EAS Seminar Series: Matthew Pritchard

Description

Speaker

Matthew Pritchard, professor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell

Talk Title

How do we better recruit students to the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences?  Come learn about the new NSF project CorGGLE; Cornell GeoPaths Geoscience Learning Ecosystem 

Abstract

The geosciences provide many career options in areas of societal relevance including natural hazards, energy, water, and mineral resources, and climate change.  However, several studies show that students currently have low perceptions of both the societal relevance and career opportunities in geoscience.  To increase the awareness of geoscience careers in students from diverse undergraduate majors, we will begin a 9 week program for at least 6 students/year in the summer of 2022 at Cornell consisting of research and career mentoring.  The program is funded through the National Science Foundation GeoPaths program and is called Cornell Geopaths Geoscience Learning Ecosystem (CorGGLE).  We seek to answer the question: Which strategies are most effective for increasing the number and diversity of non-geoscience undergraduate majors that pursue post-baccalaureate degrees in geoscience?  We will answer this question over the 3 years of the project through surveys led by Prof. Sharon Sassler, Department of Policy Analysis and Management of the participants as well as hundreds of Cornell students taking EAS classes.  A novel aspect of our proposed program is that student research and experiences will span multiple disciplines of high societal relevance in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences .  CorGGLE students will participate in group mentoring, social events, and professional skill development activities with a cohort of summer students across science and engineering fields organized by the Diversity Programs in Engineering Office.  We are looking for volunteers to mentor student projects, help identify geoscience professionals (particularly alumni) to serve as career mentors, and to allow us to survey your classes.

Bio

Matt Pritchard is a geophysicist who measures changes in the shape of the Earth and develops models of the myriad processes that cause these changes including: earthquakes, volcanoes, groundwater, landslides, and glaciers. Prior to arriving at Cornell in 2005, Pritchard was a Harry Hess Postdoctoral Scholar at Princeton University, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, and an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago.

Open to the Cornell Community