GeoFORCE Texas selects next group of outstanding Southwest Texas students for geoscience college prep program

March 31, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas—GeoFORCE Texas, a summer program designed to inspire students to pursue the geosciences, has selected 40 outstanding Southwest Texas eighth graders for the 2006 GeoFORCE Texas summer academy.

The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences, which manages the GeoFORCE Texas summer academies in partnership with Southwest Texas Junior College, received more than 100 applications from students at 15 independent school districts throughout Southwest Texas.

“The response was terrific and we want to thank all of the students and teachers who took the time to apply,” said Blaine Bennett, dean of technology and institutional advancement at Southwest Texas Junior College.

GeoFORCE Texas encourages students with high aptitude in math and science to consider careers in the geosciences. The summer academies offer week-long seminars blending college preparatory coursework with hands-on field trips to sites of geological interest around the country at no cost to the students. Students selected for the program are committed to attend summer academies for four years throughout high school.

Funding is provided by sponsors Shell, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Minerals Management Service, AT&T Foundation, Dominion, Halliburton, Marathon, Schlumberger and Swift Energy Company. The financial assistance supports the program’s long-term goals of increasing the number of students—specifically minorities and females—who enter into the geosciences and increasing awareness of the importance of Earth science in everyday life.

This year’s admittances raise total participation in GeoFORCE Texas to 140 students. When fully operational, the summer programs will enroll more than 1,000 Southwest Texas students.

From July 15-22 the new recruits will visit The University of Texas at Austin campus, stay in dorms and attend professor-led classes before flying to Washington D.C. to meet professionals at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia. While in Washington, students will tour the Natural History Museum, the U.S. Capitol, and the Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials.

Students who were not selected for the summer academies are invited to join the GeoFORCE Texas Young Geoscientists Field Course, a shorter program that focuses on interesting geology in the students “own backyard.”

Students selected for the 2006 entering class:

• Brackett Junior High: Brooklyn Gose, Jeff Sitgreaves.
• Carrizo Springs Junior High: Thomas Lackey.
• Del Rio Middle School: Dominique Zvorak.
• Eagle Pass Junior High: Daniel A. Enriquez, Raquel Espinoza, Alexis Magana, Eric Munt, Ruben Recio, Guillermo Villasenor.
• Frank Newman Middle School (Cotulla): Stephanie Campos, Angela Rodriguez.
• Leakey Junior High: Hannah Windham.
• Mary Harper Middle School (Dilley): Elias Alvarez, Kimberly Demaree.
• McDowell Middle School (Hondo): Sharayah Gonzales.
• Nueces Canyon Junior High: Jordan Michelle Hicks.
• Pearsall Junior High: Eryn Freitas, Jayme Grander, Alina Delmy Herrera, Kristen La Buhn, Aracely Reyes.
• Rocksprings Junior High: Sondee Splawn.
• Sabinal Junior High: Christopher Graham.
• Sterling H. Fly Junior High (Crystal City): Maricruz Bustamante, Victoria Gomez.
• Utopia Junior High: Megan Carlyle.
• Uvalde Junior High: Yonelle Aromin, Ezequiel Cardona, Adriana Jarosek, Antonio Martinez, Greg Martinez II, Caleb McBride, George Melchor, Martha Ortiz, Julia Quiroga, Brittney Sanchez, Jonathan Sanchez, Athena Sevilla, Cornellius Tobias.

For more information about the program, contact Julie Spink, program coordinator at the Jackson School of Geosciences, 512-471-4360, jspink@jsg.utexas.edu, or visit the GeoFORCE Texas Website.

For more information about the Jackson School contact J.B. Bird at jbird@jsg.utexas.edu, 512-232-9623.