Collaborative Research: EAGER: A cross-institution Veterans in Green STEM program

East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to develop a cross-institutional geo/environmental science diversity leadership program, between East Los Angeles College (ELAC) and The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to recruits from the veteran community. The veteran community is comprised of men and women who, through their service, have been exposed to a leadership-driven background which often develops unique skills, experiences, and mindsets. This makes them prime candidates to create diversity champions in the geo/environmental science communities. But as with many underrepresented communities in the geoscience, environmental science, and the STEM community overall, veterans have unique barriers which must be addressed to facilitate their development as diversity leaders. In many instances, these individuals are older, have been displaced from the academic environment for multiple years, have additional life responsibilities, and in some cases have unique circumstances which add additional barriers to success in the university environment. These additional barriers coupled with the rigorous academic curriculum associated with geo/environmental science fields, and STEM fields in general, have led to veterans being underrepresented in said disciplines. There has even been a Federal response, namely the passing of the “Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act – H.R. 425/S153” [1], on Feb 11, 2020, which has directed the NSF to expand its efforts in increasing veteran inclusion in STEM. By developing a plan to recruit from and simultaneously address these additional barriers while developing leaders from a pool of veterans interested in the geo/environmental science fields, the PIs will support unique champions of diversity; develop current faculty leadership empathy towards the veteran community to better inform them how to create expansion efforts to enhance inclusion; and, more broadly, develop much needed insight into how the principles of the “Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act” can be applied. This exploratory research effort will contribute to the development and application of new methods that should effectively create diversity champions amongst the geo/environmental science fields that recruit from the veteran community. The approach will be cross-institutional, and involve the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Eastern Los Angeles College (ELAC). By examining these two vastly different academic environments, the PIs will receive feedback and data that is much broader and can aid in the development of a refined approach that can be scaled. The project will be implemented withy 6 specific goals: 1) Recruit veterans with an interest in geo/environmental science STEM fields, and establish a cross-institutional community to facilitate said interest among similar peers, 2) Establish a support system, 3) Establish cross-institutional placement of veterans into geoscience and environmental labs for research opportunities, 4) Develop diverse leadership through the participation of members in various leadership engagements and roles, 5) Develop empathy and understanding of veteran related circumstances to the current geo/environmental science community, and 6) Record and analyze metrics on retention, performance, engagement, and development of veterans through the duration of their academic careers. 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.