2023 GeoFORCE Alaska Annual Report

The GeoFORCE Alaska mission is to:

• Raise high school graduation rates in rural Alaska.

• Encourage students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors in college.

• Increase the number and diversity of Alaska residents entering the technical workforce.

Cover, inside photos: Melissa Stiefel, GeoFORCE Alaska. Captioned photos courtesy GeoFORCE Alaska.

GeoFORCE Classroom: Dinosaur National Monument

from the director

Sarah Fowell, Ph.D., Professor, UAF Department of Geosciences

Dear Friends, Parents, and Sponsors,

I am delighted that GeoFORCE Alaska was able to offer a hybrid summer Academy in June 2023. This two-week program combined elements of the traditional Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Academies, including exploration of volcanic landforms in Oregon, field stops in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and a capstone geologic mapping project at Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument. This was a wonderful opportunity for students who have weathered considerable academic and social challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including suspension of GeoFORCE activities in summer 2020. Thanks to the generous support of our donors and sponsors, students were able to complete the curriculum in three years, rather than the usual four.

Watching the third cohort graduate from the program was bittersweet. While I regret that I will not have a fourth opportunity to work with this diverse, dynamic, and talented group of young people, I am tremendously proud of their achievements. 33% of these students graduated from high school in May 2023. The rest are currently high school seniors who plan to graduate in 2024. 77% of these participants currently plan to go to college (10% are undecided), and 37% plan to pursue a degree in a STEM field. I can’t wait to see what they will all do next.

While it is difficult to say goodbye to students who have completed their GeoFORCE experience, I look forward to welcoming a new cohort of students to the program in 2024. We received a record-breaking 78 applications in November 2023, ane accpeted 40 students from the North Slope, Northwest Arctic, Interior, and Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta regions. I am excited to meet them during the June 2024 First-Year Academy and follow their progress over the next four years.

— Dr. Sarah Fowell

from the logistics coordinator

Sarana Schell, M.S.

Dear Partners and Friends, Participants and Families,

What an action-packed summer! This was our grand finale of a four-year program shoe-horned into three years after Covid canceled the first year. This summer’s curriculum spanned a bird’s-eye overview of volcanoes and mountains to up-close, hands-on measurements of the orientation of folded rock layers.

We looked at the crater atop Mt. St. Helens, formed by the explosive power of the 1980 eruption. We stood on a vast flow of volcanic glass, obsidian, and explored a cave formed by an ancient underground lava flow. We watched Old Faithful erupt and visited one of the youngest ranges in the Rocky Mountains - the spectacular Tetons. We touched actual dinosaur bones, chipped fossils out of an ancient lake bed, examined petroglyphs and rafted past rocks folded over time like giant stone tacos.

I always planned to leave after accompanying one group of students and families through the program, and now that it’s time to step away I look back at all that students learned and marvel.

We’ve explored fabulous geology in eight states over the course of the program: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. We visited five states in 2023. We’ve studied the record of earth’s history in eight National Parks and Monuments: Denali National Park, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Montezuma Castle National Monument, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Dinosaur National Monument.

Besides learning a lot of geology, the students grew as people. They made friends, coped with early morning wake-ups and homesickness, got hangry, recovered, were brave on hikes, and spoke up in review sessions. Through it all they laughed lots. I’ve so enjoyed spending time with them.

It’s been a pleasure and an honor to be a part of GeoFORCE Alaska. Thank you, sponsors, for making this amazing program a reality. Thank you, Sarah Fowell, for squeezing months of preparation into a very full academic schedule, and thank you, staff, for your enthusiasm and patience. Thank you, parents and guardians, for trusting us with your students, and thank you, participants, for working hard and playing hard throughout your GeoFORCE experience.

