Source: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM submitted to
PREPARE NEXT GENERATION OF HISPANIC STUDENTS FOR CAREER IN FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY.
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1026551
Grant No.
2021-77040-34873
Project No.
TEXW-2021-03395
Proposal No.
2021-03395
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
NJ
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2021
Project End Date
Jul 31, 2025
Grant Year
2021
Project Director
Balan, V.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM
4800 CALHOUN ST STE 316
HOUSTON,TX 770042610
Performing Department
Engineering Technology
Non Technical Summary
This project will benefit Hispanic and other underrepresented high school students by developing a Pathway to University Programs (PUP). This pathway will focus on students enrolled in the Fort Bend Independent School District (FBISD) and will identify first-time-in-college (FTIC) students. The objectives of this 4-year USDA-PUP activities include: 1) organizing a workshop for about 2,000 FBISD students with the assistance of 20 trained teachers who can grow the awareness of the students about the career opportunities in the Food and Agricultural and to lead similar activities in the future, 2) offering a 3-day summer camp at University of Houston (UH) campus to 120 students, 3) arranging a 2-month summer research training program for 40 students, and 4) offering one scholarship to a high school senior student interested in pursuing a degree related to food and agricultural biotechnology at UH. The workshop and summer camp will be designed to attract students to the UH Food Science, and Biotechnology programs, and career opportunities within USDA. The camp will include information sessions, campus tours, and interactions with professionals from Food and Agricultural Sciences field. The summer research training program at UH will give the students with hands-on experience working in the Food Science, Nutrition or Biotechnology research laboratories on UH campus. The students will be working under the direct supervision of faculty members and industry professionals. The FTIC FBISD students will enjoy experiential learning experiences and explore career opportunities that will ultimately help them succeed in obtaining careers related to Food and Agriculture.
Animal Health Component
0%
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
7125010106050%
5011470101025%
5025010100025%
Goals / Objectives
There are two major goals in this project.1) Student Success: UH will have a student profile consistent with a nationally competitive public research university by creating an environment in which student success can be ensured; and2) Community Advancement: UH will commit to fulfilling regional and state workforce needs while becoming the primary engine of social, economic, and intellectual development.The USDA-PUP activities will provide a pathway for potential students who may miss the opportunity to earn a college degree and miss bright careers because of the lack of information and guidance. The proposed project will also help some students to receive financial support, arrange for structured mentoring relationships, and provide future leaders in the Food and Agricultural sectors for the USDA and the State of Texas.
Project Methods
1. Participant Selection/Recruitment: Dr. Green, Director of Undergraduate Recruiting at COT will attend the college Science fairs and other activities at the 12 FBISD high schools to promote the USDA-PUP activities. In addition, electronic informational packets will be sent to the FBISD high schools in English and Spanish. Each year, over 500 Hispanic and other underrepresented students from the 12 FBISD high schools will receive these packets detailing the USDA-PUP activities, and career opportunities in the field of Food and Agricultural Sciences2. Website: An interactive bilingual website will be created with the help of COT Information Technology (IT) professionals that will link all the 12 FBISD schools and keep participants apprised of all activities. The website will also provide a calendar of events, photographs of activities, and an evaluation form for each activity. Additionally, a Facebook group and a blog page will be created to give students the opportunity to interact with others enrolled in this program.3. Workshop at FBISD Schools: High school teachers will be trained online by the PD and Co-PD to participate in the workshops and provide the information outlined in objective 1.4. Summer Camp at UH Campus: A 3-day Summer Camp will be held at UH campus (Table 2). PD, Co-PD and Dr. Flavier (senior personnel) will be responsible for organizing the event. Dr. Green, Director of Undergraduate Recruiting, will be responsible for completing all the paperwork and for the high school students to participate in the Summer Camp (see support letter).5. Summer Research Training Program: PD and Co-PD will be supervising the participating students in their respective labs, and organizing relevant activities as described in objective 3. Some students will be assigned to work in other UH faculties lab working in Food Biotechnology.

