Augmenting Underrepresented Student Learning Experiences Through Service Learning and NASA's GLOBE Observer Arogram.

Service learning has been an integral part of colleges to enhance the student educational experience through projects that benefit the their careers and providing a service to the community. These programs particularly helped underrepresented students apply their knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom toward service projects that help the community through education and outreach activities, such as participating in geology hikes. However during the COVID-19 pandemic, most service-learning activities warrant extreme caution toward limiting human interactions. Therefore we introduce an online collaboration with NASA's GLOBE Observer program and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in collecting cloud and dust observations of the Chihuahuan desert region with the participation of service-learning students from El Paso Community College (EPCC). Students will undergo a unique online training managed through UTEP's geological science program on atmospheric data collection using a model based reasoning (MBR) method to insure data quality of their observations. Students will contribute to environmental and atmospheric science community while expand their comprehension of environmental impacts through this project. This presentation will explore this project in detail.