NSF INCLUDES Planning Grant: Coastal, Ocean, and Marine Enterprise Inclusion and Network-building (COME IN)

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

This NSF INCLUDES planning grant is funded by NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion and broadening participation in STEM at scale. The goal of this award is to create the Coastal, Ocean, and Marine Enterprise Inclusion and Network-building (COME IN). The project includes a series of facilitated virtual and in-person engagement opportunities that bring together scientists, stakeholders, and partners from various coastal, ocean and marine (COM) disciplines to understand the dynamic needs of students from underrepresented and under-resourced communities, establish a collaborative infrastructure to enhance and expand internship programs for underrepresented minorities (URM) based on Sea Grant’s Community-Engaged Internship program, and estimate resource needs to successfully form new and expanded frameworks that will ensure the persistence and success of URM students in the COM workforce. In addition to facilitating participant learning and relationship building, COME IN promotes enhanced communication and collaboration among various COM organizations, institutions, and businesses. The project utilizes multiple ways of capturing diverse perspectives, including the lived personal and professional experiences of individuals from underserved and underrepresented communities who may not be able to participate in virtual or in-person COME IN meetings. This planning project focuses on developing a shared vision among partners, partnerships, goals and metrics, and developing robust mechanisms of collaborative infrastructure for sharing lessons learned and best practices. The broadening participation challenge proposed by COME IN is based on two foundational questions: (i) how can COM focused professional societies, government and non-governmental organizations, businesses, and academia engender justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion principles, and (ii) how can partnering organizations effectively support, measure, and replicate URM success in COM science disciplines at the undergraduate level and beyond. To address this challenge, COME IN fosters discussions around the following questions: what are the unique needs and challenges that either facilitate or prevent students from underrepresented and under-resourced communities from pursuing a degree in COM science fields; which tools, methods and practices are most effective in terms of supporting the participation, persistence, and success of these students in COM fields; how does integration of traditional and local knowledge with western approaches of doing science contribute to the development of students’ identity as scientists; in what ways can professional societies, government and non-governmental organizations, businesses, and academia create more inclusive and safe working environments that foster students’ sense of belonging; what is the impact of long-term cohort building, professional development, and access to culturally-responsive mentors and role models on student retention and success; and lastly, what measures and metrics can be used to assess the effectiveness of mentorship and role models in COM science fields. 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.