THE IMPACT OF DISTRIBUTING CURATED GEOSCIENCE RESOURCES ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The creation and distribution of a comprehensive list of educational web pages has proven useful in informing those with an interest in geoscience about the various fields and career possibilities. The list is hosted on a single resource page titled 'Thinking of Becoming a Geoscientist?' that features a total of 46 curated links, each of which have been vetted to be accurate, informative, and easy to understand, with titles specifically chosen to reflect its content while also appealing to visitors.

The resource page is publicly shared on the researcher's social media profiles - Instagram and TikTok - which together have a cumulative following of over 600,000. Additional distribution efforts included making posts that direct viewers to the page, sending the link to individuals who ask questions that it may be able to answer, and sharing it with educators who then urge their students to utilize it.

To assess the impact of the page, traffic was tracked from January 1st to June 30th, 2023. Metrics of interest include the number of visitors to the page, their sources of origin, and the specific links they clicked on. The titles of the most-clicked links indicate that visitors are especially interested in learning about the types of jobs in geoscience, the many branches of geology, and what you can do with a geology degree.

These results highlight the most widely-held questions coming from various audiences: the general public, those specifically interested in geoscience, and those actively engaged in it. Firsthand reports sent to the researcher by high school students, college geology majors, and recent graduates make apparent the shortcomings of K-12 earth science education, as well as the dire need to address these topics in college geology classes in order to better prepare students for their careers after graduation.