This project is awarding scholarships annually to 22 undergraduate and 10 graduate students in several departments: geography and geology, mathematics and statistics, and biological sciences. The particular choice of departments reflects disciplines in demand by dominant industries in the region. A team of faculty members, student support specialists, and industry representatives is actively recruiting and nurturing scholars so that they successfully complete their degrees and are prepared for the workforce. Special program features include undergraduate research, tutoring services, a tiered peer mentoring program, faculty and industry mentors, social events, professional development workshops, and student travel. The intellectual merit of the project lies in its advancement of knowledge in the STEM disciplines through interdisciplinary research, in particular by encouraging both student and faculty interdisciplinary collaboration. This research program builds on successful models designed to equip future scientists with the educational foundation for solving complex interdisciplinary problems, thus preparing them for the scientific workforce. The broader impacts of the project include increasing the participation of underrepresented groups through attention to recruitment efforts within the large population of African-American and Hispanic students from local high schools and community colleges. Faculty and peer mentoring are also increasing the rates of retention and of graduation of minority students in the participating sciences.
