The authors seek to amplify their voices as scholars of color in the presentation of a case study of recent geoscience higher education data in the University System of Maryland. We explore trends in geoscience graduate rates and describe the context with national, state, and local data. This paper also includes position statements and lived experiences from faculty of color who recruit in the geosciences. Three women of color share collective intersectional experiences as STEM majors in undergraduate and graduate programs, public and private institutions, HBCUs and PWIs. The aim is to offer recommendations to enhance the literature on diversity and recruitment in geoscience and advance opportunities for students seeking degrees in the geosciences.

The New York African Burial Ground (NYABG) is the country’s oldest and largest burial site of free and enslaved Africans. Re-discovered in 1991, this site provided evidence of the biological and cultural existence of a 17^th and 18^th Century historic population viewing their skeletal remains. However, the skeletal remains were reburied in October 2003 and are unavailable for further investigation. The analysis of grave soil samples with modern technology allows for the assessment of trace metal presence. Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry provides a semi-quantitative and non-destructive method to identify trace metals of this population and in the surrounding environment. Sixty-five NYABG soil samples were analyzed on a handheld Bruker Tracer III- SD XRF with 40 kV of voltage and a 30μA current. Presence of As, Cu, and Zn can potentially decipher the influence of the local 18^th Century pottery factories. Elevated levels of Sr validate the assumed heavy vegetative diets of poor and enslaved Africans of the time. Decreased levels of Ca may be due in part to the proximity of the Collect Pond, the existing water table until the early 19^th Century, and Manhattan’s rising sea level causing an elevated water table washing away the leached Ca from human remains. These data help us reconstruct the lives of these early Americans in what became New York City.

Long range transport of Canadian wildfire emissions to College Park, Maryland.

Environmental context: Chlorinated chemicals are priority contaminants that pose significant risk to human health, and require state-of-the-art sampling techniques for varying matrices. A soil-gas sampling method was developed for the quantification of vapours of trichloroethene, a major chlorinated contaminant, present just above the groundwater zone. The method addresses sampling times, volumes and low-level trichloroethene concentrations. A sampling method for determining vapour concentrations of chlorinated contaminants, specifically trichloroethene (TCE), present in the vadose zone has been developed, and was applied at the Tucson International Airport Area Superfund site. The method, modified from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Manual of Analytical Methods # 1022 for ambient-air sampling of TCE, is targeted to situations requiring cost-effective sample collection, particularly for cases in which concentrations are at or below maximum contaminant. In our method, TCE vapour is sampled using a solid-sorbent tube. Gas chromatography with mass spectrometry is used to confirm and quantify the presence of TCE. The results of laboratory tests demonstrate a maximum TCE vapour load of ~22 mg before breakthrough to the secondary sorbent-tube section, and an extraction efficiency of ~97%. The results of a performance comparison test conducted in the field show that concentrations obtained with the sorbent tube samplers (~5 µg/L) are similar to those obtained with the use of standard summa canisters (~3 µg/L). The quantitative detection limit for the new method was 0.03 µg/L under the operative conditions, a significant improvement on current analytical methods. The results indicate that use of the sorbent-tube method will be effective for vapour sample collection at sites contaminated with volatile organic compounds, particularly in characterising low concentrations for applications such as assessing groundwater contamination risk and the need for remedial action via soil vapour extraction or other methods.

Mentoring starts from within the faculty member – a mentor guides a student from situation to solution using their lived experiences