This summer the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M will virtually host its annual summer program, introducing high school students to looking at the world through a science lens.

Geosciences Exploration Summer Program, or GeoX, is a summer program designed for high school students interested in science and the world around them. Students are given the unique opportunity to interact with faculty experts from the college and get a foundational understanding of the variety of ways someone can make a difference with a degree in geosciences.

GeoX 2021 will run from June 21 to July 2, and will provide students with non-stop presentations, workshops, tours, and activities that will all be completed virtually, and with the ability to join in from anywhere in the nation.

Applications for the 2021 virtual GeoX are open for rising high school freshmen to entering Texas A&M Geosciences freshmen. Interested applicants should complete a GeoX application by June 10.

Judy Nuñez, director of recruitment for the College of Geosciences, leads the team that coordinates GeoX each summer. Due to concerns of health and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic last summer, the GeoX program evolved into a two-week virtual event for the first time. This summer the program will continue with the same virtual format, but with a few special additions.

Although GeoX 2021 will begin virtually, there is a plan to create a companion GeoX experience early fall. The details on the companion GeoX experience have not been formalized; however, it could include the opportunity to sit in on classes, work with faculty on research projects, perform activities in our labs, facility tours, and much more. Only students who attend the virtual camp are eligible to participate in the companion event(s).

“I can honestly say that the virtual GeoX camp we held last summer was a huge success,” said Judy Nuñez. “We took students to Costa Rica; Boone, NC, and the BP headquarters in Houston.  The faculty believe the experience was more geoscience-intensive than the residential camps we have had in the past. I learned so much from the students in the process, and continue to admire the ways they all have adapted to the current reality that is inching us all closer to that near-normal.”

Interested high school students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the geosciences, right from their own homes. Led by Texas A&M faculty experts, GeoX presentations will travel virtually from the Arctic to the Antarctic, into the trenches of the Pacific Ocean, even to learning about rovers on Mars. Students will have the opportunity to virtually launch a weather balloon, talk to a paleontologist, and do several hands-on activities with materials from around their homes.

While the main focus of GeoX is giving students an immersive look into the geosciences, GeoX provides several opportunities to learn more about student life at Texas A&M and the admission process to becoming an Aggie Geoscientist. Past presentations have included talking to Texas A&M recruiters, learning about life in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, and even a virtual Yell Practice with the Aggie Yell Leaders. GeoX also provides several opportunities over the course of the two weeks to learn from and to speak with former students about their careers after graduation.

More information about the GeoX program and application process can be found on the College of Geosciences website.