NSF GEOPAths Project
An immersive urban environmental geochemistry research experience as a pathway to careers in the geosciences
An immersive urban environmental geochemistry research experience as a pathway to careers in the geosciences
Urban communities often suffer the greatest damage from poor water, air, and soil quality. Yet, while undergraduate geoscience programs are the foundation for jobs tasked with remedying this problem, the racially minoritized residents who disproportionately reside in urban communities, are vastly underrepresented in these fields. We propose to create a more inclusive geoscience learning environment through the implementation of a high school environmental geoscience education and research program using a community-centric environmental justice approach. High school students from marginalized urban communities will assess environmental contamination within their community, determine the efficacy of existing solutions, and experiment with designing their own solutions while utilizing advanced technologies used by geoscience professionals. We hypothesize that an immersive, locally based, culturally responsive research experience in urban environmental geochemistry will broaden a pathway to the geosciences for underrepresented minoritized (URM) students. This will address two pressing issues of social justice: underrepresentation of racial minorities in geoscience careers and urban environmental contamination.
This collaborative project includes three Villanova geoscience faculty (Dr. Steven Goldsmith, Department of Geography and the Environment; Dr. Kabindra Shakya, Department of Geography and the Environment; and Dr. Vanessa Boschi, Department of Chemistry) and Villanova STEM education specialist (Dr. Lisa Marco-Bujosa) and educators from Saul High School in northwest Philadelphia.
Updates:
Spring 2023: We successfully completed the implementation of water, soil, and air pollution modules in cooperation with Mr. Jesse Lepkowski of W.B. Saul High School in Philadelphia.
Summer 2023: We welcomed our first cohort of Saul students to the Villanova Environmental Geochemistry Summer Institute! https://www1.villanova.edu/content/university/media/features/villanova-geoscientists-host-local-students-though-grant.html
Fall 2023: M.S. student Hannah Feldman presented our initial findings associated with the delivery of the in-class modules at the 2023 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, P.A. https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2023AM/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/392494
Spring 2023: We successfully completed the implementation of water, soil, and air pollution modules in cooperation with Mr. Jesse Lepkowski of W.B. Saul High School in Philadelphia.
Summer 2023: We welcomed our first cohort of Saul students to the Villanova Environmental Geochemistry Summer Institute! https://www1.villanova.edu/content/university/media/features/villanova-geoscientists-host-local-students-though-grant.html
Fall 2023: M.S. student Hannah Feldman presented our initial findings associated with the delivery of the in-class modules at the 2023 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, P.A. https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2023AM/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/392494
