PROGRESS: PROmoting Geoscience Research Education and SuccesS Through Deliberate Mentoring

Women are severely underrepresented in the atmospheric sciences, and this underrepresentation begins at the undergraduate level. In fall 2015, an interdisciplinary team including expertise in the broader geosciences, psychology, education and STEM persistence began a project focused on understanding whether mentoring can increase the interest, persistence, and achievement of undergraduate women in geoscience fields, including atmospheric science. The program focuses on mentoring 1^st and 2^nd year female undergraduate students from five universities in Colorado and Wyoming and four universities in North and South Carolina. The mentoring program includes a weekend workshop, access to professional women across geoscience fields, and both in-person and virtual peer networks. In fall 2015, we recruited 80+ students from both regions into cohort 1; an equal or greater number of students are anticipated for cohort 2 from recruitment in fall 2016.  Both cohorts have attended weekend workshops (cohort 1 in October 2015, and cohort 2 in October 2016).  The web-platform (http://geosciencewomen.org/), designed to enable peer-mentoring and provide resources, was launched in fall 2015. We will present an overview of the major components of the program, and discuss lessons learned during 2015 that were applied to 2016. This is the second year of a five-year longitudinal study. We will present preliminary analyses of online surveys and interviews with study participants.