Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
(N/A)
NEWARK,DE 19717
Performing Department
Animal And Food Sciences
Non Technical Summary
There is significant underrepresentation of minorities in upper-level careers in the Agricultural Sciences. This is particularly true for positions requiring advanced degrees. Agriculture, in particular, poultry production and the allied industries that support poultry production in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania, is one of the top employers of these states, and higher level positions in this industry typically require advanced degrees. A major perceived issue affecting the aspiration of college students to attaining these careers is the conceptual leap of being a student to being a scientist, responsible for a research project, for data collection, documentation and importantly, represenation to the scientific community and the public, at large.To address this very important issue, we have developed and are continuing to evolve the UD Envision program. This program recruits andinvites applications from undergraduate students to seek the UD Envision Summer Research program via an online application from students attending regional HBCUs, as well as UD undergraduates in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Students select research areas of interest and those that are accepted are given the opportunity to develop a research project in conjunction with a faculty mentor. Participants are given training in laboratory safety, scientific ethics and in how to present scientific results in video and poster formats, for different audiences. Each participant makes a video of their project at the level that seeks to relate their science to a general public audience. It is this exercise, the relating of research to a lay audience, that helps the student Envision themselves as a scientist. This change in perception, we feel, is key to further seeking of careers in Agricultural Sciences. Moreover, the interactions with the regional HBCUs establishes student pipelines and faculty contacts for developing multi-institutional research projects.
Animal Health Component
20%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
80%
Applied
20%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Partnering with regional minority-serving institutions (Cheyney University, Lincoln University, Delaware State University, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, and Wesley College), we plan to fund 50 undergraduate students over a 5-year period, as 10 competitively-awarded, 10-week summer fellowships each year. One additional student will be recruited as an Extension Scholar per year for program facilitation. Participants will receive stipends, a research budget, intensive training in research ethics, safety, videography, hypothesis development, and research techniques. In addition, theEnvision programwill be rigorously assessed to determine best practices for conducting productive undergraduate research experiences leading to long-term career choices in Agricultural Sciences. This proposal represents an expansion of a currently-funded REEU (award #2017-67032-26009) in its final year of funding, seehttps://CANR.UDel.edu/Envision.
Project Methods
The methods employed in this URE are the following:1. Recrutiment events: The PI and one or more co-investigators and staff will make presentations on the UD Envision program at each of the participating HBCUs and at the University of Delaware through the Sophomore Careers class (ANFS265, Perspectives in Careers in Animal and Food Sciences).2. Website and OnlineApplication: Starting each January through April 1, students from partnering institutions will be able to apply for the program and will participate in pre-program assessment surveys. Faculty will be able to view applications, interview students and check references for selecting students to participate.3. Selection, Background checks and onboarding: By Aprl 15 of each year, selected students will be noified for their acceptance and will be given a summer schedule of events. Prior to the start of each summer program, students will be entered into the system for receiving payment for the summer in two installments (at first week and at 7th week).4. Kick-off and Trainings: Upon arrival on campus, students requiring housing will pick up their keys, receive a welcome basket and will participate in a kick-off event with participants in Envision and other STEM-related summer programs. During the first week of the program, students will undergo safety, scientific ethics and biosafety trainings, as well as laboratory-specific training.5. Mentored hypothesis development and project selection. All students will work with a mentor to develop hypothesis-driven reseach within a laboratory or in a field setting.6. Video-training: Each participant will receive (4) 2 hr videography training sessions in the Multimedia center at the University of Delaware library. In addition to these sessions, students will receive training in video storytelling, content moderation, and instruction on making high-impact videos from our office of communication and media.7. Team-building events: Students will participate in game nights, a beach trip, and other fun cohort-building activities to help develop a sense of community associated with the program. Participants will post on social media on the Facebook and Intagram pages, moderated by our Extension Scholar.8. Movie loading and outreach event: By mid-July, students will assemble their videos, which will then be uploaded to YouTube and downloaded as compressed .mp4 videos for loading onto 4gB jump drive-bottle openers for distribution at the Delaware State Fair ~July 20 - 23 in the Agricutlural Annex at the State Fairgrounds. Students will have these movies playing on (5) video screens and will hand these out while engaging with the public about their research.9. Undergraduate Reserach Symposium, each participant will produce a poster detailing their summer research experience. The Extension Scholar helping with the cohort of students will give an oral presentation on this program, including their overall program video.