Geo-Launchpad, RESESS, and the UNAVCO Student Internship Program Go
Remote in 2020: Facilitating successful online internships for
geoscience students from under-represented groups
Abstract
UNAVCO internships provide unique opportunities for students from
underrepresented populations to develop their technical and
communication skills while aiming to broaden participation in the Earth
sciences. UNAVCO, a non-profit that operates the National Science
Foundation-funded GAGE facility, has the opportunity to facilitate
multiple internship programs, engaging students from across the United
States. Prior to 2020, all internship programs were in-residence in
Boulder, Colorado. Internship programs included project work and
in-person professional development as well as cohort building,
multi-level mentoring, and professional networking in the science-rich
Boulder area. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and ‘safer-at-home’
directives nationwide, we successfully converted our three internship
programs to a remote format with fully online programming. We present
our strategies for successfully planning, managing, and facilitating
three online internship programs with 12 student participants ranging
from community college to undergraduates to graduate students who all
participated from their home locations. We also share our considerations
for converting our internship programming to an online format, expanding
our interns’ mentoring network and opportunities, and increasing our
programs’ flexibility for interns who were personally impacted by
national events. We present our process of identifying and engaging
online learning experts and working collaboratively with all
stakeholders to ensure each of our internships continued to be of the
highest quality and our student experiences were not diminished. By
offering the full length and robustness of our programs through a remote
platform, we kept our promises of education, career advancement,
monetary compensation, and community connection to our full 2020 intern
cohort. In addition to offering geoscience projects and research
experience to each intern, we implemented a robust suite of synchronous,
online professional development courses that occurred weekly, including
technical writing workshops, Geoscience Career Circles, and
Communications Seminars focused on soft skill development. We also
describe the support and training that we offered project mentors as
they virtually guided students through successfully completing rigorous
science projects and a suite of project deliverables including
scientific posters, oral presentations, and technical manuscripts.