Progress 03/15/16 to 08/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for our SUPERDAR Fellowship program is UC Santa Cruz students (majors in Environmental Studies, Plant Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Sociology) as well Hartnell Community College students (Agricultural Business and Advanced Technology Institute) and Cabrillo College students (Department of Horticulture). In the 2016-2017 academic year, when our program began, UC Santa Cruz 1st year students were 34% underrepresented, and 41% first-generation; transfer students were 31% underrepresented and 42% first-generation. UCSC was (and continues as) an eligible Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Hartnell (a HSI) students are 70% Latino, 2% Asian, 3% African American, and 18% Caucasian. Cabrillo students are 32% Latino, 3.7% Asian, 1% African American, and 55% Caucasian. For our REEU program, we have supported three cohorts of students. The first cohort (April 2016 - June 2017) of five fellows was 60% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 20% Caucasian, and 60% women. The second cohort (April 2017 - June 2018) of ten fellows was 50% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 20% Caucasian, 10% Native American, 90% women, and 30% first generation college students. The third cohort (April 2018 - June 2019) of four fellows was 25% Hispanic, 25% Middle Eastern, 25% mixed race, 25% Caucasian, 75% women, and 50% first generation college students. Between June-Aug 2019, we continued to support one of the 2018-2019 fellows and one additional female student. Thus, over the lifetime of the grant, we supported 20 different students, 80% from underrepresented groups, 60% of which are first generation college students, and 75% of whom are women. Although we did active outreach to Hartnell and Cabrillo Community Colleges each year during the grant, we only received one applicant from Hartnell and no applicants from Cabrillo. Thus, all of the students selected for the program were matriculated students at UC Santa Cruz; however, 26% transferred to UCSC in the months prior to starting the REEU program. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided an array of training and professional development activities. We trained 20 students in research and other soft skills important for professional development and to train students for careers in agricultural sciences and related fields. In work with faculty mentors, students participated in advanced training activities. All students regularly met with mentors to develop project ideas, to settle on data collection methods, and were guided in how to collect, analyze and interpret data. Students attended weekly lab meetings, and interacted with graduate students working in mentor labs. Students participated in lab/computer or field work as appropriate to their research project. Students worked with mentors to complete a work plan outlining mentor and mentee goals and responsibilities, and completed progress reports during each quarter of the program. The faculty PD, other faculty mentors, and the project coordinator provided enhanced professional development activities. Students participated in a monthly workshops during their fellowship tenure. Topics included data analysis, research ethics, human subjects research training, lab safety, career options, graduate school preparedness, presentation and poster making skills and all were chosen and geared to prepare fellows for work in professional settings. Each student made at least two presentations about their research to other students, project staff, and faculty mentors. Students participated in field trips to (e.g. organic farms, research sites, natural habitat areas, farmer training programs) to be exposed to research and agriculture activities in our region. Several students presented posters on their research findings in one or two venues, and six fellows attended a professional conference in summer 2018. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?On campus, we did significant outreach. We held regular meetings with faculty mentors participating in the project, and our project evaluator shared qualitative and quantitative annual reports of the student-self assessment to guide faculty mentor changes. We have presented an overview and results of first two years of programing to the entire faculty (and graduate students) of the Environmental Studies Department and a separate presentation to staff of the UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. We also met with individuals working in campus roles to improve student success, undergraduate advisors, as well as Educational Opportunity Programs to discuss our results with other professionals working at UCSC. Off campus, our results have been disseminated in a number of venues. The PD presented our project and evaluation findings at the PD meeting at NIFA headquarters in April 2018. The project coordinator presented results of the fellowship program in the Environmental Studies Department Seminar at UCSC in February 2018. The project staff presented results of the fellowship program to the staff of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems in December 2018. The PD, project coordinator, and project evaluator presented our model and evaluation results at the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association (SAEA) conference in a panel discussion in Hawaii in July 2018. One faculty mentor and student mentee attended the SAEA conference to discuss findings about garden education for children as a venue for family nutrition change and engagement. Two students presented their research findings about phylogenetic distance of plants and fungal pathogen infection at the ESA conference in August 2018. One faculty mentor presented results of plant pathogen research conducted by two fellows at the IX International Symposium on Soil and Substrate Disinfestation, September 9-13, Heraklion, Greece. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our project has wrapped up, but we submitted an application for SUPERDAR2: Supporting Undergraduates by Promoting Education, Extension, Research, Diversity, and Agricultural Resilience for the June 2019 REEU deadline. We aim to address two problems in sustainable agriculture: 1) lack of experiential activities to prepare students to join the workforce, and 2) few students of color pursuing programs and related careers. UCSC promotes sustainable agriculture education and supports recruitment, retention, and job placement for underrepresented students through partnerships with community colleges, community organizations, and the regional agriculture industry. A new Extension Specialist position at UCSC launches a relationship with UC Cooperative Extension, further benefitting students. In the proposed project, our education objective is to broaden student experience with a research and mentoring fellowship program for underrepresented undergraduate students in agricultural-related fields. Our research objective is to advance interdisciplinary solutions to promote sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, and food justice. Our project objectives serve the AFRI REEU goal of promoting experiential learning for undergraduates and prepping students to enter the agriculture workforce with exceptional skills. Students will generate knowledge related to the Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment Priority Area. Fellows will study the design and implementation of sustainable agricultural and aquaculture systems that support biodiversity, naturally control pests and diseases, and mitigate and adapt to climate change. Fellows will also study how agriculture policy and political economic analysis can support farms, farmworkers, and consumer communities. We will work with UCSC entities and regional partners to enhance success, retention, mentoring activities, workshops, field trips, and peer exchanges for fellows. Our past project was highly successful in training students and getting them on the track to agriculture and food systems related careers. Nonetheless, we have learned from our experiences and plan to adjust to improve the program. To respond to student and mentor feedback we will (1) include more workshops on professionalization (e.g. meeting preparation, cell phone use, email responses), (2) request more accountability from student fellows (e.g., time sheets, monthly progress reports), and (3) request that mentors spend 45 min per week with mentees to increase the positive experience rate for students. We will include new extension field trips and new research topics due to changes in department faculty.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
