Grant will provide opportunities for Roane State students interested in geology

Submitted by: 
Roane State Community College
04/26/2016

Roane State Community College students studying geology will have the opportunity to work with faculty mentors at the University of Tennessee and participate in geoscience field workshops thanks to a National Science Foundation grant.

UT received a three-year, $416,000 NSF grant designed to attract and recruit community college students into four-year geosciences programs at UT. Roane State, as one of the project’s partners, will receive approximately $28,500 over three years.

Beginning in fall 2016, five Roane State geology students will be selected each year to participate in the initiative. The students will be invited to geoscience workshops at UT and participate in a five-day residential geoscience workshop at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. The grant funds will pay for student expenses including lodging, food and transportation.

“The goal of this project is to give interested Roane State students a direct pathway into the University of Tennessee’s geosciences programs,” Roane State geology professor Dr. Arthur Lee said. “Career opportunities in the geological sciences are plentiful and offer above-average salaries in East Tennessee and throughout the rest of the country and world.”

Additional partners include Pellissippi State Community College, Volunteer State Community College and the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont.

“Our idea is to get community college students excited about geology and the earth sciences so they consider the geosciences for a bachelor’s degree and a career,” said Larry McKay, head of the UT Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the grant’s principal investigator, in a UT news release. “The best way to do this is get them into the field and laboratory, where they can work with UT faculty and students.”

For more information about geology at Roane State, contact Dr. Arthur Lee at (865) 354-3000 ext. 2240 or leea@roanestate.edu. Learn more about science and technology programs at Roane State.