Raising Earth Science awareness amongst Year 11 & 12 school students

Applications to study Earth Science and related disciplines at UK higher education institutions have been falling for the past decade. Part of the problem is the lack of awareness of the subject and its career potential for students interested in science. This article describes a one day workshop set up at Liverpool University to raise awareness of Earth Science amongst Year 11 and 12 school science students, and to outline career possibilities. Review of student responses to an end-of-workshop questionnaire indicates that such events can help raise subject awareness and that the GEES community may benefit from similar events in other regions of the UK. An interactive review of some of the workshops activities was also presented at the 2007 GEES Subject Centre Conference on Recruitment and Retention Issues in the GEES Disciplines.