UA News

Students attending schools in the Amphitheater, Flowing Wells, Sunnyside and Tucson Unified School Districts will visit the UA on Saturday to take part in a science academy.

Hundreds of Tucson-area youth will visit the University of Arizona on Saturday to take part in the Saturday Academy, a half-day event to educate students about geosciences and encourage them to consider studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Nov. 21 event will involve 200 youth from 11 schools in the Tucson area, teaming them with UA geosciences faculty and student researchers to explore topics such as volcanic eruption, earth imaging and Arizona's water supply.

This discovery-learning workshop is designed to provide historically underserved Tucson youth with a variety of hands-on activities that help engender awareness and career interest in the environmental sciences. 

The event will be held 9 a.m. to noon at the UA's Harvill Building, which is located at 1103 E. Second St. 

Randy Richardson, a UA professor in solid-earth geophysics, will introduce Saturday's event, which will include workshops focusing on geology and climate change.

Though national pathways have gradually improved in some science career paths, only 6 percent of geosciences bachelor's degrees are awarded to Hispanics, African Americans, American Indians or Native Pacific Islanders combined.

This specific initiative, a partnership between the UA's new the Southern Arizona Geosciences Union for Academics, Research and Outreach, or SAGUARO, program and the UA Office of Early Academic Outreach's Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement program is aimed at dramatically reversing the geosciences achievement gap.

"We've seen it happen again and again when it comes to engineering and science careers," says Manny Leon, senior coordinator of the UA's MESA program.  

"Whenever any field makes a concerted effort to open its doors to MESA youth, our students are ready to step forward," Leon added. 

He also noted that one in five MESA high-school graduate declare majors in science, technology, engineering or math – the high-demand "STEM" fields.

Notably, more than 10 UA MESA graduates have become engineers at Raytheon. 

"With initiatives like SAGUARO it is only a matter of time before we see MESA graduates working in the earth sciences – and serving as volunteers to support new MESA students," Leon said.

With the support of a National Science Foundation grant, SAGUARO was recently launched to help build youth pathways into careers in the geosciences. 

"Our goal is not only to foster critical thinking and scientific inquiry skills, but that youth will bring their interest in the earth sciences back to home, school and eventually into college," said event organizer Sarah Truebe.

One aspect that distinguishes this joint-initiative from other nationwide efforts is the focus on parent engagement. 

Each year, MESA hosts a Saturday Academy designed to support family engagement in college and career planning.

These activities "break down the perceived barriers of college – not only for students, but for parents who often don't have college degrees," said Rudy McCormick, the associate director of Early Academic Outreach.

According to MESA surveys, only one in four participants have a parent with a college degree.  

McCormick also noted that these events are especially significant when three of every five parents indicate that their first time on campus was at a MESA Saturday Academy or other family outreach events. 

At the upcoming Saturday Academy, both youth and their parents will participate in activities ranging from climate-change activities involving the analysis of tree-rings to using groundwater flow models to see how landfill contaminants spread. UA students will facilitate the events.