Implementation grant: NewGeo: A Newark Geo-ecosystem in the geosciences

The Newark Geoscience Ecosystem (NewGeo) is a transformative learning geo-ecosystem model uniting Newark-based institutions and organizations in the growth of a geoscience workforce prepared to solve urban environmental challenges through cross-sectoral collaboration. Rutgers University Newark leads NewGeo, with an anchor institution mission centered on community engagement and science in the urban environment. Through experiential learning opportunities, NewGeo graduate students build partnerships with Newark’s government, industry and education sectors; teach and mentor K-16 students; and collaborate with non-profits and community-based organizations. This instills a sense of civic responsibility in graduate students and the aspiring geoscientists they mentor. This project cultivates a geoscience workforce that is representative of and prepared to engage with the local citizenry to tackle environmental stresses. The NewGeo faculty and administrators promote collaborative and positive environments in the geo-ecosystem; implement and become practitioners of strategies to encourage and support students, individuals, and communities; and formalize relationships and institutionalize best practices for effective partnerships. All NewGeo participants influence and inspire their professional and social networks, share within their communities of practice, and disseminate outcomes to the broader geoscience community for adaptation and adoption of the NewGeo model. NewGeo creates community-centered career pathways for participants and engages the non-academic community in the scientific discourse. NewGeo is spearheaded by a graduate student cohort that transforms their education through collaborative, self-directed engagement with non-academic partners. Environment community-outreach graduate assistants leverage their academic preparation and build career skills through place-based experiential learning experiences in collaboration with NewGeo partners. Activities include embedded community-based internships, K-12 outreach, volunteerism, mentoring of undergraduates, and professional and leadership development. Faculty and administrators activate their capital to research, create, institutionalize and disseminate NewGeo best practices, policies and procedures, while engaging in self-guided and reflective professional development. 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.