INTRODUCING WRANE, AN OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME LEARNING ECOSYSTEM FOR PRE-UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ON WATER GEOSCIENCE

The Water Research, Assessment, and Networking Ecosystem (WRANE) program has recently established several out-of-school-time learning groups designed to educate pre-university students and teachers on water-related geoscience topics, encourage participation in research projects, and increase the exposure of teachers, students, and the general public to geoscience and STEM fields. The goals of the program are threefold: to improve the quality of pre-university geoscience education; to illustrate water geoscience concepts via citizen science research projects; and to increase the number and diversity of students interested in the geosciences. In this presentation, we describe the organization of the WRANE program and the individual cohorts, as well as how groups are supported by OSU faculty. We also explain our water geoscience-based online curriculum, activities, and field and lab demonstrations, and how they connect to the citizen science research projects conducted by each cohort. While the program is new and evaluation data are limited, we expect that this program will play a significant role in the recruitment and outreach activities for the Boone Pickens School of Geology, as well as advancing geoscience and STEM education in general.