REU Site: Geosciences Program in Energy and Environmental Resource Sustainability (GeoPEERS)

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).

The goal of the Geosciences Program in Energy and Environmental Resource Sustainability (GeoPEERS) REU is to train the next generation geoscience workforce for industry and academia. While oil and gas jobs will likely continue to decline slowly over the next several decades, the industry will remain, and we must train geoscientists who can skillfully, ethically, and strategically locate and extract these resources. At the same time, demand for resources such as clean water, fertile soil, and renewable energy is increasing. Diversification of the global energy and resource portfolio is already underway, and new skill sets will be required of geoscientists entering academia and the workforce. The GeoPEERS REU program will train participants holistically to approach the industry of resource extraction and energy production from a sustainability perspective.

The field of geosciences is also reckoning with a profound lack of diversity in its workforce. We will advertise broadly and draw upon existing partnerships with minority-serving institutions in order to find highly qualified applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds. Because simply recruiting a diverse cohort is not enough, we will strive to intentionally and explicitly create a supportive, inclusive, and equitable educational environment. By incorporating new skills sets and perspectives into our training program, and by intentionally building a diverse and inclusive participant community, GeoPEERS will prepare a new generation for the geosciences of the future.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.