POWER OF YOUTUBE AS AN ACCESSIBLE GEOSCIENCE COMMUNICATION, OUTREACH, AND RECRUITMENT TOOL

Geoscience departments are currently suffering low enrollment largely due to lack of understanding among students and the general public regarding the meaning and scope of geoscience. Efforts to increase enrollment often focus on incorporating recruitment strategies in introductory courses or conducting outreach for students at the K-12 level. These methods are often effective on a local scale, but the decrease in geological interest among undergraduate students is a global issue. For nearly four years, I have been posting educational geoscience videos on my YouTube channel, GEO GIRL. The geoscience outreach conducted through this channel has provided useful data revealing major public misperceptions of geoscience as well as methods that may transform such misperceptions. This channel has accrued over 3 million views and reached viewers in over 150 different countries, far outweighing the reach of local outreach activities. YouTube is not only globally accessible, but my videos are also viewed by both members of the scientific community as well as those outside of science who are interested in one or more of the individual topics I cover on the channel. Thus, this method of outreach allows us to reach and influence both the general public and students. Since starting the channel, I have received numerous messages from students saying my videos inspired them to pursue geoscience as a major and career. I also receive messages from viewers saying my content has helped them learn about a topic which is otherwise not available to them. Online video allows us to inspire, influence, and engage students and non-students globally. Here, I present my experience and findings from online science communication with the goal of inspiring other geoscientists to take advantage of social media as an effective global outreach and recruitment tool.