USING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO INTRODUCE THE GEOSCIENCES AS A CAREER OPTION AT XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), in partnership with Louisiana University Marine Consortium (LUMCON), has received funding to create a program that will include both academic semester and summer course work. The project will use geoscience-related grand challenges identified by the Integrate Project, including but not limited to, eutrophication, erosion, environmental stability, climate change, water, and food production, the life cycle of water-borne pathogens and carbon cycling to introduce students to the Geosciences. The project between XULA and LUMCON will develop a students' ability to address transdisciplinary problems (sustainable agriculture, conservation, resource management, energy, carbon) by using data visualization and analysis skills applied to authentic data.

Xavier Faculty from across the College of Arts and Science (including Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Public Health, and Business) will work on this project. The faculty will use the Integrate model to develop a field course at the LUMCON research station. Students will work with a XULA faculty mentor, who will partner with LUMCOM faculty experts on tops in geology, chemistry, atmospheric science, sustainability, GIS and water monitoring. Environmental Geosciences, including Geo-risk Analysis, which has a strong emphasis on real practical applications and uses "state-of-the-art" methodology that is of interest to governments, corporations, and NGO sectors, world-wide will also be included.

As an established best practice, this project aims to reshape the image of what it means to be a Geoscientist. In addition to the field and course work, students will have opportunities to network with geoscience professionals from academia, federal agencies, and non-profit organizations to help them to identify essential geoscience career skills, as well as help them to identify with the profession. The goal of this project is to engage a diverse cohort of undergraduates in hands-on, career-related experiences that will expose them to becoming a part of the geoscience workforce.

This project is funded in part by the National Science Foundation grant Award ID 1911600 and the Xavier University/State of Louisiana Endowed Chair in Science.