ABOUT RiGS
RiGS Objectives
Road maps into the the GeoSciences (RiGS) is an NSF funded GEOPATHs-EXTRA project that aims to facilitate exposure of STEM students from diverse backgrounds to a wide array of geoscience career paths, and to highlight the educational tracks and skills necessary to pursue these paths.
RiGS will establish a recurring one-month summer program on the Missouri S&T campus, that at minimal to zero costs, provides a diverse population of undergraduate STEM students (from collaborating universities Missouri S&T, Kutztown University and Southern Utah University) a "road map" to successfully transition into the geoscience workforce and/or postgraduate research. The program is aimed at rising sophomore, junior and senior level undergraduate STEM students that are unaware of the multitude of geoscience careers available to them.
The intellectual focus is to immerse undergraduates into an environment that enables them to develop fundamental research and professional skills typically not taught in the classroom.
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The RiGS student Experience
What participating students can expect
NO TUITION + LIVING STIPEND
If you apply and get selected as a RiGS student* you will experience the following during your summer semester visit at the Missouri S&T campus:
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Introduction to Research Methodologies class (3CH) including:
Development and communication of complex topics in the geosciences is required for successful post-BSc career advancement. Lectures are designed to introduce the fundamentals, best practices and workflows, specific skills (e.g., analytical procedures, laboratory procedures, software skills), and safety procedures necessary for a successful transition into the post BSc Geoscience workforce.
Lecture content is followed by hands-on exercises developing necessary skills in the Geosciences. Topics include: how to generate maps in ARC GIS, seismic data analysis, generation of a stratigraphic column using R, MATLAB programming exercises, etc.
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Research project mentoring sessions
(in the disciplines of Structural Geology, Geomechanics, Economic Geology, Petrology, Planetary Science, Geochemistry):
Students who are participating in an undergraduate research project at their institutions will be mentored in a graduate research environment. The mentors will guide students through the workflow of framing a scientific question, experiment design, conducting the experiment, results analysis and discussion. Best practices for developing these skills in the geosciences will be critiqued weekly, culminating with poster and oral presentations. For students with an advanced project, writing and submission of an abstract for the GSA Annual meeting will be a goal.
* 6 students from each of the collaborating universities (S&T, Kutztown University, Southern Utah University) per year (2019, 2020, 2021) are selected.
The RiGS student Experience
What participating students can expect
NO TUITION + LIVING STIPEND
If you apply and get selected as a RiGS student you will also experience the following during your summer semester visit at the Missouri S&T campus*:
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Job shadowing* at the USGS, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the National Forest Service
In week 2 of the program RiGs students will be divided into three groups of 6 (2 students from each university), and each group will be hosted by either the DNR, USGS, or the US Forest Service for 2 consecutive days for job-shadowing of professional geoscientists in their native work environment. The groups will rotate through the 3 state/federal agencies, such that all RiGs student experience each agency.
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Professional soft skill workshops
These are several 2-3 h workshops in small groups covering topics such as: resume building, how to find and identify relevant research literature, how to write an abstract, speed interviews, elevator talk, "Life as a graduate student", etiquette dinner, online meeting with professionals in the oil industry, how to apply for graduate school, etc.
* Job shadowing at the national and state agencies is subject to availability during the COVID pandemic. If these agencies remain closed in 2021, alternatives on the S&T campus will be provided.