IRES Track I: Immersive Undergraduate Research in the Galapagos as a Tool for Building URM STEM Careers

第1部分：非技术项目描述。真正的社会和经济障碍阻碍了有才华的本科生——尤其是那些来自代表性不足的少数民族的本科生——参与大学研究，并最终阻碍了他们在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域的职业发展。克服这些多方面的障碍事关公平，对科学进步、美国STEM劳动力发展和国家安全至关重要。研究人员在休斯敦和厄瓜多尔Galápagos群岛进行了为期19周的本科生研究。该计划旨在帮助代表性不足的少数民族克服限制他们参与STEM并取得成功的社会障碍。然而，项目学费、交通费、研究站费用和失去的工作时间的综合成本意味着，对许多学生来说，参加项目的成本太高了。该奖项将在经济上支持有才华但经济困难的学生参与该计划。主要目的是使更多有才华、经济条件较差的学生参与这一独特的研究经历，并使这些学生在STEM领域取得终身成功。此外，学生生成的数据用于了解Galápagos的自然功能，并可以指导政策建议，以确保负责任的开发和保护，不仅是这些岛屿，还有任何生态敏感的近海岸地区，这些地区经历着日益增长的生态旅游压力或处于新兴城市环境的边缘。最后，项目评估将产生数据驱动的见解，以了解项目的各个方面，从而导致学生的成功；这些发现的发表将使少数族裔服务机构，以及任何希望增加STEM成功人口的种族和经济多样性的机构，都能够采用和修改所提出的方法。第2部分：技术项目描述。现有的项目是围绕帮助本科生，特别是那些来自代表性不足的少数民族（urm）人口的本科生，克服STEM成功的背景障碍而建立的。该项目的学生将在休斯敦大学（UH）学习一个学期的强化预备课程，该课程使用Galápagos作为模型来探索地质学，进化生物学，历史和保护等几个主题。通过这门课程，学生们还参与了大量的群体建设（例如，露营，幕后动物园之旅）和专业培训活动（例如，如何批判性地阅读科学文献，如何展示发现，RCR，使用野外生物设备）。然后，他们与位于圣Cristóbal岛的Galápagos科学中心的教员在Galápagos进行为期四周的合作研究。本科生团队在不同强度和形式的发展压力下，为教师主导的项目做出贡献，重点关注Galápagos的基础生物学和生态健康。而在岛上，学生通过寄宿在当地家庭中，沉浸在当地文化中，建立他们的专业网络和STEM身份，培养STEM自我效能感等。回到休斯敦大学后，学生将参加一些结构化的学术和发展活动，如使用个人叙述来交流他们的经历和研究的培训，在专业会议上展示研究成果的指导，开发研究生院的应用程序等。这些活动旨在促进向继续本科研究，研究生学习或STEM职业的过渡。参加项目的全部费用相当大，不包括有经济需要的学生。IRES奖学金旨在为有学术天赋但经济需求未得到满足的项目上进者提供经济支持；基金将支付参加项目的全部费用，包括学费、旅费、住房、Galápagos公园和研究站费用，以及学生离开校外工作时间的收入损失。学生产生的数据增加了我们对Galápagos的理解，对全球生态敏感的近海岸地区具有明确的应用价值。重要的是，项目评估将产生新的见解，了解多样化和持续的沉浸式培训，本科研究和强大的财政支持如何推动URM在STEM方面取得成功。这些见解的发表将使我们的方法得到广泛应用，以增加在STEM领域取得成功的人口的种族和经济多样性。这种集中努力提高URM在STEM方面的成功是一个对国家利益至关重要的公平问题，因为持续的人口变化影响着我们的学生和工人人口的构成。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Part 1: Nontechnical Project Description. Genuine social and financial barriers prevent talented undergraduates – particularly those from underrepresented minorities – from participating in university research, and ultimately from building careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM). Overcoming these multifaceted barriers is a matter of equity, and is critical for scientific progress,United States STEM workforce development, and national security. The researchers have developed a 19-week undergraduate research experience in Houston and the Galápagos islands, Ecuador. The Program is designed purposefully to help underrepresented minorities overcome the social barriers that limit their participation and success in STEM. However, the combined cost of Programtuition, travel, research station fees, and lost time from work means that participation is cost-prohibitive formany students. This award will support financially the participation of talented but financiallydisadvantaged students in the Program.The primary aims are to enable an increase in the participation of talented, financiallyunderprivileged students in this unique research experience and to bring these students to lifelongsuccess in STEM. In addition, the data generated by students are used to understand the naturalfunctioning of the Galápagos, and can guide policy recommendations that ensure responsibledevelopment and conservation not just of these islands, but of any ecologically sensitive near-coastalareas that experience growing ecotourism pressures or that are on the margins of emerging urbanenvironments. Finally, the Program evaluation will generate data-driven insights into the aspects of the Program that leads to student success; publication of these findings will enable adoption and modificationof the proposed approach not just by minority serving institutions, but by any that desire to increase the racial andeconomic diversity of populations successful in STEM.Part 2: Technical Project Description. The existing Program is built around helpingundergraduates, particularly those from underrepresented minority (URMs) populations, overcomecontextual barriers to STEM success. Students in the Program spend one semester in an intensivepreparatory course at the University of Houston (UH) that uses the Galápagos as a model to exploreseveral topics in geology, evolutionary biology, history, and conservation. Through the course, studentsalso engage in numerous cohort building (e.g., camping, behind-the-scenes zoo tours) and professionaltraining activities (e.g., how to read the scientific literature critically, how to present findings, RCR, use offield biology gear). They then conduct collaborative research for four weeks in the Galápagos with facultybased at the Galápagos Science Center on San Cristóbal island. Undergraduate teams contribute tofaculty-led projects focused on basic biology and ecological health of the Galápagos under differentintensities and forms of stress from development. While in the islands, students are immersed in localculture through home-stays with local families, build their professional networks and STEM identities,develop STEM self-efficacy, etc. Upon return to UH, students engage in several structured academic anddevelopmental activities such as training in the use of personal narrative to communicate theirexperiences and research, guidance in presenting findings at professional meetings, developingapplications to graduate school, etc. These activities are aimed at facilitate transition to continuingundergraduate research, post-graduate study, or careers in STEM,The full cost of Program participation is considerable, and excludes students with financial need.The IRES Award aims to provide financial support to academically talented Program aspirants with unmetfinancial need; funds will cover the full cost of Program participation, including tuition, travel, housing,Galápagos park and research station fees, and income lost from student time away from outside work.Data generated by the students increases our understanding the Galápagos, and has clearapplied value for ecologically sensitive near-coastal areas globally. Importantly, the Program evaluationwill generate new insights into how diverse and ongoing immersive training, undergraduate research, andstrong financial support can drive URM success in STEM. Publication of these insights will enable broaduse of our approach to increase the racial and economic diversity of populations successful in STEM.Such focused efforts to increase URM success in STEM is a matter of equity that is critical to the nationalinterest as ongoing demographic shifts affect the composition of our student and worker populationsThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.