The Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (GDEP):

1. The Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (GDEP): An NSF-OEDG Program Emphasizing Interdisciplinary Earth System Science Research Christine M. Rodrigue 1 (rodrigue@csulb.edu), Elizabeth L. Ambos 2 (bambos@csulb.edu), Richard Behl 2 (behl@csulb.edu), R. Daniel Francis 2 (rfrancis@csulb.edu), Daniel O. Larson 3 (larson@csulb.edu), María-Teresa Herrera-Ramírez 2 (ramirezt@csulb.edu), Gregory Holk 2 (csample@csulb.edu), Suzanne P. Wechsler 1 (wechsler@csulb.edu), Christopher T. Lee 1 (clee@csulb.edu), David Whitney 4 (whitney@csulb.edu), and Shellinda Barré 5 (chazen@csulb.edu) 1 Department of Geography, 2 Department of Geological Sciences, 3 Department of Anthropology, 4 Department of Psychology, 5 Student Access to Science and Mathematics Center California State University at Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840 ABSTRACT The Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (GDEP) is a three-year, NSF-OEDG funded project centered at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Begun in fall 2001, GDEP involves faculty leadership within three CSULB departments: Geological Sciences, Geography, and Anthropology. Partners include five Long Beach area community colleges and Long Beach Unified School District, one of the largest K-12 school districts in California. At the core of GDEP is a summer research experience. More than a dozen separate research projects developed and led by CSULB faculty involve faculty and staff from community colleges and high schools. Most of the projects model an integrated, interdisciplinary earth system science approach, e.g., geophysical archaeology projects on Santa Cruz Island; unified GIS, GIS, remote sensing, and field based projects on the vegetation, fire ecology, stratigraphy, and tectonic geomorphology of Charmlee Park and the South Coast Wilderness Area; fault imaging and alteration studies of faults in Nevada; seismological and geochemistry studies of faults in the San Gabriel Mountains; and field and lab work on coseismic deformation and palaeoseismology along the Pacific Coast of southern Mexico. The summer research experiences have been highly successful: during the summers of 2002-2003, more than 50 Long Beach area faculty and students participated in GDEP. Although our evaluation is still underway, formative assessment of the impact of the summer research experience indicates that research work combining field experiences, ready access to faculty mentors, and a team approach to investigations appeared most valuable to program participants. These research experiences also appear to figure in changes in pedagogy and content focus for some faculty participants, particularly at the high school level. http://www.csulb.edu/geography/gdep GDEP: Partnerships – Five Community Colleges; One Major School District