CHED 154 |
| Increasing the diversity of the scientific workforce is widely seen as an important step toward achieving national benchmarks in science and engineering and to increasing American competitiveness. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, Materials Research Laboratory (MRL), partnerships play a key role in addressing this challenge. Specifically, a partnership with the UCSB MESA schools program links us with middle school students in the largely Hispanic Fillmore and Santa Paula areas of Ventura County, as well as with local Santa Barbara city schools. Through these programs MRL scientists introduce materials science to approximately 500 students per year, most of whom have had no prior contact with UCSB. At the undergraduate level, the NSF PREM and LSAMP programs play a key role in increasing the diversity of participants who engage in MRL research experiences. A PREM partnership with Jackson State University connects us with talented undergraduate and early stage graduate students, who participate in the MRL summer undergraduate research internship program, in some cases for multiple summers. JSU faculty engagement provides an essential personal connection to the students that would be unavailable without the partnership. Similarly, the UC CAMP (California Alliance for Minority Participation) program connects us to a pool of underrepresented minority students in STEM fields at UCSB, who not only engage in research experiences, but also act as mentors and role models for younger students. |
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Research and Education in Material Science
8:30 AM-11:55 AM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- Rosedown, Oral
Division of Chemical Education |