— Sarana Schell

2023 staff

Staff members undergo training through the University of Alaska Fairbanks and have experience relevant to their roles. Day counselors are graduate or undergraduate students who have the background necessary to help students apply concepts and identify features in the field, and Support Driver Josh Barna is pursuing a PhD in geoscience. Education Coach Eric Orphys and Lead Counselor Kailyn Davis are secondary school teachers who studied geoscience for their undergraduate degrees. Night Counselors remain on call after hours for participants who need supplies or assistance after lights out.

Education Coach

Eric Orphys

Support Driver

Josh Barna

Counselors

Leo Nordman and Shannon Williams

Night Counselors

Jessie Christian and Sarah Finney

Counselors Roberta Walker, Emmy Reese, Kristina Head Head Counselor Kailyn Davis

mentors

Mentors add a valuable dimension to the GeoFORCE program, providing real-life examples of geoscience professionals and offering students another caring adult to talk to and learn from.

This year we were fortunate to have three mentors join us: Chris Seaman, ConocoPhillips, during UAF campus portion, Valli Peterson, ConocoPhillips, during the Pacific Northwest portion of the trip, and Jaenell Manchester, Doyon, for the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain portions.

Mentor applications are available each spring. We invite employees of our corporate sponsors to experience the GeoFORCE program first-hand as a mentor.

Mentor Chris Seaman helps students measure strike and dip

Valli Peterson hiking with the group at Lava Butte Jaenell Manchester helps students with guidebook exercises

What is GeoFORCE Alaska?

GeoFORCE Alaska is a four-year*, field-based summer geoscience program for high school students from rural Alaska communities. Each summer, students spend a few days on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus learning geoscience concepts. They then embark upon a hands-on learning adventure that illustrates those concepts.

Applicants must have competitive grades in math and science, submit essays, and be recommended by a teacher or counselor.

To remain in the program, they must create a digital StoryMap, complete field-based projects, and earn a score of at least 80% on the annual final exam.

Team projects allow students to practice the scientific method while visiting spectacular geological locations around the country.

* Due to the COVID pandemic, the third cohort experienced a three-year program.

GeoFORCE Classroom: Big Obsidian Flow

Why GeoFORCE Alaska?

Participants must keep their grades up to continue with the program. They graduate high school at a higher rate than their peers statewide.

GeoFORCE Classroom: Mount Hood

Who is GeoFORCE Alaska?

GeoFORCE Alaska students are from Interior, North Slope and Northwest Arctic communites. Data below if for summer 2023. The next cohort of 8th and 9th grade students will enter the program in summer 2024.

The third cohort at Mount Saint Helens in June, 2023.

How does GeoFORCE Alaska work?

Hands-on lessons at the University of Alaska Fairbanks introduce concepts that students will see in the field.

Instructors

Making learning fun keeps students engaged.

simulate a volcanic explosion.

Students simulate the viscosity of lava with honey and toothpaste.

Students made a geological map at Dinosaur National Monument for their capstone project project

Interactive evening review sessions are followed by a quiz.

Each new field site brings opportunities for active learning in the academically intense program.

Guidebooks help students connect concepts with real-life examples.

Congratulations to the GeoFORCE class of 2023 graduates!!

Northwest Arctic:

• Celina Wesley, Kivalina

• Regina Swan, Kivalina

• Elicia Jones, Noatak

• Annie Downey, Noorvik

• Colt Ticket, Buckland

• Alex Onalik, Noatak

• Jacob Norton, Kivalina

• Jazmyn Horner, Kobuk

• Celeste McKay, Kobuk

• Judy Allen, Selawik

Interior:

• Joseph Wright, Nulato

• Thomas Patsy, Nulato

• Miles Starr, Huslia

• Stephan Knudson, Fort Yukon

• Jason Henry, Beaver

• Stuart Wholecheese-Bergman, Allakaket

• Lindsay Peterson, Fort Yukon

• Chloe Sipary, Nulato

• Milo Huntington, Galena

• Ashley Shirley, Fort Yukon

North Slope:

