After four years of geologic learning academy trips across the nation, 18 students from North Slope communities graduated from GeoFORCE Alaska, a University of Alaska Fairbanks program for high school students. This year’s academy took place in the Rocky Mountains and included sites at Yellowstone National Park. All together, students have visited more than 75 sites in Alaska and the Lower 48, including the Grand Canyon and Mount St. Helens.
GeoFORCE Alaska aims to interest Alaska rural and minority students in the math and science fields by bringing them on a week-long geologic field trip for each of the four summers after eighth grade. UAF geosciences professors teach the program, and students learn geology at the college level.
Students hail from Barrow, Kaktovik, Nuiqsut, Point Hope, and Wainwright. The free program is entirely funded through donations, with many sponsors representing Alaska industries that rely on the state’s natural resources. One goal of the program is that students will pursue higher education in fields that lead them to careers in Alaska’s high-tech workforce.
Five students were awarded scholarships from UAF’s Office of Admissions at the graduation ceremony. UAF’s College of Natural Science and Mathematics’ Geosciences Department hosts the program, which is modeled after GeoFORCE Texas. A new cohort of students will be recruited this fall to begin their four-year experience in 2016.
The following sponsors proudly supported GeoFORCE Alaska in 2015:
Platinum Level: ASRC, BP, ExxonMobil, Great Bear Petroleum, Shell
Gold Level: ConocoPhillips, Autaaqtuq Fund
Silver Level: Linc Energy, Mapmakers Alaska, Repsol
Copper Level: Olgoonik, Schlumberger, Statoil