To meet our education objective, we did the following: 1) Major activities. The Supporting Undergraduates by Promoting Education, Research, Diversity, and Agricultural Resilience (SUPERDAR) program at UC Santa Cruz (2016-2019) aimed to broaden the student experience by creating and implementing aresearch and mentoring fellowship program for underrepresented students in agricultural-related fields and to advance interdisciplinary solutions for sustainable agriculture, ecosystem services, and food justice at the agricultural-natural-interface. We supported 20students (75% women, 65% underrepresented) in research and professional development with 8 different mentors. 2) Data collected. Our project evaluator conducted self-assessments to track progress in: a) intensions for grad school or employment, b) research skills; c) relevant attitudes and behaviors, and d) needed affective dimensions (e.g., confidence, comfort in the field). She also created and implemented end-of-program surveys and held focus groups to assess changes in adaptive mindsets, sense of belonging and general program feedback. The evaluator also conducted follow-up interviews with students who participated in the first two cohorts, a year after they left the program. The goal was to identify if students continued on to graduate school or work in the agriculture field, or intend to do either of these activities. 3) Summary Statistics and Discussion of Results. The assessments and end-of-program surveys show that: Research skills and attitudes increased. Over 80% of individual students reported making good or great gain on more than half of the desired research skills and attitudes. Increased feeling of belonging. Nearly all students reported a wide array of ways in which the program's structure, activities, housing, and staff behaviors increased sense of belonging. Graduate degree programs. Of students surveyed, 64% plan to attend graduate school and >50% said they are more likely to attend graduate school compared to before the program. Positive experience. Most students (67%) reported excellent or above average experiences. The most positive aspect was time spent doing research. The least positive aspect was amount of time spent with a mentor (44% said time spent was "average"). The self-assessment instrument is a useful tool for learning. Most students (67%) said the self-assessment was helpful and supported their education goals. Through follow-up interviews, as well as faculty's continued connection to graduates, we found that, of the students who have graduated, seven of eleven have started or taken actions towards attending graduate school. One started an MS program at UCLA, and another started law school to support the agricultural field. The other five have taken steps towards graduate school, such as talking to faculty at different programs, talking to SUPERDAR staff about potential program ideas and studying for the GRE. All students spoken with have an interest in graduate school in the future. Five of the ten interviewed have worked in the agricultural field since graduating from the SUPERDAR program, and seven have taken steps toward obtaining this work. Notably, one student is now working with the California Almond Growers Association in a position that as advertised required a MS; however, the hiring committee believed that her experience with SUPERDAR provided that level of experience. Additionally, one completed the UCSC Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, two won Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Awards from the UCSC Division of Social Sciences in May 2019. 4) Key outcomes. By the metrics that we proposed to use, the program has met its goals. We trained 20 students in research skills and professional development, and students reported making good to great gains in these areas. Students reported, in general, an improved sense of belonging, which is important for retention. The evaluation found that a majority of students were very satisfied with the program. There were only a few students who rated a few program components as "average" or below. Of those contacted who graduated from the program, over half were already in graduate school and/or working in the agricultural field. It was also noted that the repeated use of the URSSA self-assessment instrument was effective as a learning tool, not just as an outcome instrument. To meet our research objective we did the following: 1) Major activities. Over the lifetime of the grant, students worked on a broad array of projects relating to sustainable agriculture, agroecology, and food systems. Collectively, the students studied the impacts of agricultural and landscape diversification and climate change on soil-root interactions (1 student), beneficial insects (4), pests and diseases (4), plant physiology (2), and food justice (9). Several students (as well as project staff) presented scholarly work at education, ecology, and soil pathogen conferences. 2) Data collected. Students researched ecological and social aspects of organic farms and gardens including studying how: social-demographic characteristics of urban community gardeners relate to a) food security status, b) pest management techniques, and c) motivations for gardening. participation in garden-based education projects influences childhood learning participation and leadership in garden-based education project differs depending on parent gender phylogenetic relationships and mixes of cover crop species influence biomass accumulation and susceptibility to fungal pathogens differences in the carbon source (e.g. incorporating different cover crop species) used for anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) for control of strawberry pathogens influence Nitrogen mineralization in the soil, pathogen incidence, and strawberry yields. land management influences soil organic matter how frequency of shopping and knowledge of cooking influence food waste generated 3) Summary Statistics and Discussion of results. Students found that: Lower income gardeners are more food insecure, Hispanic gardeners tend to be more food insecure than Asian or white gardeners; most gardeners report having pest problems, and perceptions of pest presence differed with age, years gardening, and ethnicity/race; and the most common motivations for gardening include food and enjoyment, but other motivations (e.g. community, education, being outside) were different for men and women and for different ethnicities/races parents regard school gardens as teaching and learning spaces, as spaces for parent empowerment (especially for parents who do not speak English), and uplifting a sense of community and belonging to a new home plant biomass accumulation does not show phylogenetic signal (e.g. plants grown with related cover crops do not perform worse than plants grown with more unrelated cover crops), but fungal pathogens were more likely to attack more related host species several different carbon sources equally effectively controlled Verticillium wilt for strawberries, and that biomass accumulation was similar, indicating that farmers may choose the cheaper carbon source with the same results. However, the carbon source did have important implications for N mineralization, with important implications for farmer recommendations 4) Key outcomes. Seven students completed theses related to the research projects between Y1-3. Two of these projects were awarded the Outstanding Thesis Award by the Dean of the Social Sciences Division (the home Division for the Environmental Studies Department). At least 3 of the projects (one with fungal pathogens, one with gardener demographics, and one with anaerobic soil disinfestation) will be incorporated into scientific publications. Students gained a greater understanding of the research process, and their research results contribute to the design and management of sustainable agricultural systems.
