This session will bring together professionals in the ASLO community to discuss opportunities for scholars in geosciences and the value of research internships, fellowships and graduate programs to enhance the current and future STEM workforce.

Lead Organizer: Paul Kemp, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (paulkemp808@gmail.com)

Co-organizers:

Rebecca North, University of Missouri-Columbia (northr@missouri.edu)

Presentations

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09:00 AM

THE MARINE SCIENCE SUMMER BRIDGE PROGRAM AT HAMPTON UNIVERSITY: A MODEL PROGRAM TO INCREASE SENSE OF BELONGING IN MARINE SCIENCE. (9652)

Primary Presenter: Jeanette Davis, Hampton University (jeanette.davis@hamptonu.edu)

There are several factors that have led to the absence of representation of students of color going into the field of marine science including the lack of exposure and understanding to marine science and career opportunities, deficient financial resources, and a lack of family support who often do not grasp career paths in marine science. The Department of Marine and Environmental Science (MES) at Hampton University is one of the top schools that graduate students of color in marine science and the only HBCU listed in the Top 20 Marine Science Programs according to data from the National Center for Educational Statistics. It is uniquely situated on 204 acres of the Hampton River shore, providing a natural classroom to teach marine science. The MES Department has implemented a 3-week Summer Bridge Program for high school students to expose them to their local marine habitats through engaging activities and field research, and supports both students and parents in understanding marine science career pathways. Analysis of pre-survey and post-survey data, coupled with insights from focus group interviews revealed participants’ marine science content knowledge, sense of belonging, and self-efficacy increased, and their future career plans were positively influenced because of the Program. Findings also revealed participants found value in connecting with other students and the accessibility of the science professionals. This Program highlights best practices for engaging and recruiting more students of color into the field of marine science.

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09:30 AM

Breaking barriers to increase successful outcomes for students at the Center for Diversity Leadership in Science ‘s Ocean Program (9765)

Primary Presenter: De'Marcus Robinson, Florida A&M University (demarcus1.robinson@atmos.ucla.edu)

The Center for Diversity Leadership in Science (CDLS) is the first of its kind and the only academic environmental center in the country. Which works to transform culture and build community by supporting the retention and recruitment of early-career fellows of multiple generations (high school, undergraduate and graduate students, post-baccalaureate and postdoctoral researchers), community fellows (from tribal stewards to community youth and adult activists), and faculty fellows   with a focus on marginalized communities through many of CDLS’s program. The Ocean Program at CDLS is a central part of CDLS’s mission to increase access, justice, belonging, and equity to support scholars and the community who rely on the ocean, and prepare fellows to be leaders in ocean science for a healthy and inclusive ocean for tomorrow. The activities for CDLS’s Ocean Program to achieve a sustainable and accessible ocean include ocean educationand community engagement, tribal stewardship network, pathways in STEM and ocean science, workshops, and supporting ocean research and projects. To address the barriers in ocean sciences, it will need to reflect the community, heritage and culture connection of the ocean.

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09:45 AM

Hacking Atmospheric and Oceanographic Science (9532)

Primary Presenter: Vernon Morris, Arizona State University (vmorris7@asu.edu)

Question: What happens when one takes a twenty-year scientific campaign that is responsible for engaging over 60 individual BIPoC students in maritime field science with a research incubation program that is designed to reduce barriers to accessing research experiences? Answer: We do not know. But we would like to propose an effort to answer this question.   In 2006, the AERosols and Ocean Science Expeditions (AEROSE), and observational field campaign focused on Saharan Dust research joined scientists from the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) on their PIRATA Northeast Extension (PNE) mission. This was the beginning of what has now become a eighteen-year partnership.   AEROSE scientific outcomes have led the development of improved global modeling capabilities, improved reanalyses for climate in remote ocean regions and new satellite operational data products for water vapor imagery, improved sea surface temperature, space-based aerosol retrievals, and air quality forecasting boundary conditions.  The partnership has also been a model for inclusive science aboard Class 1 research vessels as it has sponsored immersive experiences for over 60 BIPoC students in active research leading to 20 student-authored and early career refereed publications and 30 student presentations at professional meetings. We now wonder how the PNE-AEROSE partnership might be leveraged to create a new type of program offering broader access to field studies at sea.  The talk will discuss our relationship, the positive outcomes, and how it might be twinned with a new program recently launched at Arizona State University that reduces barriers that students who are place-based, first-generation, have caregiving commitments, study online, or other life factors that exclude them from typical research traineeships.   The proposed presentation will describe this proposal, and its justification based on the proven benefits and successes of the AEROSE/PNE partnership and the Hacking Sustainability Summer Incubator program.  The latter program has been running for the past three years at Arizona State University and provided a hybridized (full immersion and online/virtual) onramp to scholarly pursuits for students whose lived experience (e.g. lack of class privilege, racialization, primary caregiving commitments, online status, first-generation challenges, belonging to working families, disability status, non-negotiable place attachment) precludes their participation in traditional research internship programs.   The HSSI program introduces concepts of sustainability, environmental justice, and critical approaches to complex environmental problems within a format aimed at i) cultivating individual scientific inquiry and ethical responsibility in research, ii) disrupting current knowledge politics, iii) empowering and encouraging historically excluded STEM talent for entry into the research enterprise.  The program is specifically designed with these populations in mind. 

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