Improved STEM education for 21st century environmental scientists through stratified mentoring and professional networking

为学生提供有意义的实践经验，特别是基于地点和文化的经验和密切指导，是培养一支能够有效研究、解释和交流人为和自然变化对地球系统的影响的专业劳动力的关键。该项目将建立和实施分层指导模式，以加强德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校(UTEP)环境科学专业拉美裔学生的招聘、留住和培训，并为学术和技术STEM劳动力更好地培养21世纪的环境科学家。该项目将培养出大量训练有素的拉美裔环境科学家，从而为STEM工人的国家管道做出积极贡献，并有助于缩小代表性不足的差距。同样重要的是，该项目将向其他机构传播和探索这一创新战略的可转移性。拟议计划的主要目标将是开发一种跨学科分层指导方法来进行环境科学研究。分层指导团队的结构是创新的，来自UTEP的多名教师，以及来自联邦、州和地方机构、行业、私营部门和学术界的专业人员将通过跨学科的实践研究项目集体和协作地指导高年级本科生，然后，这些高年级学生将监督大二本科生。这一目标将通过课程改革来实现，高年级学生将获得包括暑期实习在内的连续三个学期的研究经验。这些变化将使环境科学专业的学生之间、学生、教师和他们未来的雇主之间有更紧密的互动。利用该地区的“教育闭环”，高年级学生将通过服务学习和社区推广，进一步提高沟通和合作技能，从而帮助招收新的专业。将使用正式评价来量化拟议活动的影响，并评估分层指导方法的有效性。这种分层的指导方法将作为其他机构的教学模式。

Providing students with meaningful hands-on experiences, especially place- and culturally-based experiences and close mentoring, is key to producing a professional workforce capable of effectively studying, interpreting, and communicating the impacts of anthropogenic and natural change on the Earth's systems. This project will establish and implement a stratified mentoring model to enhance recruitment, retention, and training of Hispanic students in the Environmental Sciences in the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), and to better prepare 21st century environmental scientists for academic and technical STEM workforces. This program will produce a significant number of well-trained Hispanic environmental scientists, thus positively contributing to the national pipeline of STEM workers, and helping to narrow the underrepresentation gap. Equally important, this project will disseminate and explore the transferability of this innovative strategy to other institutions. The primary goal of the proposed program will be to develop an interdisciplinary stratified mentoring approach to environmental science studies. The structure of the stratified mentoring team is innovative, where multiple faculty from UTEP, and professionals from federal, state and local agencies, industry, private sectors and academia will collectively and collaboratively mentor senior undergraduates through interdisciplinary, hands-on research projects, and in turn, these seniors will supervise sophomore undergraduate students. This goal will be achieved by curriculum reform, where senior students will be exposed to three consecutive semesters of research experience including summer internships. These changes will allow for closer interactions among environmental science majors, and between students, faculty, and their future employers. Taking advantage of the region's "educational closed-loop", seniors will further improve communication and collaboration skills through service-learning and community outreach, thus aiding in the recruitment of new majors. A formal evaluation will be used to quantify the impact of the proposed activities, and assess the effectiveness of the stratified mentoring approach. This stratified mentoring approach will serve as an instructional model for other institutions.