Learning by doing: GEO-funded projects build a STEM workforce through immersive experiences
The STEMSEAS project provides immersive onboard learning experiences for GEO student cohorts.
September 13, 2024
The Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) supports hundreds of awards—including grants, cooperative agreements and fellowships—that integrate research and education in all geoscience fields. Many awards support projects that create and execute immersive research and education programs, in which the funded organizations or principal investigators (PIs) recruit, select and support participants. Projects support students conducting hands-on research in specific geoscience fields. Awards may also support building institutional capacity or promote cultural change in the geoscience research and education programs.
For a decade, GEOPAths, or the Pathways into the Geosciences—Earth, Ocean, Polar and Atmospheric Sciences, has provided support for ongoing education, training and professional development of teachers, graduate, undergraduate and high school students in the geosciences through STEM learning ecosystems. The GEOPAths solicitation is under revision and will be updated in the coming year.
NSF awardees manage GEOPAths projects from inception to execution. One GEOPAths project, RESTORES, or the Retention of Earth Science Trainees through Opportunities in Restoration and Environmental Sciences, is building a pipeline to prepare, retain and enroll the next generation of coastal geoscientists. The RESTORES opportunity includes tuition funds, a paid internship, a stipend for summer research, access to supplemental academic support and pathways into graduate programs. See an Adelphi news article for details on the project’s progress.
Immersive GEOPAths learning opportunities also take students abroad. GEOPAths GO: Jamaica is currently recruiting for the 2025 cohort, who will participate in a summer research program connecting Earth Science research with conservation on a tropical island. This NSF-funded research project is building an earth science learning ecosystem in Jamaica and at the University of Texas at Austin. Students conduct cutting-edge research on critical coastal ecosystems and learn how they are impacted by anthropogenic change.
Moving from shore to the ocean, STEMSEAS provides unique, ship-based experiences for undergraduates from diverse backgrounds aboard NSF-funded research vessels. While sailing, students engage in geoscience and oceanography activities in a real-world laboratory. Most expenses—such as travel to and from the ports of call, materials and living expenses while on board—are paid by the STEMSEAS project award (2325637).
GEO-supported, hands-on research and education experiences cover a wide range of disciplines and align with NSF’s core mission to further progress in science and engineering through investments in people. These institution- and PI-driven programs are new, creative ways of educating the next generation and embracing our intellectual capital of the future. Do you have a GEO or RISE education and broadening participation project we can highlight? Send details to RISEOUTREACH@NSF.GOV.
The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.
Connect with us online
NSF website: nsf.gov
NSF News: nsf.gov/news
For News Media: nsf.gov/news/newsroom
Statistics: nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards database: nsf.gov/awardsearch/
Follow us on social
Twitter: twitter.com/NSF
Facebook: facebook.com/US.NSF
Instagram: instagram.com/nsfgov
