Recruiting and retaining underrepresented minorities in the plant sciences: A comprehensive approach

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The objectives of this project are to develop a multifaceted approach to address the underrepresentation of minorities in the plant sciences and to increase their participation in plant science research and education. This project will expand self-funded programs by the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB), including travel awards to the ASPB annual conference, participation in and disbursement of best poster awards at minority student focused conferences, and the Diversity Bank - an information resource and matching service created by ASPB. Regional conferences affiliated with ASPB sectional meetings that will include workshops for students and faculty at minority-serving institutions on teaching, research, and learning will be expanded. Collectively, these activities will encourage and enhance interactions and collaborative efforts among institutions of higher education. This is important because many of the traditionally underrepresented students who go on to graduate schools in science begin their tertiary education at universities that have limited resources for conducting research. These institutions are usually underfunded, so students have fewer opportunities to engage in hands-on research, and faculty are challenged to develop collaborative interactions that support their own professional development while also providing important networking connections for their students. The outreach programs will be targeted to institutions with a significant enrollment of historically underrepresented students, while leveraging ASPB's strong existing presence at many of the country's largest research institutions. Results of this project will be disseminated via the society's Website and member newsletter, as well as through the Understanding Interventions Conference.Broader Impact: The overall goal of the project is to develop partnerships that will integrate teaching and research at different types of institutions of higher education and a professional society. We anticipate that these interactions will produce new synergies among the people and the institutions involved and, therefore, that this project may serve as a model for other scientific societies to engage a broader spectrum of people in science.