Alaska Undergraduate Research Experience: Partnering for Alaska Students by Growing Recruitment and Retention through Undergraduate Research

专注于区域问题的本科生研究经验是在全国范围内留住STEM领域代表性不足学生的有效途径。阿拉斯加提供了丰富多样的实地和实验室研究经验，其中大部分工作是由学术环境以外的机构领导的。然而，事实证明，将有兴趣在阿拉斯加从事STEM领域职业生涯的大学生与这些机会联系起来是具有挑战性的。阿拉斯加本科生研究体验的主要目标是将阿拉斯加的学生与当地的生物科学研究机会联系起来，以增加留存，并更好地为学生进入阿拉斯加特有的研究做好准备。该项目将把阿拉斯加研究界聚集在一起，与当地研究项目(例如，阿拉斯加各地的地方部落委员会、非营利组织、州和联邦机构)发展社区伙伴关系，并为未来的本科生研究机会创造途径。为了将网络维持在萌芽阶段，合作者将参加培训研讨会，以加强建立和维持社区、指导和跨文化关系的技能。将开发一个网站，将本科生与研究机会联系起来，并提供一个信息中心，将偏远地区的社区与学生可以访问的研究联系起来。阿拉斯加的多样性，无论是在研究方面，还是在人民方面，都提供了一个独特的机会，将国家生物研究行业的人们与他们正在探索的区域社区联系起来。该项目将确定社区与当地研究项目的伙伴关系，为合作者提供以课程为基础的本科生研究经验(CURE)开发和基于地点的教育的讲习班，在科学教育资源中心(SERC)网站内开发一个网络信息中心，并对该网络进行评估。阿拉斯加大学安克雷奇分校和阿拉斯加太平洋大学为非传统学生群体提供服务，招收多样化的学生群体，包括很大比例的阿拉斯加原住民学生。来自这些机构的学生将被连接到网络合作者，从事定向的生物学研究，以获得课程学分。为了确保网络的可持续性，SERC网站将作为一个永久平台，将本地研究项目与感兴趣的学生联系起来。这一初步网络建设项目的成果将指导今后区域网络的扩大，并将为留住全国生物科学专业任职人数不足的本科生提供信息。该项目由生物科学局、生物基础设施部和教育与人力资源局、本科生教育部共同资助，作为他们应对《本科生物学教育的愿景与变革：行动号召》(http://visionandchange/finalreport))中提出的挑战的努力的一部分，并由既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)提供额外支持。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。

Undergraduate research experiences focused on regional issues are an effective way to increase retention of underrepresented students in STEM fields nationally. Alaska offers a rich diversity of field- and lab-based research experiences, with much of this work being led by institutions outside of the academic setting. However, it has proven to be challenging to connect university students interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields in Alaska with those opportunities. The main goal of the Alaska Undergraduate Research Experience is to connect Alaskan students to local research opportunities in biological sciences to increase retention and better prepare students to enter research endemic to Alaska. This project will bring the Alaskan research community together to develop community partnerships with local research projects (e.g. local tribal councils, non-profits, state and federal agencies across Alaska) and create pathways for future undergraduate research opportunities. To sustain the network in its infancy, collaborators will participate in training workshops that strengthen skills in building and sustaining community, mentoring, and cross-cultural relationships. A website will be developed to connect undergraduates to research opportunities and to provide an information hub to tie communities in remote locations to research that is accessible to their students. Alaska’s diversity, both in research, in its people, provide a unique opportunity to connect people in national biological research industries to the regional communities that they are exploring. This project will identify community partnerships with local research projects, provide workshops on Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) development and place-based education for collaborators, develop a network informational hub within the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) website, and evaluate the network. The University of Alaska - Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University serve non-traditional student populations and enroll a diverse student body, including a large percentage of Alaska Native students. Students from these institutions will be connected to the network collaborators to engage in directed biological research for course credit. To ensure that the network is sustainable, the SERC website will serve as a permanent platform to connect local research projects with interested students. The outcomes of this initial network-building project will guide future expansions of the regional network and will inform retention efforts of underrepresented undergraduates in the biological sciences nationally. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action" (http://visionandchange/finalreport) with additional support provided by the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This 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.