39-2 Ready 2 Rock: Preparing Undergraduate Geoscience Students for Professional Conferences, Networking, and Career Pathways

Session: Learning to be a Geoscientist: Professional Exposure, Agency, and Transferable Skills in Undergraduate Education. (Posters)

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Attending a national geoscience conference for the first time can be an overwhelming experience, yet early exposure to professional meetings offers transformative opportunities for undergraduate students. Presenting at a professional geoscience conference allows undergraduates to develop scientific identity, build professional networks, and explore graduate school and career pathways. Ready 2 Rock is an independently designed workshop series created to prepare undergraduate researchers for a successful and meaningful experience at their first professional conference.

The program targets undergraduates engaged in research who are entering their final year and considering graduate school or entering the workforce. Beginning in January, approximately eight undergraduate students began participating in monthly workshops hosted through the academic year and continuing through the fall to the conference. Each workshop is co-facilitated by the program coordinator and a departmental faculty member with relevant expertise. Topics progress through the full arc of conference preparation: an introduction to professional geoscience conferences and their value, research design and problem statement development, scientific writing and abstract composition, poster layout and design tools, professional networking strategies, and a low-stakes poster practice session within the department.

The program is supported through departmental funding for travel and lodging, supplemented by external funding opportunities that students are encouraged to pursue. The proximity of the 2026 GSA annual meeting to our institution provides a timely opportunity to expand undergraduate participation while minimizing costs.

Ready 2 Rock was motivated by the program coordinator's own transformative experience attending GSA as an undergraduate, an experience that shaped professional identity and facilitated lasting connections. This program aims to demystify the conference environment, build transferable professional skills, and ensure that first-time attendees arrive prepared and confident. Insights from the in-progress Ready 2 Rock model will be shared to support others interested in adapting this approach for their own departmental contexts.

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