Start 'em young

摘要

A program aimed at students from economically disadvantaged areas gets them out of the city and into the field. Over the years I've interviewed lots of geoscientists, and one of the questions I tend to ask them is, "What got you interested in this field?" Almost unanimously, their answer has been, "I like being outdoors." In an industry that worries about training the next generation, the University of Texas at Austin (UT) has responded with a program tailored for rural and inner-city teens that certainly has them spending a lot of time outdoors. Called GeoFORCE, the program exposes the teens to four consecutive summers of weeklong geological field trips and helps them get into college. The success of the program has recently resulted in the awarding of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, announced by President Barack Obama March 27.