The Integrating Geoscience and Career Education in High School project is a Track 1, integrative science and career education program working to increase participation, particularly of students from a diverse background (e.g. gender, ethnicity, low-income families, disabilities), at North Carolina State University (NC State) and encourage completion of high school and enrollment in geoscience programs in universities. Collaborating between researchers, teachers/counselors, and parents, the project is a year-round program for rising 9th to 10th grade high school students (n = 40 each year) in Durham County that focuses on development of understanding fundamental geoscience concepts and emphasizes process and application more than facts. Specifically, the project focuses on coastal landscape studies, faults, rocks, and geospatial techniques, and provides a variety of opportunities to learn in the field with hands-on experience and problem-solving approaches. Activities include field trips, laboratory work, visits to geosciences/GIS agencies, career structured groups, parent workshops, a summer program at the NC Outer Banks, and summer research internships. The project incorporates innovative approaches for leveraging community-university collaborations and using trained graduate students as counselors for high school students.