Progress 08/01/22 to 07/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience were high school Hispanic and underrepresented minority students enrolled in 9-12 grades. We contacted high school superintendents, principals, teachers, science club and career advisors in 15 high schools in the greater Houston area. We discussed the objectives of the USDA-Hispanic serving Institution-Pathway to University program (HSI-PUP) and requested them to encourage the students to participate in the 2-day summer camp and the 4-weeks research experience program. We also visited six schools and gave presentations to the teachers and students. In addition, we invited 357 students from 7 neighboring schools to visit the UH Sugar Land campus and to learn about the technology programs. Table-1 provides a listing of the neighboring schools. The UH Biotechnology Faculties also served as judges at the 2023 Science and Engineering Fair of Houston and advertised the program to participants from 50 high schools. Table 1. Neighboring Schools and number of students visiting UH Sugar Land campus. School Name Number of Students Dates Type of Tour Dulles High School 40 5-15-2023 Technology, BTEC Stafford Municipal School District 30 5-09-2023 Technology, BTEC Terry High School 12 5-05-2023 General Milby High School 9 4-21-2023 Technology Specific Elkins High School 35 3-24-2023 General Central Fort Bend Center of Commerce Tech Day 200 3-02-2023 General, Technology Lamar Consolidated ISD 31 2-03-2023 Technology, BTEC We invited 37 high school students to participate in the 2-day summer camp in June 2023. Twenty students submitted applications for the 4-weeks summer research experience program. We recruited 11 students after going through their applications in which they wrote about their future ambitions. About 800 high school students accessed the USDA-HSI-PUP program website https://uh.edu/tech/usda-pup/ website to learn about various opportunities. Changes/Problems:One student was supposed to be selected and given a $25,000 fellowship to complete a 4-year college degree. According to the UH policy, fellowships should be advertised in the fall semester so that eligible underrepresented students can submit their application. The section will begin before the start of the spring semester. Since we received the funding in August 2021, we could not advertise this fellowship in advance. We have reached the program officer and requested to disperse the funds to two students $12,500 each. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Prof. Neil Eldin evaluated the program based on the survey results. The feedback from the first day confirmed a high level of students' satisfaction. All the attendees (100% of the students) reported their satisfaction with the information presented on that day. Specifically, 20% of the students indicated that they were extremely interested in the topic of Health and Human performance; 44% reported that the hands-on activity on algae was extremely informative; 14% reported that the hands-on activity on enzymes was extremely informative; 18% reported that the information on UH degree programs was extremely informative; and 9% reported that the interaction with the industry professionals was extremely informative. When asked about possible improvements for future offerings, the students' consensus was to increase the time allowed for the hands-on activities. This feedback is a positive sign of the students' interest and engagement that made them desire more of the activities offered. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The feedback from the second day confirmed the high level of students' satisfaction. All the attendees (100% of the students) reported their satisfaction with the information presented on that day. Specifically, 9% of the students indicated that they were extremely interested in discussing the career opportunities; 14% reported that the human performance lab was extremely informative; 4% reported that the greenhouse tour was extremely formative; 11% reported that the UH campus tour was extremely informative; and 12% reported that the information presented to parents was extremely informative. When asked about possible improvements for future offerings, the students' consensus was to increase the time allowed for the hands-on activities, and to reduce the time spent walking on campus to avoid the summer heat in Houston. We successfully organized a 4-week summer research experience for 11 high school students. The activities started on July 5thand ended on July 27th, 2023. Five students were female, and six students were male. The students were grouped into 2-member teams and gained research experience in four different laboratories. Research topics include: (i) Microalgae cultivation, (ii) Nutrition and dietetics, (iii) The effects of microalgae as a biofertilizer on cotton and sorghum growth, (iv) Bioinformatics, and (v) Producing fungal mycelium on algal biomass. At the end of the program, students shared their experience and skills gained and how this program has helped to shape their career by making a short presentation. The students' feedback was captured through a survey in the end. The collected data shows strong positive impact on the students and a high level of satisfaction with the program. In the end all the 11 high school students completed the 4-weeks summer research experience program and half of the students expressed their intention to apply to UH in the biotechnology or hotel and restaurant management program. In the end, students received a participation certificate and $1,000 stipend. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will cotinue to organize 2-day work shop for 50 students and organize summer research experience for 12 students. We will increase the number of school visit to educate minority students about opportunities in Food, nutrition and agricultural biotechnology. We will also invite more than 10 schools to visit UH sugarland campus and give campus tour and provide information about various undergraduate program related to agriculture.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We successfully engaged 37 high school students from 20 different high schools in training and research activities. The activities started on June 12th and ended on 13th June 2023. The students who participated were 19 female and 18 males. Each student received a participation certificate upon the completion of the camp. The effectiveness of the camp activities and the students' knowledge gained were determined by a student survey performed at the end of each day during the camp.

