A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's indigenous students. Expanding the outreach, research, and STEM instructional capacity at these institutions expands the opportunities for students to pursue challenging, rewarding careers in STEM fields, provides for research studies in areas that may be locally relevant, and encourages a faculty community to look beyond the traditional classroom for intellectual and professional growth. This project aligns directly with that goal, and moreover will serve as a model for novel pathways to careers in the geosciences for students underrepresented in that field.
The Partnerships in Geoscience Education (PAGE) collaborative among these Hawaii community colleges and the University of Hawaii Department of Oceanography will implement a strategic approach to increasing the number and success of Native Hawaiians majoring in the geosciences that will include outreach to local high schools, the implementation of a summer bridge that will increase mathematics readiness through calculus, the infusion of Native Hawaiian traditional knowledge into an expanded geoscience curriculum at the participating institutions, locally and culturally relevant research opportunities for undergraduates, community outreach to share the results of that research, and the engagement of environmental science specialists at each participating institution to ensure the greatest likelihood of students? academic success.
