The ASLO Multicultural Program (ASLOMP) began in 1990 to promote diversity in the aquatic sciences. It involves brining diverse undergraduate and graduate students to annual ASLO meetings. The students participate in special programing that includes an opening dinner and keynote speaker, a student symposium where they present their work, a field trip, and work with meeting mentors. Between 1990 and 2023, 1443 different students participated in ASLOMP. They were a diverse lot; 43.0% African American, 33.0% Hispanic, 6.4% white, 6.4% Native American, 5.3% Pacific Islander, 3.5% Asian, and 2.4% other. Participants have gone on to be the first persons of color to serve on the ASLO Board of Directors and to assume other leadership positions in the society. Many former ASLOMP participants have gone on for advanced degrees and often return as mentors in the program. The ASLOMP model has been adopted by various other scientific societies including the Ecological Society of America (Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability ‐ SEEDS), the Society of Wetland Scientists, Sigma Xi, and the Coastal and Estuarine and Research Federation. The founding of ASLOMP demonstrated the usefulness of empowered allies in leading efforts to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Enlightenment strikes! Broadening graduate school training through field campaign participation
Abstract This article provides an overview of the Advanced Study Institute: Field Studies of Convection in Argentina (ASI-FSCA) program, a 3-week dynamic and collaborative hands-on experience that allowed 16 highly motivated and diverse graduate students from the U.S. to participate in the 2018-19 Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign. This program is unique as it represents the first effort to integrate an intensive Advanced Study Institute with a field campaign in atmospheric science. ASI-FSCA activities and successful program outcomes for five key elements are described: (1) Intensive field research with field campaign instrumentation platforms; (2) Recruitment of diverse graduate students who would not otherwise have opportunities to participate in intensive field research; (3) Tailored curriculum focused on scientific understanding of cloud and mesoscale processes and professional/academic development topics; (4) Outreach to local K-12 schools and the general public; and (5) Building a collaborative international research network to promote weather and climate research. These five elements served to increase motivation and improve confidence and self-efficacy of students to participate in scientific research and field work with goals of increasing retention and a sense of belonging in STEM graduate programs and advancing the careers of students from underrepresented groups as evidenced by a formal program evaluation effort. Given the success of the ASI-FSCA program, our team strongly recommends considering this model for expanding the opportunities for a broader and more diverse student community to participate in dynamic and intensive field work in atmospheric science.
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- PAR ID:
- 10276245
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
- ISSN:
- 0003-0007
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 39
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The Rising Engineering Education Faculty Experience program (REEFE) is a professional development program that connects graduate students in engineering education with faculty members at teaching-focused institutions. The program goal is to simultaneously support faculty growth in engineering education and graduate student growth as academic change agents. Our program has transitioned from a partnership between one engineering education graduate program and one engineering institution to a consortium of engineering education graduate programs that sends students to multiple institutions across the country. The REEFE Consortium also developed a unique partnership with the Making Academic Change Happen initiative to offer continuous training to graduate students during their REEFE experience. Many positive outcomes have come from the development of the REEFE Consortium, including better graduate training in research at the coordinating institution, a better understanding of program logistics, and new and strengthened professional relationships. We discovered a number of challenges associated with providing intensive professional development opportunities to graduate students, including timing of experiences relative to degree progress, loss of connection to the home research community, and financial impact, especially as it relates to travel and housing. While a search of existing literature in professional development in higher education has provided best practices for existing programs, there is little to no available research highlighting barriers that exist to offering different types of professional development opportunities to graduate student populations. These barriers are important to highlight as they provide critical information needed in the design and decision making for those seeking to create useful professional development opportunities for graduate populations. This paper provides an updated description of the Rising Engineering Education Faculty Experience program as we attempt to scale the program. We summarize the existing literature on barriers to participation in professional development opportunities for graduate students. Finally, we describe how REEFE both addresses and fails to address these barriers.more » « less
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0062.1
