2023 First-Year Geoscience Majors at JSG

September 15, 2023

In the fall of 2023, five GeoFORCE alumni started as first-year geology students at The University of Texas’s Jackson School of Geosciences. Of the five students, four are from the Southwest region, and one is from Houston. Aaron Diaz, Carina Stone, Lilie Ramon, Jade Garza, and Emily Moore have began their journey as General Geology majors by taking classes such as fieldwork based intro geology courses, intro chemistry, and intro calculus. Luckily, these students had some prior experience in all three subjects with GeoFORCE!

After learning about multiple core geology concepts over the past four summers, 32  GeoFORCE alumni signed up to come back this summer for our Math & Science Institute. These alumni were from various cities and towns all across Texas, including Houston, Eagle Pass, D’Hanis, Crystal City, La Pryor, Sabinal, Knippa, Hondo, Carrizo Springs, Cotulla, and Austin.

The Math and Science Institute is a chemistry and calculus “boot-camp” that aims to give GeoFORCE alumni a leg-up before they begin their first year of college. The incoming freshmen were given the chance to experience what a “week in college” might look like. They attended lectures given by two PhD students from UT’s Math and Chemistry Departments, participated in hands-on chemistry experiments, completed college level practice problems, and explored UT’s campus and the city of Austin.

Following the academy, the alumni began their first year at campuses across the nation, including University of Houston, Dartmouth College, University of North Texas, Colby College, and of course the University of Texas at Austin, just to name a few. And as they go off on their next journey in life, GeoFORCE plans to assist them and all our alumni in a variety of ways. Scholarships, college organizations, and the chance for internships are just a few of the opportunities we continually push for our alumni!