As student across the state prepare for another semester of hybrid learning, here at the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources, the education and recruitment outreach programs are working together to support classrooms no matter where they are.
Tucson, December 2020
The worldwide health crisis has been extremely difficult for students all over the state of Arizona. Schools and classrooms were forced to make a pivot to digital instruction in a very short timeframe. This has often left students without access to traditional resources that would be available to them in their physical classroom. Many community outreach programs which provided guest speakers and hands on opportunities to students were forced to suspend their programs. These suspensions had the unfortunate effect of leaving many students unaware of opportunities available to them. The Education and Recruitment outreach programs at our Institute have been working together to develop virtual resource and presentations to continue serving the students of Arizona.
Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources
During a virtual presentation, Mario introduces the many ways students in the mining engineering program can become involved in research and gain hands on experience while they complete their undergrad degree.
Our combined virtual outreach provides opportunities for students to learn about mineral resources, mining, and careers in the industry whether they are in the classroom or at home. The virtual presentations follow interactive activities that teach students about science and engineering concepts used in mining with informative presentations and Q/A sessions that help students understand how they can pursue an education that will lead them to a career where they can apply those concepts daily. These presentations are led by the outreach coordinators Mario Muñoz (recruitment), and Chris Earnest (education).
In those presentations, students can naturally progress from learning how important minerals are to their lives, to discovering the many professional and educational opportunities available to them in the mining industry. For example, during our mining and chemistry presentation Chris shows students how much copper they use every day and uses basic chemistry concepts to refine copper from copper ore right before their eyes. Mario then explains how students can continue studying and applying those concepts to become metallurgists and mineral processing engineers. A teacher who participated in our presentations this fall praised this approach saying, “Students are usually ignorant of what opportunities exist in the academia and, unless the academia reaches out to students, it is difficult for students to learn ahead of time what opportunities for their professional and academic growth exist. This presentation has certainly given motivation to some students to pursue with more determination higher education.”
Adapting our activities and presentations to virtual space allows us reach students whether they are learning from home, the library, or in the classroom. Virtual presentations also make it possible for us to connect students to industry professionals and college students much more easily. Where once physical distance, scheduling, and available classroom facilities limited the reach of our outreach program, going forward, our virtual offerings will complement our in-person outreach and allow us to serve students no matter their situation.