Supporting Students In Geosciences Incorporating relevance in classes: Local case studies – Place-based problem sets KAFB Fuel Spill problems Uranium in-situ mining Water quality from local streams (some on tribal land) Student involvement in research: Resources available for undergraduate research support (cost of field work – thank you alumni!!!) Build undergraduate salary into all grants (but need more money!) Get students out of Walmart and into our labs! Individuate mentoring: All students required to meet with faculty adviser annually (not all do it). Math training: Pre-calculus applied

Challenges in Supporting Students Culture of science and academia: Science usually taught in “low-context” individuated manner. The classic ‘silo’ approach to science Many students from under-represented groups fit a “high-context” model (see Ibarra 2001) Academic culture is often not collaborative or kind Competitive approach, focus on individual Opportunity for geoscience in Environmental Sciences: Integrative, high-context by nature Good opportunities for community-based projects (service learning)

Something you can do!!! Write a cultural autobiography Focus on how your cultural background affects your teaching? Are you from high-context or low-context background? Does your cultural comfort fit how you teach? Can you break out of this comfort zone?