SCIENTIST AT SEA: PATHWAYS TO THE GEOSCIENCES AT ECKERD COLLEGE

Recruitment of educationally and demographically diverse undergraduates in geoscience is vital for addressing the effects of climate change and environmental issues. Eckerd College (EC) has developed the Scientist at Sea (S-A-S) program to increase undergraduate awareness and engagement in the geosciences through funding from the National Science Foundation and collaboration with the University of South Florida, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Florida Institute of Oceanography and other private partners (e.g. Tampa Bay Watch). S-A-S is a multidisciplinary program to recruit, educate, and train prospective geoscientists by providing them with the necessary resources, knowledge, skills and experience to be effective professionals. The project integrates two new applied research courses with on-going (>13 yrs.) interdisciplinary research on culturally-relevant, real-world issues (i.e., 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill). The program consists of 3 major components: 1) a pre-expedition course for preliminary knowledge of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) with substantial cruise planning on-campus in the spring, 2) An off-campus summer research cruise aboard a scientific vessel and 3) a post-expedition continuation for data analysis, synthesis and presentation. Two cohorts (each about 25 students and four peer mentors) have participated in on-going research and monitoring of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the GoM. During this year-long program, S-A-S students gain transferable skills from proposal/scientific writing, logistics management, science outreach/communication, field methods, and creating professional products for symposia, conferences, and theses. S-A-S sustains a strong networking system amongst the students, instructors and collaborators. Increased recruitment and retention of a more diverse student population has also been a prominent outcome. This presentation illustrates the framework and recent results from the S-A-S program at EC, which may provide a template for other undergraduate institutions to form their own curriculum.