The Louis
Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) at the National
Science Foundation (NSF) doubled its investment in focused research
experiences for underrepresented minority students in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics at our nation's laboratories
in 2006. Approximately 25 faculty and 68 students, including
community college students, participated in research projects
involving energy technology, engineering technology, physics,
biosciences, neurosciences, computer sciences, materials sciences and
other multidisciplinary scientific and technical areas. The
Argonne, Brookhaven, Fermi, Lawrence Livermore, Oak Ridge, and
Pacific Northwest National Laboratories provided venues for
these valuable experiences. Thirteen alliances participated in
national lab research experiences in 2006.
In
addition, the Organization for Tropical Studies program at Duke
University provided research experiences for Native American and
Pacific Islander undergraduate students from participating
LSAMP institutions. Las Cruces Biological Station in
Costa Rica was the site for students to complete their
independent research projects. Students from the College
of Menominee Nation, Haskell Indian Nations University, Northwest
Indian College, Stone Child College, University of Hawaii-Hilo,
University of Hawaii-Manoa, University of Vermont, University of
Washington, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Washington State
University applied to the program in 2006. Eight students
completed the eight-week program in 2006.
Feedback
from a student mentor provides insight into the value of
research experiences: "This past summer, I had the
pleasure of mentoring two students participating in the Native
American and Pacific Islander Research Experiences at Las Cruces
Research Station in Costa Rica. My students were bright,
interested, and willing to commit the time and energy required to
obtain project success, to grow as aspiring scientists, and to gain
perspective about the condition of their fellow human beings in
Central America. My mentoring of the students was
both covert and overt. As a female scientist of Pacific
Island descent at a school with name-recognition, I was able to
passively demonstrate that success is not only possible, but likely,
if desired. Overt, non-research mentoring was provided through
a presentation on how to get accepted into a graduate program.
My two students participated in a project to assess the health of the
Guaymi -- an indigenous population residing near Las Cruces -- who
are impacted by waterborne disease at far higher levels than that of
the general Costa Rican population. The two students were
involved with every aspect of learning science in a social context."