Publications
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Progress 03/15/18 to 03/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for our SUPERDAR Fellowship program is UC Santa Cruz students (majors in Environmental Studies, Plant Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Sociology) as well Hartnell Community College students (Agricultural Business and Advanced Technology Institute) and Cabrillo College students (Department of Horticulture). In the 2016-2017 academic year, UC Santa Cruz 1st year students were 34% underrepresented, and 41% first-generation; transfer students were 31% underrepresented and 42% first-generation. UCSC is an eligible Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Hartnell (a HSI) students are 70% Latino, 2% Asian, 3% African American, and 18% Caucasian. Cabrillo students are 32% Latino, 3.7% Asian, 1% African American, and 55% Caucasian. For our REEU program, we have supported three cohorts of students. The first cohort (April 2016 - June 2017) of five fellows was 60% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 20% Caucasian, and 60% women. The second cohort (April 2017 - June 2018) of ten fellows was 50% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 20% Caucasian, 10% Native American, 90% women, and 30% first generation college students. The third, and ongoing cohort (April 2018 - June 2019) of four fellows is 25% are Hispanic, 25% are Middle Eastern, 25% mixed race, 25% Caucasian, 75% women, and 50% first generation college students. We have not recruited new fellows since the last report submitted in June 2018. Thus, over the lifetime of the grant, we have supported 19 students, 78% from underrepresented groups, 58% of which are first generation college students, and 74% of whom are women. All of the students were matriculated students at UC Santa Cruz, 26% transferred to UCSC in the months prior to starting the REEU program. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided an array of training and professional development activities. We have trained a total of 19 students in research and other soft skills important for professional development and to train students for careers in agricultural sciences and related fields. In work with faculty mentors, students participate in advanced training activities. All students have regular meetings with mentors to develop a project idea, settle on data collection methods, and are guided in how to collect, analyze and interpret data. Students attend weekly lab meetings, and interact with graduate students working in mentor labs. Students participate in lab/computer or field work as appropriate to their research project. Students work with mentors to complete a work plan outlining mentor and mentee goals and responsibilities, and have completed progress reports during each quarter of the program. The faculty PD, other faculty mentors, and the project coordinator provide enhanced professional development activities. Students participated in a number of workshops (e.g. data analysis, research ethics, human subjects research training, lab safety, career options, graduate school preparedness, presentation and poster making skills) to prepare them for work in professional settings. Students participated in field trips to (e.g. organic farms, research sites, natural habitat areas, farmer training programs) to be exposed to research and agriculture activities in our region. Several students presented posters on their research findings in one or two venues, and six fellows attended a professional conference in summer 2018. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?On campus, we have done significant outreach. We hold regular meetings with faculty mentors participating in the project, and our project evaluator has shared qualitative and quantitative reports of the student-self assessment to guide faculty mentor changes. We have presented an overview and results of first two years of programing to entire ENVS faculty and graduate students at our department Seminar. We have also had meetings with those working in student success, undergraduate advisors, as well as Educational Opportunity Programs to discuss our results with other professionals working at CUSC. Off campus, our results have been disseminated in a number of venues. 1) The PD presented our project and evaluation findings at the PD meeting at NIFA headquarters in April 2018. 2) The project coordinator presented results of the fellowship program in a Departmental Seminar at UCSC in February 2018. 3) The PD, project coordinator, and project evaluator will present our model and evaluation results at the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association (SAEA) conference in a panel discussion in Hawaii in July 2018. 4) One faculty mentor and student mentee will attend SAEA to discuss findings about garden education for children as a venue for family nutrition change and engagement. 5) Two students will present their research findings about phylogenetic distance of plants and fungal pathogen infection at the ESA conference in August 2018. 6) One faculty mentor will present results of plant pathogen research conducted by two fellows at the IX International Symposium on Soil and Substrate Disinfestation, September 9-13, Heraklion, Greece. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are currently in the no-cost extension time frame of our project, and are working to finish the last work. Specifically, in the last few months of the project (March - July 2019), we will: See the four remaining fellows' projects to completion and finalize their experience, theses, poster presentations, etc. Conduct final self-assessment with last cohort of students Hold end of year symposia for students to present their research results Do follow-on evaluation with past fellows to ask about current employment and studies, and to ask students to reflect on their past experience as REEU fellows Finish all project reporting and evaluation reports
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In the 3rd year, we recruited and trained 4 fellows. Fellows developed projects related to food security and justice (50%), food waste (25%), and impacts of solar panels on crop production (25%). Students generated important data, and made significant personal progress. To meet our education objective, we did the following: 1) Major activities. We recruited and supported 4 fellows and led workshops on ethics, safety, data analysis, presentations, careers, and graduate school. Students met with mentors, attended lab meetings. Two students presented posters at research symposium. One student completed an undergraduate thesis; another will complete thesis in 19-20. 