Publications


    Progress 08/01/21 to 07/31/22

    Outputs
    Target Audience:The target audience were high school Hispanic and underrepresented minority students between 9-12 grade. We reached out to superintendents, principals, high school teachers and career advisors in over 20 high schools in greater Houston area. We also reached out to minority serving non-profit and STEM organizations in Houston area. We explained about the USDA-Hispanic serving institution-Pathway to University program (HSI-PUP) objectives and requested them to encourage the students to apply to participate in the 3-day summer camp and 4-weeks research experience program. We also visited some schools to talk to the teachers and students. About 300-400 high school students were introduced to USDA-HSI-PUP program. About 31 students were given opportunity to participate and 29 students completed the 3-day summer camp. About 16 students submitted the application for the summer research experience program and 8 were selected and 7 complete the program. Changes/Problems:One student was supposed to be selected and given a $25,000 fellowship to complete 4-year college degree. According to the UH policy, fellowship should be advertised during spring semesterso that eligible underrepresented student can submit their application. The section will begin before the start of the fall semester. Since we received the funding in August 2021, we could not advertise this fellowship in advance. We will make necessary arrangements to identify the deserving student in fall 2022 and provide $25,000 fellowship. This year only7 students completed the 4-weeks summer research experience program. Next year we will make sure 13 students will get an opportunity to particiapte and benefit from the4-weeks summer research experience program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Pathway to University Programs (PUP) provided opportunities for high school students to explore the fields of Agricultural Biotechnology, Food Science, and Nutrition while gaining valuable information about college resources. Primary target audience was Hispanic youth 9-12th grade and other underrepresented minorities. Students were given opportunity to visit laboratories on UH main and Sugarland campus andlearn about exciting new research. During the3-day summer camp program31 high school students participated in various activities that took place 2-days in UH-Sugarland campus and 1-day at UH-main campus in Houston. Some of the activities include, (1) introduction to USDA-HSI-PUP activities, (2) Seven expert presentations (i. career opportunities in food science by Dr. Julia Jarrell; ii. UH undergraduate degree programs on food science and technology - by three UH college advisors; iii. climate change and agriculture - Dr. Ray Ram, PVAMU; iv. career opportunities in private industries -scientist from iBio, Inc., College station; v. application and financial aid - UH admissions staff; vi. career opportunities and vii. degree plans - UH Career center representative and on food and agricultural biotechnology by Dr. Albert Flavier), (3) four hands on activities (food safety testing using PCR, algae to produce plant stimulants, food processing enzymes, food calories, nutrition, and labelling) and (4) UH campus tour and greenhouse visit. Only 29 students completed the 3-day summer camp and received participation certificate. During the4-week summer research experience program, 8 high school students had an opportunity to work with graduate students and researchers in various UH biotechnology and nutrition lab. At the end of the program, 7 students completed the training and made a short presentation to share their experience and knowledge they gained. Two alumni of the UH Biotechnology program, one Arab-American and one African-American, described their pathway to UH from high school, their experiences as UH students, and their current careers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Prof. Neil Eldin evaluated the program based on the survey results. According to this report the camp was effective in raising the students' interest in the career opportunities in the agriculture and food science fields. There was strong positive response to both, the interactive activities and lab work. Overall, the summer camp appears to be effective in satisfying the program objectives. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Prof. Eldin recommended to have the same schedule for the future camps and suggested two improvements. The first suggestion is to attract more Hispanic high school students. The second suggestion is related to increasing the number of hands-on activities in place of professional presentations. The summer camp organizing team will re-examine the number, length, sequence, and the choice of presenters of the professional presentations to create presentations that are more interactive and more interesting for the students.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? About 300-400 high school students were introduced to USDA-HSI-PUP program.We successfully organized a 3-day summer camp for 31 high school students from 20 different high schools in greater Houston areas. The activities started on 13th June and ended on 15th June 2022. Among the students who participated, 15 were female and 16 were male. Upon the completion of the camp, 29 students received participation certificate. A survey was completed by the students to measure the effectiveness of the camp activities and the students' knowledge gained. The student's feedback on the interactive activities and presentations was collected to validate the summer camp program and to aid in future improvements. We successfully organized a 4-week summer research experience for 8 high school students. The activities started on 27th June and ended on 22nd July 2022. Three students were female, and five students were male. The students were grouped into 2-member teams and gained research experience in four different laboratories. Research topics include: (i) Converting algal lipids to biodiesel, (ii) Nutrition and dietetics, (iii) The effects of drought and flooding on sorghum growth and (iv) characterization of bacterial strains from different soil samples. At the end of the program, students shared their experience and skills gained and how this program has helped to shape their career by making a short presentation. The students' feedback was At the completion of the program 7 high school students (2 female and 5 male) expressed their intention to apply to UH in the biotechnology (6 students) or hotel and restaurant management program (1 student). In the end, students received a participation certificate and $1,000 stipend.

    Publications