Perspectives and products from the third year of a multi-institutional field-based professional development program for Environmental STEM (ESTEM) undergraduate students

A new multi-institutional field-based professional development program aims to address needs associated with some recent trends such as the impending shortage of workers in the STEM sector, a growing number of "Environmental" track majors with no standard curriculum across institutions, and the shrinking number immersive field-based programs housed within geoscience or environmental science programs. Further, recent studies have highlighted a need for more professional training opportunities available to students within academic programs as well as training in interdisciplinary thinking and communication. This program, funded through the NSF IUSE: GEOPATHS initiative, has been developed over the past three years and involves three different academic institutions: a 4-year university, a 4-year liberal arts college, and a 2-year community college, as well as stakeholders at various government, recreational, and private sector posts. Two cohorts of students have participated in the program since 2017 which includes an intensive field-methods course based in eastern California and focuses on teaching field techniques in geology, geomorphology, hydrology, and botany. In this course students interact with stakeholders to learn about the required content knowledge and skills needed for different career opportunities and to develop their professional networks. Through multiple assessed training steps students have the opportunity to earn badges in 4 topics: mapping, hydrology, botany, and field notes. Following the field course, students participate in a professional development seminar at their home institution where they continue to build their networks among local stakeholders and to develop professional skills such as scientific writing, proposal preparation, and scientific presentations. This two-course program is assessed through both curriculum review as well as student-based feedback. We will present an update from our third year of the program following the completion of two cohorts of students, roughly 40 total, specifically reporting on: curricular materials prepared for the course, badge criteria development, a synthesis of our preliminary assessment of the program as well as suggestions, opportunities, and insights or other institutions attempting to build such a program.