The GeoLEAD (Geoscience Learning, Engagement And Development) initiative is an effort to bring together multiple resources to engage, retain, and prepare two- and four-year college undergraduate students for the geoscience workforce. Members of the geoscience workforce are involved in nearly all aspects of human society, whether it be in developing and managing natural resources, preparing for natural hazards, or planning for infrastructure development. As noted in several high level reports, there is a need to increase the number and diversity of students studying the STEM fields, but in the geosciences community that need is growing at an alarming rate due to the impending wave of retirements of senior scientists in government and industry. Community colleges offer an important opportunity for recruitment of new geoscientists, both because of their diversity and their growing significance as the venue where undergraduate students are exposed to the introductory STEM curriculum. Reducing attrition of students in the undergraduate pipeline by overcoming some of the known barriers and issues can go a long way toward solving the workforce and diversity shortfall of the future. As such, the goals of the GeoLEAD initiative are critically important to the Nation's future economic well-being and community resilience.
The specific goal of GeoLEAD is to leverage a collaboration among a variety of institutions and stakholders (e.g., academic institutions, professional societies, private sector employers) to co-develop a centralized portal for delivering an integrated, multi-dimensional set of resources for undergraduate students in the Earth and space sciences. This award is funding a professionally facilitated, implementation planning workshop in which the long-term framework of the GeoLEAD portal and detailed contributions of individual partners will be fleshed out. The 2-day workshop, being held in Washington, DC in April 2015, represents the culmination of community planning discussions regarding collaboration on undergraduate education and retention that have been underway since Fall 2013. When fully implemented, the GeoLEAD portal will provide a valuable one-stop-shopping venue for finding information about individual programs in the geosciences, including opportunities for scholarship/fellowship opportunites, research experiences, and career planning guidance. The portal also will offer bundled resources that together can provide individual students with customized end-to-end support as they transition from early engagement in the geosciences to preparation for a career.
