2010 LSAMP Magazine - University of Alabama at Birmingham

L
SAMP
Accomplishments 2007-2008
at external sites such as the Environment Protection Agency
located in Research Triangle Park, Duke University, Davidson
College, the University of Arizona and the Center
for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) at Penn State
University and Ohio State University.
Northeast
The Northeast LSAMP Options and Opportunities Conference,
fall 2007, was designed to educate LSAMP students
about the post-collegiate opportunities and resources
available to them, to create a sense of group identity and to
provide a venue for students to present original research.
Northeast LSAMP continues to sustain the doubling of underrepresented
STEM enrollment.
North Star
The North Star STEM Alliance is fortunate to have Gustavus
Adolphus College as a partner with its excellent annual
Nobel Conference, which explores a scientific topic in
depth for a lay audience. Forty students and their faculty
hosts from Anoka Ramsey Community College, St. Cloud
State University, Carleton College, Century College and
Gustavus Adolphus College attended the two-day conference
on the theme of alternative energy.
Giiwed’anang (pronounced ge-wed-an-ang) North Star
American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
Alliance is an alliance of student chapters within the North
Star STEM Alliance. The goals of the giiwed’anang North
Star Alliance are to form relationships among Minnesota
AISES chapters; provide educational opportunities, academic
guidance and support; open doors to research; build
connections between high school, pre- and post-secondary
education and industry in STEM and increase the numbers
of students involved in the AISES Alliance. By networking
these student chapters, this alliance fosters an essential
community among Native American STEM students and
supports their STEM accomplishments.
Ohio
Over the course of Phase I of the Ohio LSAMP grant, 306
students have received funding from the alliance for either
academic year and/or summer research. Of these, 119
have earned bachelor degrees and 42% have gone on to
graduate school.
Reporting of improvements for STEM majors have occurred
in the last three summers at the University of
Michigan’s Annual International Conference on “Science
Engagement.”
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Alliance achieved great success during
2007-2008. The number of Bachelor of Science graduates
in the STEM disciplines increased 38 percent. Four scholars
conducted international research, six articles were published
in refereed science journals, and 47 percent of the
2008 graduates enrolled in graduate programs. OU and
OSU rank, first and second respectively, in the number of
Bachelor of Science Engineering degrees awarded to Native
Americans. The 14th Annual Research Symposium was
extremely successful. Dr. Hicks, NSF Program Director,
spoke to the BD Fellows.
The BD Cohort VI is funded. OSU received funding to support
12 LSAMP scholars to complete the Ph.D. program.
The alliance joined the Fulbright Academy of Science &
Technology (FAST) and 90 percent of the 2008 Scholars
conducted research.
Pacific Alliance
The University of Alaska Anchorage has received $4.4 million
from our industrial partners and philanthropic supporters
to fund the Herbert P. Schroeder Endowed Chair
of the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (AN-
SEP). The new chair guarantees that there will forever be a
faculty advocate for minority engineering and science students
on our campus.
The alliance hosted a dissemination conference on the University
of Alaska Anchorage campus. The conference was
funded by the Ford Foundation, the Nathan Cummings
Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. As a result
of the conference, we have reorganized our national effort
into the Indigenous Alliance for Engineering and Science
Education. Thirteen higher education institutions in nine
states and more than 50 high schools are now replicating
the model we have developed to foster success for our students.
Also, A.P. Sloan has agreed to fund an unlimited
number of graduate fellowships for Native students attending
the University of Alaska.
Peach State
The alliance institutions have been able to support student
research during the fall, spring and summer semesters. All
of the four-year institutions within the Alliance: Fort Valley
State University (FVSU), Savannah State University (SSU),
Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) and the University
of Georgia, organized summer research opportunities
for undergraduate students to conduct research with a
faculty research mentor. These research opportunities enabled
93 LSAMP scholars to present their research at the
2nd Annual Peach State LSAMP Fall 2007 Symposium and
Research Conference hosted at the University of Georgia.
Year III provided an opportunity for the Alliance institutions
to expose 127 LSAMP scholars to national conferences
and campus visits to graduate schools. This effort is
providing the LSAMP scholars with a competitive edge as
they prepare to engage in graduate studies in STEM.
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation 13