2) Data collected. Students were given self-assessments 3 times to track progress in: a) intensions for grad school attendance or employment, b) general and specific research skills; c) relevant attitudes and behaviors (e.g. feel like a scientist, think creatively, try new ideas, feel engaged), d) needed affective dimensions (confidence, comfort working in the field). To assess changes in adaptive mindsets or senses of belonging, we held focus groups. We are currently doing follow on studies on past fellows to ask what they are currently doing and how they view the REEU program now 1-2 years on. 3) Summary Statistics and Discussion of Results. Our project evaluator assessed whether the "SUPERDAR" program met our goals. The major findings are that: Students' research skills and attitudes increased. Students rated their gains in research skills and attitudes as good or great on 78% of the self-assessment items. Over 80% of individual students reported making good or great gain on more than half of the desired research skills and attitudes. Students report increased feeling of belonging. Almost all students gave examples of how the SUPERDAR program specifically helped increase their sense of belonging. Students reported a very wide array of ways in which the program's structure, activities, staff behaviors, and impacts affected belonging. Students are more likely to attend graduate degree programs. Of students surveyed 64% plan to attend graduate school and more than half said they are more likely to attend graduate school programs compared to before the program. Growth mindset changes were not strongly noted. While very minimal changes were seen, they went in both directions. The SUPERDAR program provided a positive experience for students . 67% (of 9 in cohort 2) reported having an excellent or above average experience. The most positives program aspects were the amount of time spent doing meaningful research. The least positive aspect was the amount of time spent with a mentor (44% said the time spent was "average"). The self-assessment instrument is a useful tool for learning. 67% (of 9 in cohort 2) said the self-assessment was useful or helpful. The self-assessment instrument supported their education goals by showing them their progress, helping them identify their learning goals, providing direction on how to focus their learning, illuminating the importance of a research community and helping them feel accountable. Thus, the program appears to have met its goals. The evaluation found that a majority of students were very satisfied with the program. There were only a few students who rated a couple of program components as "average" or below. It was also noted that the repeated use of the URSSA self-assessment instrument was effective as a learning tool, not just as an outcome instrument. 4) Key outcomes. We trained 19 students in research skills and professional development, and students made good to great gains. Students reported, in general, improved sense of belonging. Several former fellows are still undergraduate students, working in research and completing undergraduate theses. Of students who have graduated, one started an MS program at UCLA, one completed the UCSC Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, two won Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Awards from the UCSC Division of Social Sciences in May 2019. At least four former fellows are employed in agricultural and ecological research and production. To meet our research objective we did the following: 1) Major activities. In the 3rd year of the grant, 14 fellows completed (or will soon complete) projects on insect biodiversity and dispersal, plant disease ecology, organic alternatives to soil pathogen control, soil ecology, impacts of climate change on plant growth, food security, food justice, and food waste. Several students have presented posters about research in internal and external conferences- (1) Environmental Studies Dept. Senior Research Symposium (Jun 2018, June 2019), (2) Sustainable Agriculture Education Association conference in Hawaii (July 2018), (3) Ecological Society of America conference in New Orleans (Aug-18), (4) Soil Disinfestation Conference in Greece (Sept-18) 2) Data collected. Students researched ecological and social aspects of organic farms and gardens including studying how: social-demographic characteristics of urban community gardeners relate to a) food security status, b) pest management techniques, and c) motivations for gardening. participation in garden-based education projects influences childhood learning participation and leadership in garden-based education project differs depending on parent gender phylogenetic relationships and mixes of cover crop species influence biomass accumulation and susceptibility to fungal pathogens differences in the carbon source (e.g. incorporating different cover crop species) used for anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) for control of strawberry pathogens influence Nitrogen mineralization in the soil, pathogen incidence, and strawberry yields. land management influences soil organic matter how frequency of shopping and knowledge of cooking influence food waste generated 3) Summary Statistics and Discussion of results. Students found that: lower income gardeners are more food insecure, Hispanic gardeners tend to be more food insecure than Asian or white gardeners; most gardeners report having pest problems, and perceptions of pest presence differed with age, years gardening, and ethnicity/race; and the most common motivations for gardening include food and enjoyment, but other motivations (e.g. community, education, being outside) were different for men and women and for different ethnicities/races parents regard school gardens as teaching and learning spaces, as spaces for parent empowerment (especially for parents who do not speak English), and uplifting a sense of community and belonging to a new home plant biomass accumulation does not show phylogenetic signal (e.g. plants grown with related cover crops do not perform worse than plants grown with more unrelated cover crops), but fungal pathogens were more likely to attack more related host species several different carbon sources equally effectively controlled Verticillium wilt for strawberries, and that biomass accumulation was similar, indicating that farmers may choose the cheaper carbon source with the same results. However, the carbon source did have important implications for N mineralization, with important implications for farmer recommendations 4) Key outcomes. Two students completed theses related to the research projects during the 2017-2018 academic year; one more student fellow is completing a thesis during the theses related to their REEU research projects during the 2018-2019 academic year. At least 3 of the projects (one with fungal pathogens, one with gardener demographics, and one with anaerobic soil disinfestation) will be incorporated into scientific publications. Students gained a greater understanding of the research process, and their research results contribute to the design and management of sustainable agricultural systems
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Melissa Vergara*, Morgan Oviedo*, Greg Gilbert, Ingrid Parker (2018) Competition and complementarity in both plant and leaf fungi in an intercropping experiment at the Annual Conference of the Ecological Society of America, August 5-10, New Orleans, LA
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Katayun Salehi*, Environmental Studies Department. The role of gender in urban educational gardens. (June 2019).
