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Many first-year, low-income STEM students do not remain in STEM majors past their first year and complete STEM degrees. Our project aimed to support low-income, STEM majors financially and promote their STEM identities by creating a learning community focused on developing positive relationships among students, faculty, and peer mentors. Our research examined how first-year interventions such as a cohort-based STEM-themed first-year experience, peer and faculty mentoring, community meetings, and STEM seminars and conferences provided opportunities for students to (a) develop a sense of belonging, (b) develop competences in biology and math, (c) perform biology and math practices, and (d) be recognized for their competence and performances. This work is needed due to the importance of understanding how interventions may increase retention and graduation rates contributing to the national need for well-educated STEM professionals. We analyzed data from the first year of an NSF-funded S-STEM project, STEM Success Scholars in a small public liberal arts university. Qualitative methods were used throughout. Data consisted of observations of scholars in the first-year experience course and during meetings and seminars, and semi-structured interviews following a modified Seidman’s (2013) three-interview protocol. Artifacts such as course papers, peer and faculty mentoring logs, and email communications were used as secondary sources. Findings inform how interventions during STEM majors’ first year of college can support students’ STEM identity. 

Synopsis Public health researchers have long been aware of the importance of defining the human community associated with research on environmental health initiatives. However, the field community’s human components where applied ecology research is conducted, e.g. diverse participants and perspectives, are often overlooked in environmental problem solving. We outline a framework for elevating the human dimension in defining the field community in applied ecology research and for teaching diverse undergraduate students the skills needed to address Anthropocene environmental concerns. We promote broadening participation and incorporating cultural and racial perspectives in ecology research planning, implementation, and teaching. We use the environmental research problem of concern to identify the diverse human community groups potentially connected to the problem and guide the strategies for incorporating their perspectives in the proposed research project. Which human community, whether local, ethnic, or visiting public community, affects the resource management strategy, i.e. people protect what they love, can change the outcomes of applied ecological research, as well as promote development of a diverse environmental workforce. Broadening participation and perspectives means that the people asking the research questions are also part of the social ecological community processes who choose which questions to pursue to manage the natural resources of the community. Here, we promote research and teaching practices that consider the long-standing multicultural connections to nature to allow all students to pursue their love of nature and its beauty in a safe, comfortable, and mentoring setting. We integrate current human diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused pedagogical knowledge into the Ecological Society of America-endorsed 4DEE multidimensional curricular framework. We provide a faculty action guide to engage and train diverse students in ecological practices that meet the needs of today’s environmental problem-solving workforce.