Denise Garcia is one of a few students who has been selected to receive the Future Generation of Geoscientists Scholarship at FIU.
As a senior graduating from Cutler Bay Senior High School, Garcia will be paired with faculty and peer mentors to help identify academic and professional goals during her college career.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the purpose of the scholarship is to increase the number of people trained in geoscience. Employment of geoscientists is expected to increase about 13 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the seven percent increase for all other occupations combined (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics).
The program will help Garcia complete internships, conduct research and attend scientific conferences. In May 2020, Garcia will go on a field trip to the Appalachian Mountains – some of the oldest mountains on Earth – to gain first-hand experience in geoscience.
René Price, chair of FIU’s Department of Earth and Environment told Cutler Bay News, “I hope these scholarships will help us increase the number of qualified geoscience professionals in the field and diversify it, too. A diverse work force is really important in finding creative solutions to complex problems.”
This article first appeared in Cutler Bay News on May 21, 2019.
