Track 1: From the Campus to the Coast: Increasing Diversity in Marine Sciences
The goals of this project are to: 1) share the excitement and possibilities in marine sciences with high school students, and thereby increase the numbers who enter college in relevant majors; and 2) increase students' success in their first two years of college to ensure they are well-prepared for existing educational and research experiences available during the last half of their undergraduate education. Underrepresented minorities (URMs) currently form an extremely small percentage of students interested in ocean and other geosciences. The low numbers of URMs at upper-division levels are due in part to low retention of freshmen. Important contributing factors are the lack of success in introductory courses and lack of awareness of possible careers. Thus, in our Campus to the Coast program we address these problems directly and at an early stage in the college educational process. To meet these goals we focus on: 1) recruitment; 2) a pre-freshman experience [Ocean Sciences or Visit SML]; 3) a pre-sophomore experience [SML summer courses]; and 4) mentoring and networking by peers, near-peers, and faculty. The institutional partners in this proposal are the Shoals Marine Laboratory, Cornell University, and the University of New Hampshire. The program serves 26-38 URM students per summer. The team closely collaborates with admissions and multicultural offices to alert high school students to opportunities in marine sciences by educating admissions staff about ocean sciences at UNH and Cornell, meet with URM students and families on campus hosting weekends, and provide Cornell and UNH admissions staff with information about our program. We offer two kinds of first-summer programs at SML. First there is an intensive three week program for ten students called Ocean Sciences that: (a) is inquiry-based and teaches critical thinking and collaborative learning within the context of ocean sciences; (b) excites and motivates students through direct interaction with marine environments and organisms; (c) involves careful assessment and a focus on improving individual learning skills; and (d) is taught in a small class setting, with extensive interaction with faculty and near-peer instructors. Second, for those students not able to take our Ocean Sciences course, we offer a short four-day program for ten students called Visit SML that introduces the opportunities and adventure of marine science. Six to eighteen students [for a total of 72 credit-hours per summer] take SML courses in areas of marine science of special interest to the individual student as part of the second summer program. Funding for the Second Summer Program is provided entirely through sources at Cornell, UNH and SML.