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Progress 03/15/17 to 03/14/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for our SUPERDAR Fellowship program is UC Santa Cruz students (majors in Environmental Studies, Plant Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Sociology) as well Hartnell Community College students (Agricultural Business and Advanced Technology Institute) and Cabrillo College students (Department of Horticulture). In the 2016-2017 academic year, UCSC 1st year students were 34% underrepresented, and 41% first-generation; transfer students were 31% underrepresented and 42% first-generation. UCSC is an eligible Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Hartnell (a HSI) students are 70% Latino, 2% Asian, 3% African American, and 18% Caucasian. Cabrillo students are 32% Latino, 3.7% Asian, 1% African American, and 55% Caucasian. In the first cohort of students, recruited in April 2016, we have five student fellows. Of these, 60% are Hispanic, 20% are Asian, 20% are Caucasian, and 60% are women. All are students at UC Santa Cruz with majors in Environmental studies. In the second cohort of students, active from April 2017 - June 2018, we supported ten student fellows. Of these 50% are Hispanic, 20% are Asian, 20% are Caucasian, and 10% are Native American. Of these students, 90% are women, and 30% are first generation college students. In the third cohort of students, active since April 2018, we are supporting four student fellows. Of these, 75% are women, 50% are Hispanic, 25% are Middle Eastern, and 25% are Caucasian. Two of the students (50%) are first generation college students. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided a large array of training and professional development activities. We trained a first cohort of 5 students for 13 months, recruited and trained a second cohort of 10 students for 15 months, and have recruited a third cohort of four students who have just started a 15-month program. In work with faculty mentors, students participate in advanced training activities. All students have regular meetings with mentors to develop a project idea, settle on data collection methods, and are guided in how to collect, analyze and interpret data that they have collected. Students are encouraged to attend weekly lab meetings, and to interact with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows working in mentor labs. Students participate in lab/computer or field work as appropriate to their research project. Students work with their mentors to complete a work plan outlining mentor and mentee goals and responsibilities, and have completed progress reports during each quarter of the program. The faculty PD, other faculty mentors, and the project coordinator provide enhanced professional development activities. Students participated in a number of workshops (e.g. data analysis, research ethics, human subjects research training, lab safety, career options, graduate school preparedness, presentation and poster making skills) to prepare them for work in professional settings. Students participated in field trips to local agricultural sites (e.g. organic farms, research sites, natural habitat areas, farmer training programs) to be exposed to research and agriculture activities in our region. Several students presented posters on their research findings in one or two venues, and six fellows will attend professional conferences in the summer of 2018. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?On campus, we have done significant outreach about the project. We have held regular meetings with faculty mentors participating in the project, and our project evaluator has shared qualitative and quantitative reports of the student-self assessment to guide faculty mentor changes. We have presented an overview and results of first two years of programing to entire ENVS faculty and graduate students at our department Seminar. We have also had meetings with those working in student success, undergraduate advisors, as well as Educational Opportunity Programs to discuss our results with other professionals working at CUSC. Off campus, our results have been disseminated in a number of venues. 1) The PD presented our project and evaluation findings at the PD meeting at NIFA headquarters in April 2018. 2) The project coordinator presented results of the fellowship program in a Departmental Seminar at UCSC in February 2018. 3) The PD, project coordinator, and project evaluator will present our model and evaluation results at the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association (SAEA) conference in a panel discussion in Hawaii in July 2018. 4) One faculty mentor and student mentee will attend SAEA to discuss findings about garden education for children as a venue for family nutrition change and engagement. 5) Two students will present their research findings about phylogenetic distance of plants and fungal pathogen infection at the ESA conference in August 2018. 6) One faculty mentor will present results of plant pathogen research conducted by two fellows at the IX International Symposium on Soil and Substrate Disinfestation, September 9-13, Heraklion, Greece. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In Y3 of our project, we will repeat the same activities as during Y1/2 of the grant to continue mentoring students and achieving our research objective. We will: Mentor the 4 continuing fellows Deliver developed workshops on research ethics, lab and field safety, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, agricultural career options, graduate school, presentation skills Organize field trips to visit research and farmer training sites Ask students to complete regular progress reports outlining their activities and struggles in the program Encourage regular meetings with mentors, other lab members including graduate students and postdocs in mentor labs Encourage student fellows to attend conferences and meetings relevant to their research interests and project topic Conduct initial, mid-point, and final self-assessment instrument with second cohort of students Conduct two focus groups with students to assess sense of belonging in the program and other issues Conduct final self-assessment with first cohort of students Hold end of year symposia for students to present their research results
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Over the 2nd year of the project, we recruited and trained 14 fellows, mostly underrepresented (42% Hispanic; 7% Native American; 57% first generation college students, 85% women). Fellows developed research projects related to sustainable agriculture with a focus on food security and justice (50%), plant pathogen ecology (28%), biological pest control (7%), sustainable energy use (7%), and soil ecology (7%) with one of seven faculty members. Student fellows participated in field trips, workshops, and project evaluation. Students generated important and useful data, and made significant personal progress. To meet our education objective, we did the following: 1) Major activities Recruited and supported 14 student fellows, most underrepresented, to work in one of seven faculty research labs Ran workshops on ethics, safety, data analysis, presentations, agricultural careers, graduate school Organized field trips Students participated in research with mentor including regular meetings with their mentor, lab meetings, interactions with graduate students and postdocs in mentor labs Several students presented at conferences for the first time 2) Data collected To measure progress in acquisition of skills, students were given self assessments three times during the program to track progress in: a) intensions for grad school attendance or employment, b) general research skills; c) specific research skills; d) relevant attitudes and behaviors (e.g. feel like a scientist, think creatively, try new ideas, feel engaged), e) needed affective dimensions (confidence, comfort working in the field). To assess changes in adaptive mindsets or senses of belonging, we held focus groups. 