STEM scientists are critical to our state’s future, especially geoscientists given the importance of natural resources and tourism to North Dakota’s economy. With support from the ND EPSCoR program, we sought to inspire curiosity and passion for the geosciences in the next generation of North Dakota’s STEM workforce by conducting paleontology fieldwork with in-state high school students and teachers. Two high school science teachers and eight students from the Grand Forks area joined our field crew of UND paleontology professors, graduate students, and undergraduates to excavate dinosaur and mammoth fossils. Through contributing daily to all aspects of the field research, students were directly engaged in hands-on STEM experiences while we created a bridge scaffold of learning that successfully expedited strong group comradery. Tent camping was new to many participants, but by working together the students visibly enjoyed surmounting a diverse array of field-related challenges, including enduring inclement weather and finding and safely collecting fragile fossils. The majority of students showed heightened affinity for geoscience fieldwork by the end of each expedition and remarked positively on their experiences, while a minority discovered that their passions lie in other aspects of science. Our participants expressed desire to return in future years, indicating we achieved our goal to build a foundation for future growth of this new program. We also learned valuable insights from teacher feedback on how to connect with high schools across the state, such as by promoting our opportunities at the North Dakota Science Teachers Association Fall Conference.