This proposal will be awarded using funds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Hampton University and the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) propose renewed funding for a program to increase the numbers of under-represented minorities electing careers in aquatic sciences. The program targets minority students, faculty and professionals interested in aquatic sciences, as well as faculty working at Historically Minority Colleges and Universities (HMCU). Participants received a free membership in ASLO and support to attend the annual meetings and special pre-meeting workshops. The present proposal will cultivate the development of past participants and incorporate new cohorts of students into the process. By continuing to build active participation of target group members in the annual meetings of ASLO, the program aims to achieve four objectives: 1. Expose more minority undergraduates and beginning graduate students to cutting edge aquatic science through active participation in ASLO meetings. 2. Link minority students to opportunities for internships, advanced studies, special programs and potential employment through interactions at ASLO meetings. 3. Continue to bring new cohorts of minority students into the networks of minority and majority aquatic scientists. 4. Establish a significant presence of minority scientists in ASLO that will form a mentor core for the ongoing recruitment of new minorities into the field.
Since the initiation of the program in 1990, over 654 students have participated in the program. About 42% of students return for subsequent meetings, 25% attend two, and 16%, 3 or more. Many (80%) of the participants are female in recent years, reflecting a national trend of declining enrollment of male minority students in colleges. The participant group has been diverse, consisting of 57% African-Americans, 33% Hispanic-Americans, 7% Native-Americans, and 4% Pacific Islanders. Shifts in participant demographics over the course of the program include increasing numbers of Hispanics, women and graduate students. In addition, 11 former students who have earned Ph.D. degrees returned as mentors. Students from 181 different institutions participated over the years. About 57% of the students came from key minority serving institutions with aquatics programs (Hampton U., Savannah State U., The U. of Puerto Rico campuses, Fort Valley State U., The U. of Maryland, Eastern Shore, Jackson State U., Cal. State, LA and the University of Texas, El Paso, Florida A&M U.). Many students participated via special relationships with REU programs, such as those at Shannon Point (Western Washington Univ.), Harbor Branch/Savanna State U., the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and Oregon State U. Best estimates suggest that, 28% of the participants completed graduate or professional degrees, with about 155 earning MS and 31 completing PhD or Law degrees.