3) Summary Statistics and Discussion of Results The first cohort (5 students) completed a final self-assessment in June 2017. Students reported the most gains in the research skills domain, with 5 of the 8 questions having scores of "good" or "great". The second cohort took the third self-assessment eleven months into the 15-month program, and reported progress in all domains. Items showing the most improvement included understanding everyday research, identifying limitations of research methods and designs, engaging in real-world science research, comfort discussing scientific concepts with people outside academia, formulating research questions, and integrating research results into a framework of existing literature. Students assessed their likelihood to pursue different education options or science related jobs. The most frequently rated item was enrolling in a MS program in STEM, followed by pursuing a teaching certificate, enrolling in Ph.D. in STEM, or a Ph.D. in the social sciences. To help address student retention in the sciences, the project focuses on increasing feelings of belonging. To assess the extent to which students had improvements in this area, they took a survey (in Jan 2017 and June 2017) to get at an overall sense of belonging at the university. During the first assessment, 83% agreed with or were neutral to the belonging statements. In the second assessment, 97% of the responses were positive or neutral. Additionally, in the second assessment there were more responses in the 'strongly agree' category than the 'somewhat agree' category. Students attributed increased feelings of belonging to: feeling their mentor is invested in their intellectual growth, seeing that the lead program staff understand the struggles of people of color, having housing with other fellows over the summer to connect with them better; staff providing regular vision, direction and support to help them with their personal and professional development; being introduced to all the faculty in the program provides more comfort talking to them. Another strategy this project uses to help address retention of students is to focus on encouraging adaptive mindsets. Generally, in the first assessment, 3 out of 4 respondents already agreed that intelligence could be changed. On the final assessment, 4 of the 5 respondents agreed that intelligence could be changed. 4) Key outcomes One cohort 1 fellow will start a MS program at UCLA in Fall 2018 One cohort 1 fellow is completing the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture at UCSC One cohort 2 fellow was accepted into two soil ecology MS programs Cohort 2 students are actively peer-mentoring students in cohort 3 To meet our research objective we did the following: 1) Major activities 5 fellows completed projects on biodiversity, water conservation, and food justice 10 fellows began projects on plant disease ecology, soil ecology, food security, and plant biodiversity Several students presented posters about their research at five different venues -- 1) UCSC conference called "Dig In: Cultivating Innovative Approaches to Food Justice" (Mar-18), 2) Environmental Studies Dept. Senior Research Symposium (Jun-18), 3) Sustainable Agriculture Education Association conference in Hawaii (Jul-18), 4) Ecological Society of America conference in New Orleans (Aug-18), 5) Soil Disinfestation Conference in Greece (Sept-18) 2) Data collected Students researched ecological and social aspects of organic farms and gardens including studying how: social-demographic characteristics of urban community gardeners relate to a) food security status, b) pest management techniques used, and c) motivations for gardening. participation in garden-based education projects for children benefits students and their families phylogenetic relationships and mixes of cover crop species influence biomass accumulation and susceptibility to fungal pathogens differences in the carbon source (e.g. incorporating different cover crop species) used for anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) for control of strawberry pathogens influence Nitrogen mineralization in the soil, pathogen incidence, and strawberry yields. land management influences soil organic matter 3) Summary Statistics and Discussion of results Students found that: generally lower income gardeners are more food insecure, but this did not apply to the lowest income group, and that Hispanic gardeners tend to be more food insecure than Asian or white gardeners; most gardeners report having pest problems, and perceptions of pest presence differed with age, years gardening, and ethnicity/race; and the most common motivations for gardening include food and enjoyment, but other motivations (e.g. community, education, being outside) were different for men and women and for different ethnicities/races parents regard school gardens as teaching and learning spaces, as spaces for parent empowerment (especially for parents who do not speak English), and uplifting a sense of community and belonging to a new home plant biomass accumulation does not show a phylogenetic signal (e.g. plants grown with related cover crops do not perform worse than plants grown with more unrelated cover crops), but that fungal pathogens were slightly more likely to attack more related host species several different carbon sources equally effectively controlled Verticillium wilt for strawberries, and that biomass accumulation was similar, indicating that farmers may choose the cheaper carbon source with the same results. However, the carbon source did have important implications for N mineralization, with important implications for making recommendations to farmers 4) Key outcomes Three students completed theses related to the research projects during the 2017-2018 academic year; four more student fellows plan to complete theses related to their REEU research projects during the 2018-2019 academic year At least 3 of the projects (one with fungal pathogens, one with gardener demographics, and one with anaerobic soil disinfestation) will be incorporated into scientific publications Students gained a greater understanding of the research process, and their research results contribute to the design and management of sustainable agricultural systems
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Jan Perez, Damian Parr, Stacy Philpott (2018) Undergraduate research and mentoring fellowship program in sustainable agriculture and food systems: A retention program description and evaluation results at Sustainable Agriculture Education Association Conference, July 27-29, West Oahu, Hawaii
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Damian Parr, Karen Nordstrom, Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, Will valley, Albie Miles, Carol Hillhouse (2018) Vision, Values & Guiding Design Principles: A panel discussion with six undergraduate campus programs on the big picture of what were aiming to accomplish and the way we're going about program development at at Sustainable Agriculture Education Association Conference, July 27-29, West Oahu, Hawaii
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Flora Lu, Linnea Beckett, Michelle Hernandez (2018) Creating Community Engaged, Inclusive Conversations about Food Justice at Sustainable Agriculture Education Association Conference, July 27-29, West Oahu, Hawaii