• Edwin Solomon, Kaktovik

• Tatyana Nashookpuk, Point Hope

• David Simmonds, Atqasuk

• Allana Nageak, Utqiagvik

• Kimberly Wolgemuth, Utqiagvik

• Sabrina Henry, Point Lay

Colt Ticket, Buckland

Elicia Jones, Noatak

Stuart Wholecheese-Bergman, Allakaket

David Simmonds, Atqasuk

Jacob Norton, Kivalina

Ashley Shirely, Fort Yukon

Regina Swan, Kivalina

Allana Nageak, Utqiagvik

Celeste McKay, Kobuk

Stephan Knudson, Fort Yukon

Chloe Sipary, Nulato

Alex Onalik, Noatak

Joseph Wright, Nulato

Judy Allen, Selawik

Tatyana Nashookpuk, Point Hope

Thomas Patsy, Nulato

Jazmyn Horner, Kobuk

Lindsay Peterson, Fort Yukon

We cannot wait to see what these fantastic young people do in the future!

Milo Huntington, Galena

Edwin Solomon, Kaktovik

Celina Wesley, Kivalina

Kimberly Wolgemuth, Utqiagvik

Annie Downey, Noorvik

Miles Starr, Huslia

Sabrina Henry, Point Lay

Jason Henry, Beaver

We are welcoming our next cohort of GeoFORCE students from the Interior, North Slope, Northwest Arctic, and Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in 2024. This next cohort will start their 4 year program with a tour of Alaska, just as the third cohort did.

2021 Matanuska Glacier hike

2023 Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Third-Year Academy objectives:

• Identify common igenous rocks

• Define viscosity and relate it to eruptive style

• Identify and distinguish hydrothermal features

• Use strike and dip to describe the orientation of folded and tilted rocks

• Make a geologic map

• Foster friendships

•Maintain academic rigor

GeoFORCE photo

Where did GeoFORCE Alaska go in 2023?

This Third-Year Academy explored geologic features of the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies.

Mt. St. Helens, WA

Mt. Hood “Magic Mile” ski lift, OR

Lava River Cave, OR

Pacific Northwest Stops:

A. Mount Saint Helens

B. Multnomah Falls

C. Mount Hood

D. Lava River Caves and Lava Butte

E. Newberry Caldera

Rocky Mountain Stops:

A. Yellowstone National Park

B. Grand Tetons

C. Green River Formation

D. Dinosaur National Monument

Measuring temperatures in

Lava Lands, OR

American Fossil Quarry, WY

GeoFORCE photo

Yellowstone National Park, WY

Mammoth Hot Spring, WY

Rafting the Green River, Dinosaur National Monument, UT

GeoFORCE photo

“Quyanaqpak! This was a once in a lifetime experience. I enjoyed everything!”

“I have learned so much about the world during this experience, more than I thought possible during just two week segments. Every day was packed full of amazing activities.”

“My favorite activity would have to be visiting Yellowstone National Park. I learned many interesting facts while there such as why there are so many different colors around the superheated water. This is because there are different bacterias that prefer different temps of heat.”

“While I was in this program I’ve made life-long connections to all kinds of different people. This program has opened my eyes to a lot of different jobs and experiences. For me to get out of the village and get to experience all these places is mind-blowing.”

“[GeoFORCE] has taught me so much in education and socially.”

“I had fun learning about a biogenic rock called limestone. I like this rock because I found fish fossils in the Green River Formation. ”

Financial reports

many thanks to our Sponsors

We deeply appreciate our sponsors, whose generosity and sustained commitment allows us to offer the GeoFORCE Alaska experience to students at no cost to their families.

We have a great team behind our mission to inspire the next generation of geoscientists. If you are interested in making a corporate donation or would like to learn about other ways to get involved, please contact us at 907-712-7540 or geoforce@alaska.edu.

Enaa Baasee’! Taikuu! Ana baasee’! Quyanaq! Thank you! Mahsi Choo!

Your support makes GeoFORCE Alaska learning adventures possible for young Alaskans.