADUATES AT 2-YEAR AND 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS

The E-STEM (Environmental STEM; NSF-GEOPATHS) program was a multi-institutional collaboration between 2 private, 4-year institutions (College of the Atlantic and University of San Francisco) and 1 public, 2-year institution (Mt. San Antonio College.) In 2017 and 2018, 1st and 2nd year students from these institutions completed a summer field and career preparation program in eastern California, including geology, geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology field activities and interaction with local environmental professionals (stakeholders.) Using mapping, field notes, hydrology methods, and botany methods assessment rubrics, we tracked student progress as they practiced these skills in the context of different field activities. Students completed surveys before and after the summer course about their skills and content knowledge, professional networks, and environmental career awareness and preferences. Following field instruction, students participated in career preparation and awareness activities during the subsequent term at their home institutions. This presentation will introduce the E-STEM program website, whose content is designed to facilitate adoption of environmental field and career preparation experiences by other institutions. Field activity prompts, rubrics tied to specific field skills and content knowledge, field area resources, syllabi and course descriptions, presentations related to this project, and elements of program evaluation findings are all featured on the SERC-hosted website. We will present student survey and interview data and the progression of student work over the course of the program to consider the impact of E-STEM on students' geology, geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology field skills; environmental career awareness; and career goals, including work environment and specific sector preferences. The 39 students who participated in E-STEM represent a diverse cohort of learners; to that end, we will also discuss the academic trajectories of E-STEM alumni since they completed the program and comment on programmatic elements that may have contributed to the impacts observed.