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Stacy Philpott, Tina Milz, Joe Zhang, Morgan Oviedo, Michelle Hernandez (2018) Student Reports on the SUPERDAR Fellowship Program at UC Santa Cruz: Supporting Undergraduates by Promoting Education, Research, Diversity, and Agricultural Resilience at Sustainable Agriculture Education Association Conference, July 27-29, West Oahu, Hawaii
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Yeun Byun (2018) California Community Gardeners and their Food Security at Dig In: Cultivating Inclusive Approaches to Food Justice, March 2, at Santa Cruz, California
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Tina Milz (2018) Ideology in California Central Coast Community Gardens: Effects on Food Systems Discourse at Dig In: Cultivating Inclusive Approaches to Food Justice, March 2, at Santa Cruz, California
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Michelle Hernandez (2018) Co-creating the Community in the Community Garden at Dig In: Cultivating Inclusive Approaches to Food Justice, March 2, at Santa Cruz, California
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Daisy Dominguez (2018) Why are Gardens Important? An Exploratory Cast Study of an After-School Garden Program at Dig In: Cultivating Inclusive Approaches to Food Justice, March 2, at Santa Cruz, California
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Joji Muramoto, Carol Shennan, Emily Miethke, Titania Wood (2018) Use of a summer cover crop as a partial carbon source for anaerobic soil disinfestation in coastal California at IX International Symposium on Soil and Substrate Disinfestation, September 9-13, Heraklion, Greece
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Tina Milz, 2018, Propagating Discourse: Community Gardener Motivations in the California Central Coast . Undergraduate Thesis in Sociology, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Carly Sanchez, 2018, Pest Management and Gardener Demographics in Urban Community Gardens , Undergraduate Thesis in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Yeun Byun, 2018, People Who Garden: A Closer Look at Urban Community Gardeners in the California Central Coast Region , Undergraduate Thesis in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Dakota Hafalia-Yackel, 2017, Ladybeetle (Hippodamia convergens) movement in an urban landscape , Undergraduate Thesis in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
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Progress 03/15/16 to 03/14/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for our SUPERDAR Fellowship program is UC Santa Cruz students in Environmental Studies and Plant Sciences majors Hartnell Community College students from the Agricultural Business and Advanced Technology Institute, and Cabrillo College students from the Department of Horticulture. In 2014, UCSC 1st year students were 38% underrepresented, and 51% first-generation; transfer students were 31% underrepresented and 42% first-generation. UCSC is an eligible Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Hartnell (a HSI) students are 70% Latino, 2% Asian, 3% African American, and 18% Caucasian. Cabrillo students are 32% Latino, 3.7% Asian, 1% African American, and 55% Caucasian. In the first cohort of students, recruited in April 2016, we have five student fellows. Of these, 60% are Hispanic, 20% are Asian, 20% are Caucasian, and 60% are women. All are students at UC Santa Cruz with majors in Environmental studies. In the second cohort of students, recruited in March 2017, we have ten student fellows. Of these 50% are Hispanic, 20% are Asian, 20% are Caucasian, and 10% are Native American. Of these students, 90% are women, and at least 30% are first generation college students. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided a large array of training and professional development activities. We have trained a first cohort of 5 students for 13 months, and have recruited a second cohort of fellows who will work with a mentor for 15 months. In work with faculty mentors, students participate in advanced training activities. All students have regular meetings with mentors to develop a project idea, settle on data collection methods, and are guided in how to collect, analyze and interpret data that they have collected. Students are encouraged to attend weekly lab meetings, and to interact with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows working in mentor labs. Students participate in lab/computer or field work as appropriate to their research project. Students work with their mentors to complete a work plan outlining mentor and mentee goals and responsibilities, and have completed progress reports during each quarter of the program. The faculty PD, other faculty mentors, and the project coordinator provide enhanced professional development activities. Students participated in a number of workshops (e.g. data analysis, research ethics, human subjects research training, lab safety, career options, graduate school preparedness, presentation and poster making skills) to prepare them for work in professional settings. Students participated in field trips to local agricultural sites (e.g. USDA ARS, farmer training programs, postdoctoral fellow research sites) to be exposed to research and agriculture activities in our region. Students attended the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association bi-annual conference held at UCSC. At the conference, they attended field trips, workshops on experiential education, food justice and equity, incorporating diversity into the classroom, and listened to speakers on agroecology and sustainable food systems. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have held regular meetings with faculty mentors participating in the project, and our project evaluator has shared qualitative and quantitative reports of the student-self assessment to guide faculty mentor changes. We are currently preparing to present our results at the Project Director meeting. We have shared informal results with colleagues at other universities and in other units at UC Santa Cruz about the success of the project model to date. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?↵ In Y2 of our project, we will repeat the same activities as during Y1 of the grant to continue mentoring students and achieving our research objective. We will: Mentor the 10 continuing fellows Deliver developed workshops on research ethics, lab and field safety, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, agricultural career options, graduate school, presentation skills Organize field trips to visit research and farmer training sites Ask students to complete regular progress reports outlining their activities and struggles in the program Encourage regular meetings with mentors, other lab members including graduate students and postdocs in mentor labs Encourage student fellows to attend conferences and meetings relevant to their research interests and project topic Conduct initial, mid-point, and final self-assessment instrument with second cohort of students Conduct two focus groups with students to assess sense of belonging in the program and other issues Conduct final self-assessment with first cohort of students Hold end of year symposia for students to present their research results
