Longstanding Ocean STEM High School Competition to Increase Diversity and Naval Relevance in Ocean E
Abstract
The U.S. needs a skilled and diverse technical workforce to remain competitive in the global economy, address climate change and rel,ated security concerns, foster new technology and greater innovation, and lead to greater prosperity. It is critical for the U.S. Na,vy to attract and recruit a talented and diverse workforce, particularly in ocean science and technology as those areas are fundamen,tal to Navy operations and to many national and global concerns. Informal high school ocean STEM initiatives fill a needed gap in fo,rmal course offerings across the country and build interest and knowledge in ocean science and related STEM career pathways. To meet, its future workforce needs, the Navy must invest and play an active role in these programs. The Consortium for Ocean Leadership (CO,L) proposes leveraging the National Ocean Sciences Bowl? (NOSB), a longstanding program that centers on an annual ocean science acad,emic competition, in a pilot project to bring ocean science content to underrepresented schools and students not currently participa,ting in the NOSB. The proposed project will accomplish two goals: 1) increasing the visibility of U.S. Navy applications and opportu,nities in ocean science and technology, and 2) increasing the participation of underrepresented and military-connected students in o,cean science education. The approaches to achieving these goals will take advantage of the NOSB?s programmatic elements, content, an,d community and bring new Naval STEM Stakeholder Organization (NSSO) partnerships, including with the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS,) and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratories (NRL), to the effort. NSSO partners will support development of new content focused on Na,val oceanography, applications of ocean science and technology, and ocean related military or civilian career pathways with the Navy,.We will also take advantage of an existing educational platform, Scoutlier, that will enable a wealth of NOSB ocean science content, to reach underserved and military-connected schools. Additionally, through this platform, COL will be able to direct students to an, ecosystem of opportunities to learn and engage with ocean-related research and learning within its cross-sectoral membership across, the ocean science and technology community and NOSB?s network of partners and sponsors. The?NOSB, now in its 25th year, brings a hi,story of success in increasing participants? academic skills, scientific knowledge of the ocean, interest in ocean science and relat,ed STEM careers, and capacity for leadership and teamwork. With?ONR?s support and increased partnership with NSSOs, greater emphasis, will be placed on conveying the science behind Navy-relevant topics and the scientific needs of and career opportunities related to, the U.S. Navy to NOSB?s nationwide participant community and our new high school audiences built through collaboration with Scoutli,er.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 05, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212587
Entities
People
- Kristen Yarincik
Organizations
- Consortium for Ocean Leadership
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy