Freshman Opportunities for Research in the Geosciences (FORGe)

Cohort: 2017
Fellow: Mary Poteet

I am working on a unique partnership between Austin Community College (ACC) and UT Austin to develop collaborative peer learning communities (PLCs) in the Geosciences with mixed cohorts of two-year college (2YC) and four-year college (4YC) students. The project goals are to 1) increase the number of low-income and underrepresented STEM majors in the geosciences by developing collaborative communities among 2YC and 4YC students, 2) enhance the education of future geoscientists with mentoring, professional development, and community building, 3) generate knowledge about how our activities and scholarships influence student transfer, graduation, and job acquisition, and 4) develop an effective research-based 2YC-4YC partnership and innovation model that can be replicated across the nation.
Working with a colleague at ACC, I have recruited ACC students into research at UT and included ACC students in field work and social events with the Jackson Scholars program through the Department of Geological Sciences. To date, several of these students have successfully transferred to UT Austin. One major obstacle to this project is providing financial support to ACC students, the majority of whom need funding in order to participate in summer research experiences. With a group of collaborators, I have submitted this project to the NSF S-STEM competition to fund scholarships for low income students at both UT Austin and ACC that will enable students from low-income families to participate in this program.