Progress 08/01/10 to 07/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Through our program seminar series we are successfully reaching out to Riverside Community College students in STEM fields and exposing them to opportunities in our field. We reach students on the order of 50-100 at each seminar. This is coordinated by Smith and Walker. Through the science fair judging and follow-up tour of Walker's lab, we reach about 20 children per year and their families. These children and their families tour a USDA ARS lab each year. Through the STEM center programming at Riverside Community College we are reaching STEM majors through classes and special tutoring activities. This is coordinated by Smith. We are engaging two Riverside Community College students per year in intensive research and active mentoring by both Walker and Smith. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? By definition, all of our programming through this grant falls under training and professional development. Highlights for our two current RCC student reseachers include: - workshops on professional opportunities and making a resume/CV - workshops on graduate study and preparing for the GRE (graduate records examination) - seminar on giving presentations and making scientific posters - presentations at the UCR summer research symposium and at the upcoming Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research (SCCUR, November 2013) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Dissemination has involved the following: - programming at RCC for students in STEM courses - day in Walker's lab at UCR - scientific publication pending for one of the 2012-2013 participants (Brandon Rodgers) with Walker and her graduate student. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The format of the program will continue for the next year.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We have met all of our objectives during this past year. Specifically, the seminar and STEM center programming at Riverside Community College (RCC) is ongoing. Our two RCC students are actively working in research labs at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and they have already begun to present their work at local and regional symposia. The science fair programming was a success in 2013 and will be continued in 2014.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Lanphere, J.D.; Rogers, B.; Luth, C.; Bolster,C.; Walker, S.L. Submitted October 2013 Role of Natural Organic Matter in Graphene Oxide Transport: Influence of Concentration and Solution Chemistry Environmental Engineering Science (invited submission to environmental nanotechnology issue)
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Progress 08/01/11 to 07/31/12
Outputs
(N/A)
Impacts
The program has provided Summer Research Experiences (SRE) for outstanding Riverside Community College (RCC) Students. In spring 2012, two outstanding RCC students were selected for the eight-week summer research experience (SRE) at the University of California Riverside (UCR) June 20-August 12. The SRE was supervised by UCR Chemical and Environmental Engineering faculty members Walker and Matsumoto, with the administrative and mentoring help of a UCR PhD student. The RCC students conducted research on ongoing nano-themed water quality research projects full time in UCR laboratories. The RCC students' activities were supervised by the project directors (PD). During the SRE the students lived in the dormitories at UCR to experience the social and living environment of the campus to help them begin the community building necessary to assist in making the eventual transfer to a four-year institution. The RCC students will continue as research assistants through the upcoming academic year. The RCC students had individual meetings with the PDs on a monthly basis. The PDs served as judges at the Riverside Unified School District's (RUSD) Science Fair and selected the top projects in the area of Environmental Science and Engineering from over sixty projects entered. Awards were given for grades 4-12. All winners and their families participated in "A Day in the Lab" which was held 02/25/2012. Participants took a tour of the UCR campus, participated in a water quality experiment in a campus laboratory, and had the opportunity to meet with the PDs and students involved in this project. A USDA researcher took the participants on a tour of his lab at the USDA Salinity Lab (Riverside, CA). To ensure this program offers the SRE students a supportive and effective environment for learning, formative assessment was conducted during the first, fourth, and eighth week of the SRE with written questionnaires about their goals, progress, and programmatic support. SRE students will be surveyed midway through the academic year and at the end of the subsequent academic year. Additionally, the children participating in the "Day in the Lab" were surveyed to learn about perceptions of science and their future goals. These surveys have been developed and approved by the University of California, Riverside Human Subjects Review Board. An Education Ph.D. student at UCR has conducted extensive analysis on the administered surveys. The PDs also gave awards at the Riverside Unified School District's (RUSD) Science Fair awards ceremony. Over 500 students, teachers, and parents attended the award ceremony and were introduced to the Bridges Across Riverside program in 2012. "A Day in the Lab" participants visited a USDA research lab and meet with a USDA researcher. In the second year of this Bridges grant ~25 people participated in the "Day in the Lab" program. During this past year we selected a recipient of the USDA scholarship for a RCC student transferring to UCR to study a USDA-mission related STEM field.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 08/01/10 to 07/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project staff has successfully met the following Year 1 objectives. Objective 1. Provided a Summer Research Experience (SRE) for Outstanding Riverside Community College (RCC) Students: In 2011, two outstanding RCC students were selected for the eight-week summer research experience (SRE) at the University of California Riverside (UCR) June 20-August 12. The SRE was supervised by UCR Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering faculty members Walker and Matsumoto, with the administrative and mentoring help of a UCR Ph.D. student. The RCC students conducted research on ongoing nano-themed water quality research projects full time in UCR laboratories. The RCC students' activities were supervised by the project directors (PD). During the SRE the students lived in the dormitories at UCR to experience the social and living environment of the campus to help them begin the community building necessary to assist in making the eventual transfer to a four-year institution. The RCC students will continue as research assistants through the subsequent academic year ('11-12). The RCC students regularly attended weekly research group meetings and had individual meetings with the PDs on a monthly basis. Objective 2. Develop a website: A website (http://www.bridges.engr.ucr.edu/) is being maintained which highlights the activities of the RCC student researchers as well as other activities and outreach related to this grant. Objective 3. Riverside Unified School District's (RUSD) Science Fair: The PDs served as judges at the Science Fair and selected the top projects in the area