The workshop seeks to continue the conversation on the National Technical Association (NTA)-HBCU Geosciences collaborative strategic action plan. This collaboration, between the community-based NTA and the campus-based HBCU-GWG (Geoscience Working Group), is an untapped resource for broadening participation in STEM leveraging local, regional and national efforts. The role of geosciences in transforming education and career pathways to help broaden participation in STEM builds on nine prior NSF-funded conferences, workshops and grants. One conclusion derived from these previous collaborative activities is that the NTA-HBCU initiative will capitalize on the extensive STEM training and research experiences of these institutions. The purpose of the workshop is to expand the work and reach of the NTA-HBCU Geosciences interdisciplinary community of practice by creating a robust virtual infrastructure for producing STEM geoscience-based curricula, faculty and student engagement while drawing upon the untapped, culturally relevant and responsive capacities of these renowned HBCU and NTA institutions in serving, training, graduating and integrating underrepresented students in STEM professions.
Due to the impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic, the NTA will conduct a Virtual 92nd Annual Conference to be held online. The conference will feature interactive remote presentations from students and technical experts with live participant interaction. Although climate change and COVID 19 are high priority topics, preparing and growing the future STEM workforce remains at the core of the NTA mission and the agenda. As a major component of the NTA conference, the HBCU-GWG will hold two community focused interactive workshop demonstration and training sessions. Clark Atlanta University will coordinate two workshop topics, one focused on Community-Based Programs Expanding Geoscience Education that will feature three community demonstration projects connecting campus and community to deliver STEM experiential education in under-resourced Black communities. The program will also include a Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) workshop. GLOBE is an international science and education program supported by NSF, NASA, NOAA and the US State Department that provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to participate in data collection and the scientific process. The Working Group has invested in faculty development training to reinforce strategies for incorporating societal impacts for several years, and they will engage community organizations in extending the impact of GLOBE into the African American neighborhoods that surround HBCU campuses. Specific workshop goals are to: Bring together university, government and organizational leadership to explore new opportunities for STEM education (partnerships, recruitment, curriculum, instruction); Explore HBCU responses to the COVID 19 pandemic including research, impacts, technology and implications for the future of STEM education; Identify and prioritize strategies proven to actually increase diversity in the STEM pipeline, persistence and performance.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