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Project Impact: The SUPERDAR program is an experiential learning program based on participation in sustainable agriculture research. Oureducation objectiveis to broaden student experience through creation and implementation of aresearch and mentoring fellowship program for underrepresented undergraduate students in agricultural-related fields. Ourresearch objectiveis to advance understanding ofinterdisciplinary solutions to promote sustainable agriculture, ecosystem services, and food justice at the agricultural-natural-interface. We recruited and trained 15 student fellows, mostly from underrepresented groups (53% Hispanic; 13% Native American; 75% women). Fellows developed research projects related to sustainable agriculture with a focus on water conservation (7% of students), biodiversity (13%), plant disease ecology (13%), soil ecology (26%), and food security and justice (40%), with one of seven faculty members. Student fellows participated in field trips, workshops relevant to research ethics, data analysis, and presentation and poster making tips, and project evaluation. Students generated important and useful data, and made significant personal progress. In self-assessments, students reported gains in many areas including analyzing data for patterns, figuring out a next step in a research project, identifying limitations in a research design, understanding the theory and concepts guiding my research project, comfort discussing scientific concepts with people outside the academic setting, ability to work independently, understanding what everyday research work is like, conducting database or internet searches. Thus our students, mainly from underrepresented backgrounds, are learning valuable skills in research, leadership, and are becoming more prepared for graduate school and careers in agricultural sciences. Students expressed that participation in the fellowship program contributed to a sense of belonging on campus and specifically in the agricultural sciences by providing prestige, having staff and teachers be aware of issues faced by underrepresented students, and by just being more comfortable in a scientific setting. Their research projects are advancing our knowledge of sustainable agriculture. To meet our education objective, we did the following: 1) Major activities completed Recruited 15 student fellows, most from underrepresented groups Matched student fellows to one of seven faculty research labs Organized workshop series on ethics, lab and field safety, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, agricultural career options, graduate school, presentation skills Organized field trip to visit research and farmer training sites Students participated in research with mentor including regular meetings with their mentor, lab meetings, interactions with graduate students and postdocs in mentor labs Five student fellows attended the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association conference focused on Food Justice, Equity and Sustainable Agriculture 2) Data collected To measure progress in acquisition of skills, students were given an adapted Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment 3 times during the program to track progress in a) intensions for employment or grad school attendance, b) developed research skills; c) developed science specific skills; d) developed relevant attitudes and behaviors (e.g. feel like a scientist, think creatively, try out new ideas, feel engaged in real research), e) developed needed affective dimensions (confidence and comfort working in the field). To address student retention, we held focus groups with students to assess changes in adaptive mindsets or senses of belonging. 3) Summary Statistics and Discussion of results According to the self-assessment conducted with the first student cohort (5 students), students made progress in the thinking and working like a scientist (average score 2.70 on a scale from 0 to 5) and in personal gains related to research work (2.59). These scores imply that students consider their progress to be between moderate gain and good gain. Student averages were also between these two response options, but closer to moderate gain (2.38), regarding gains in attitudes and behaviors of a scientist. The least progress was made in the skills domain (2.08), but many of these items were not relevant to some student projects (e.g. calibrating instruments) or had not yet been completed by students (e.g. writing scientific reports, presenting oral or poster presentations). The highest scores (at 3.0 or above - good gain) included analyzing data for patterns, figuring out a next step in a research project, identifying limitations in a research design, understanding the theory and concepts guiding my research project, comfort discussing scientific concepts with people outside the academic setting, ability to work independently, understanding what everyday research work is like, conducting database or internet searches. The mid-program focus group highlighted positive outcomes related to helping students enter the workforce in agricultural sciences. Most students said they were considering or planning on attending graduate school. The one who did not plan to attend said that the program helped bring clarity that research was not for her. All of these were positive outcomes. It appears that staff and co-worker encouragement is playing a strong role in the student interest in graduate school. In focus groups, students report that the program structure and staff behavior appears to be contributing to feelings of belonging. Comments included that the program contributed to belonging by providing prestige, having staff and teachers be aware of and name white supremacy, and by being more comfortable in scientific settings. Positive program feedback included that regular meetings with their mentor helped to reduce stress and was helpful to ensure they were on the right path. 4) Key outcomes 1 student was accepted into an NSF REU program for the summer following her fellowship tenure Cohort 1 students are actively peer-mentoring students in cohort 2, providing a peer-to-peer learning network To meet our research objective we did the following: 1) Major activities completed 5 students completed research projects on biodiversity, water conservation, and food justice 10 students began research projects on plant disease ecology, soil ecology, food security, and plant biodiversity 2) Data collected 2 students completed projects about insect biodiversity and dispersal in urban garden landscapes 1 student examined the effect of different mulching practices on soil moisture and temperature 2 students examined data on restaurant worker wages and equity in fast food and mid-size restaurants 3) Summary Statistics and Discussion of results One student working in urban gardens documented that ladybeetle dispersal to gardens is higher in gardens surrounded by high amounts of impervious surface, and that bare ground and leaf litter cover increase dispersal to gardens. A second student working in urban gardens documented that high disturbance to soils and garden size have positive impacts on spider populations, but lower spider diversity and alter community composition One student found that use of straw mulch in broccoli was more effective in maintaining soil moisture and lowering temperatures than cardboard mulch These results provide small, yet important, contributions to our knowledge about the management and promotion of sustainable agriculture and food systems in our region. 4) Key outcomes 1 student completed an undergraduate thesis based on his research project 1 student completed a policy memo for city officials based on her findings ?
Publications
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