of Environmental Science and Engineering from over sixty projects entered. Awards were given for grades 4-12. All winners and their families participated in 'A Day in the Lab' which was held March 5, 2011. Participants took a tour of the UCR campus, participated in a water quality experiment in a campus laboratory, and had the opportunity to meet with the PDs and students involved in this project. A USDA researcher took the participants on a tour of his lab at the USDA Salinity Lab (Riverside, CA). Although the RCC student participants are not Hispanic, both are from underserved backgrounds in STEM fields. Additionally, a substantial number of the RUSD Science Fair participants are Hispanic Americans. PARTICIPANTS: Primary participants: PDs: Dr Heather Smith (Riverside Community College) and Dr Sharon Walker (UC Riverside) Research supervisors: Dr. Sharon Walker, Dr. Mark Mastumoto, and graduate student Ian Marcus (UC Riverside) RCC student SRE participants: Louise Daniels and Brent Malcomb TARGET AUDIENCES: The project's website (http://www.bridges.engr.ucr.edu/) is regularly updated and highlights the activities of the RCC student researchers as well as other activities related to this grant. The PDs served as judges in the Riverside Unified School District's (RUSD) annual science fair and selected the top projects in the area of Environmental Science and Engineering. Over 500 students, teachers, parents, and local media attended the award ceremony and were introduced to the 'Bridges Across Riverside' program and the 'A Day in the Lab' activity for the winners and their families. In 2011 Over the course of the Bridges grant ~20 people people participated in the "Day in the Lab" program. The Building Bridges program was recently featured (August 2011) on the UCR Engineering website at http://www.engr.ucr.edu/. This article highlighted the two RCC students in the 2011 SRE. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: In the upcoming year of this project, we will commence the Building Bridges Across Riverside Seminar Series for RCC students, faculty, and staff. This monthly seminar series brings academic, government, and industry specialists in nanotechnology to the RCC campus to speak about their research and give a perspective on their career. We anticipate this seminar series to be well attended. Also, with the help of the evaluator, we will institute the USDA Mentor program to provide a highly qualified RCC student mentor for agriculturally related courses at RCC that traditionally have a high attrition rate. Mentors will be interviewed and selected based on their agriculturally related coursework, academic performance, and commitment to the mentor model as previously established by RCC. Mentors will be assigned to an agriculturally related course at RCC that has a historically low student success. Mentors will be supervised by PD Smith and evaluated by the program evaluator. Mentors are required to provide examples and project base learning activities in their mentoring sessions that are of agricultural significance. Finally, during this year we will select a recipient of the USDA scholarship for a RCC student transferring to UCR to study a USDA-mission related STEM field. We will also continue to work with our local USDA ARS laboratory.
Impacts
Since the prior update, the program has provided Summer Research Experiences (SRE) for outstanding Riverside Community College (RCC) Students- In spring 2011, two outstanding RCC students were selected for the eight-week summer research experience (SRE) at the University of California Riverside (UCR) June 20-August 12. The SRE was supervised by UCR Chemical and Environmental Engineering faculty members Walker and Matsumoto, with the administrative and mentoring help of a UCR PhD student. The RCC students conducted research on ongoing nano-themed water quality research projects full time in UCR laboratories. The RCC students' activities were supervised by the project directors (PD). During the SRE the students lived in the dormitories at UCR to experience the social and living environment of the campus to help them begin the community building necessary to assist in making the eventual transfer to a four-year institution. The RCC students will continue as research assistants through the upcoming academic year. The RCC students attended weekly research group meetings and had individual meetings with the PDs on a monthly basis. The PDs served as judges at the Riverside Unified School District's (RUSD) Science Fair and selected the top projects in the area of Environmental Science and Engineering from over sixty projects entered. Awards were given for grades 4-12. All winners and their families participated in "A Day in the Lab" which was held 03/05/2011. Participants took a tour of the UCR campus, participated in a water quality experiment in a campus laboratory, and had the opportunity to meet with the PDs and students involved in this project. A USDA researcher took the participants on a tour of his lab at the USDA Salinity Lab (Riverside, CA). To ensure this program offers the SRE students a supportive and effective environment for learning, formative assessment was conducted during the first, fourth, and eighth week of the SRE with written questionnaires about their goals, progress, and programmatic support. SRE students will be surveyed midway through the academic year and at the end of the subsequent academic year. Additionally, the children participating in the "Day in the Lab" were surveyed to learn about perceptions of science and their future goals. These surveys have been developed and approved by the University of California, Riverside Human Subjects Review Board. An Education Ph.D. student at UCR has conducted extensive analysis on the administered surveys. This project was one of the few federally funded research project in the history of RCC's Life Sciences Department. It has inspired faculty in the department to submit grants to USDA, NSF, and NASA for collaborative research projects based on our model. The PDs also gave awards at the Riverside Unified School District's (RUSD) Science Fair awards ceremony. Over 500 students, teachers, and parents attended the award ceremony and were introduced to the Bridges Across Riverside program in 2011. "A Day in the Lab" participants visited a USDA research lab and meet with a USDA researcher. In the first year of this Bridges grant ~20 people participated in the "Day in the Lab" program.
Publications
- Presentations and Proceedings Louise Daniels et al. 2011 "Fate, Transport, and Removal of Nanoparticles in Groundwater" poster presented at the annual UC Riverside Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, 08/10/2011 Riverside, CA
- Brent Malcomb et al. 2011 "The Effects of pH on Perchlorate Biodegradation" poster presented at the annual UC Riverside Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, 08/10/2011, Riverside, CA
- Walker, S. L. 2010 "Building Our Workforce Through Water Quality Research and Mentoring" invited talk at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture 1890 Capacity Building Grants Project Directors meeting, 11/20/2010 Washington, D.C.
- Walker, S.L. and Smith, H. 2010 "Building Bridges Across Riverside Through Nano-Water Research" poster presented at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture 1890 Capacity Building Grants Project Directors meeting, 11/20/2010 Washington, D.C.
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