PREPARING STUDENTS FOR CAREER PATHS WITH THE USDA FOREST SERVICE BY LINKING STUDENT SUCCESS WITH EXPERIENTAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

• Sponsoring Institution: State Agricultural Experiment Station
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: STATE
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1000834
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2013
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2014
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
1620 STANDLEY DR ACADEMIC RESH A RM 110
LAS CRUCES,NM 88003-1239

Performing Department
Fisheries & Wildlife

Non Technical Summary
The Natural Resource Career Track Program (NRCT) is collaboration among 14 Hispanic Serving Institutions in New Mexico and Puerto Rico that prepares students for careers in Natural Resources. Our 85 program students have opportunities to engage in resource management, including, internships, research mentorship, graduate training, field courses, exchanges between New Mexico and Puerto Rico, and workshops. In 2013, 71 students received summer internships while remaining students conducted graduate research. NRCT programs should improve recruitment, retention, academic performance and graduation rates, and increase students moving to Natural Resource careers. To date seven graduates have permanent positions with the USDA Forest Service and 10 are enrolled in long-term PATHWAYS with the USDA.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
136	0199	1070	100%

Knowledge Area
136 - Conservation of Biological Diversity;

Subject Of Investigation
0199 - Soil and land, general;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

education

environment

natural resouces

usda

Goals / Objectives
1. Provide NM and PR students with 3 field courses annually. 2. Conduct classroom programs and field trips fo r entry level natural resource classes and high school students. 3.Provide studentexperiential learning in their chosen natural resouce field through summer interships. 4. Retain 90% of program students between years. 5. Establish a faculty and Forest Service mentorship program for program students. 6. Establish an educational and cultural exchange between New Mexico State University and the Univeristy of Puerto Rico. 7. Develop a graduate mentorship program to recruit underreprestented students into graduate programs in Natural Resouce Fields. 8. Develop/augment campus advising and tutoring programs. 9. Hold an annual NRCT program retreat in New Mexico and Puerto Rico. 10. Establish a series of workshops, seminars and field days for program students. 11. Move 70% of students into Forest Service, agency or other related positions post graduation.

Project Methods
The NM and PR NRCT Program identifies underrepresented students that have goals that are in line with FS and other agency careers in natural resource management. These students are distributed across 14 HSI institutions. Our program organization and methodology is listed below. Student Cohorts. Identify students for each cohort level in NM and PR (minimum of 50 students annually). employed by the USDA Forest Service. Mentorship. Each student in the NRCT Program has been assigned a faculty and FS mentor. These FS and faculty mentors will jointly work with the student and Education Coordinators to develop an individualized academic and career plan, and mentors will continue to provide advice throughout the students program. In earlier cohorts, efforts will be directed toward coursework, tutoring, and retention and in later cohorts, emphasis will become directed toward research experience, mentoring and USDA career experience. Field Courses. Students (n = 30-36) will participate in a 10-day field course in New Mexico or Puerto Rico that will include instruction on natural resource management linked to climate change and other environmental impacts. Instruction will occur as students travel around their region being introduced to USDA National Forests, research labs and other USDA agencies and related management concerns and priorities. Student Internship Program. Students in the NRCT Program will compete for PATHWAYS and other positions through advertisements on USA Jobs, and contacts with other agencies and NGOs. Faculty Research Mentorship. We will establish a semester research experience program targeting students in 3rd & 4th years. A minimum 3.0 GPA will be required to enroll (suggested by NRC 2009). Students will be matched with a faculty or agency advisor; we will target labs with a focus on climate change, forest management or other agency priorities. Students will participate in their own research and attend professional meetings (presenting in yr 2 of participation in program). The project director, education coordinator and key personnel will work to match the interests of selected students with a faculty mentor. Each student and faculty member participating in this program will sign an agreement. Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA and spend 15 hours a week working in the lab. Semester and Internship Exchange Program. One of the unique opportunities is an exchange program between NM and PR institutions. This will allow students to experience a different educational institution, ecosystem and FS management priorities. Students from New Mexico will experience the tropical environment and culture of Puerto Rico whereas students from Puerto Rico will experience the desert environment and culture of New Mexico. Exchanges will consist of summer internships, a semester exchange program or both. This program will cover travel, tuition and housing for students. This program is primarily run through the National Student Exchange (NSE). We will start small and build on our success. Students will be selected based on application materials and credit hours completed. Graduate Student Mentorship. We will establish a Graduate Student Mentorship Program. We currently have 10 students enrolled in this program (Table 2). Support for graduate students depends on need. Many require salary while others may simply involve a NRCT undergraduate on their research. We will assist incoming students to identify a faculty advisor in their area of concentration. Some of these students are supported through long-term PATHWAYS in the summer whereas others focus on their research. During the academic year, these students will be supported by working on various aspects of this project. Among their responsibilities will be to serve as Teaching Assistants (TA's) for the field courses and coordinating and conducting high school outreach. Field Trips and High School Outreach. Each academic year, we will host field trips and outreach to entry level natural resource classes and area high school students. Graduate student TA's will visit classrooms and host field trips. We are working with high school science teachers to identify classes or groups of interested students. These experiences will introduce students first hand to careers in natural resource management and our program. Tutoring & Advising Center. This project works with advising & tutoring centers at each institution to improve academic performance, retention and graduation rates. We supplement tutoring programs at collaborating institutions by hiring tutors at each center resulting in 12 tutors/academic year across institutions. The tutoring program is available to all students in natural resource disciplines. Students enrolled in the NRCT Program who are struggling academically are directed toward the tutoring program by their academic advisor and the Education Coordinator. Tutors are undergraduate students that excel academically, have good communication skills and have taken a wide breath of classes. Program tutors are available 15 hr/wk. Program NRCT Retreat. We hold an annual retreat for all students enrolled in the NRCT Program. This serves to introduce new program students and focus on a different training topic each year. USDA and University program personnel participate. NRCT Workshops and Seminars. Each semester we hold a series of workshops and seminars with USDA personnel. When necessary, these events are telecast to collaborating institutions and achieved. There is a separate series for New Mexico and Puerto Rico Institutions.

Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? All program partners have been working closely to make this program a success. PIs from NMSU, UPR and the Forest Service meet regularly to ensure the success of the NRCT program. The USDA Forest Service is our main partner but we are also working with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA Animal, Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), and US Geological Survey (USGS). During our fourth year, we retained the majority of our students (98%) in the program, and 20 students graduated; of these four continued on to graduate school, seven were employed with the USFS, 1 USFWS, 1 APHIS, 1 Peace Corps and 1 is teaching at a local community college. We currently have 11 students in Indefinite PATHWAYS positions with the USDA FS (n = 7), USDA APHIS (n = 2), USDA NRCS (n = 1) and NPS (n = 1). Six visits were made to participating institutions by the USDA Forest Service to recruit new studentsand work with current students. Our current 96 students consist of 3 PhD, 15 MS and 79 undergraduate students. Fifty-one percent are female and 49% male. Ninety-five of our 96 students are Hispanic and one is African American. Of our 96 students, 32% are first generation college students. Student disciplines include forestry, wildlife science, fisheries science, environmental science, range science, conservation ecology, natural resources, geology, geography, agriculture and community development, and civil engineering. This is in addition to the 12 workshops and field days (6 NM, 6 PR) ranging from USA jobs to field days. Five students (1 NM and 4 PR) participated in the student exchange program between New Mexico and Puerto Rico in 2014-2015. Graduate students supported financially serve as Teaching Assistants (TA's) for field courses, coordinate and conduct high school outreach, and implement other program activities. This fall graduate and undergraduate students visited 27 classrooms in New Mexico and Puerto Rico. In 2014-2015, 37 students participated in the faculty/research mentorship program, 67 students attended professional meetings giving 58 presentations. Sixty students had summer internships (31 NM and 29 PR). Of the 60 internships, 34 (29 in NM and 5 in PR) were paid by employers and 36 (2 NM and 34 PR) were paid by the NRCT program. Twelve students were supported by the program to work on their graduate research during summer 2015. We taught one Natural History of the Southwest field course in New Mexico (8-day 3 credit field class) and we held program retreats in New Mexico and Puerto Rico. We have developed a program website http://nrct.nmsu.edu, Facebook pages for our New Mexico and Puerto Rico Programs, a program brochure, a PATHWAYS brochure, and are using distance communication (SKYPE) to communicate with students at remote locations.

Publications