Field-tested guidelines for designing accessible, inclusive geoscience field courses

Field experience is an important part of professional training in natural science disciplines. However, there remains a significant unmet need for accessible field opportunities that provide safe and equitable educational opportunities for people with disabilities and/or life circumstances that exclude them from traditional field experiences (injuries, jobs, caregiving responsibilities, lack of financial resources). In geoscience programs, where field courses are often required, the lack of accessible field courses can act as a significant barrier to degree completion. To help address this need, the GeoSPACE (GeoScientists Promoting Accessible Collaborative Experiences) program was designed as an accessible hybrid field course that could satisfy geoscience degree requirements for field training. Synthesizing our experiences in the first four years of the program, we present recommendations for accessible field education developed and refined through a multi-year collaboration with faculty and students with and without disabilities. These recommendations provide actionable guidance for selecting accessible field sites, logistical planning, building an itinerary, executing an inclusive field experience, and approaching iterative improvements. By presenting our frameworks and guidance supported by literature, we argue that there are steps any field instructor can take toward more inclusive field education, and that accessible opportunities should be a part of any field-based degree program.