Best Practices for Internships and Research Experiences Encourage internships especially for students headed into the workforce and REUs for all students Research classes early in a student’s career are excellent means to involve them in research and internships late on Capstone research experience integrated into the curriculum Capacity issue with growing numbers of majors, need more buy in from administration and local industries Faculty members need to be compensated for REU and internship involvement Need a national internship clearinghouse

Curriculum Best Practices Easy entry into major (e.g. offering min-pet often, reducing prerequisites) Including research experience/problem based learning early and often Including field experiences early and often Incorporate societal relevance in all Geoscience courses Increased flexibility will help recruit a more diverse set of students

Core questions, not core classes Focus on larger, core questions that can be addressed through classes, maybe not core classes themselves – Take deep time science and data, use that to make predictions about present and future E.g. Climate change – need to know past before predicting future – Using information from many sources to understand natural resources and hazards Other themes: water, energy

Embedding core skills in geo classes Skills Visual Observation Interpretation Quantitative Communication – Listening Critical reading Independent thinking Integration of different sciences (phys, chem, etc.) Spatial Content Intro-phys History of the Earth Structure/tectonics Min/pet Sed strat Field Hydro