Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Honeybee Oriented NextGen Entrepreneurs and Youth (HONEY) Pathway program at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA), proposes to advance the aims of USDA's NextGen program by providing a training and experiential learning to prepare underrepresented and minoritized (URM) students for the expansive array of diverse careers in the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH). This proposed Tier One program addresses project types B (Experiential Learning) and C (Outreach and Engagement) through existing collaboration between UTSA (a Hispanic Serving Institution - HSI) and St. Philips College (a Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Ciencia, Ingeniería, y Matemáticas Aliados (CIMA) program. The HONEY program will: (1) cultivate the next generation of leaders of urban beekeepers by training URM students in a curriculum focused on beekeeping, pollinator research and entrepreneurship; (2) construct a curriculum model--including learning materials, research, outreach, recruitment, mentoring, retention, and branding strategies--focused on the economic, medical and ecological value of bees and other pollinators to attract and retain URM students to FANH majors and career paths, particularly to beekeeping; and (3) coordinate educational opportunities for UTSA and St. Philip's College students with the USDA Honey Bee Genetics Lab, Texas A&M University's Bee Research Lab, Texas Apiary Inspection Services, SweetBio, as well as Texas Beekeepers Association (TBA), Bee Mindful Honey Farms, and Alamo Area Beekeepers Association to facilitate experiential research and professionalization opportunities that will cultivate the acquisition of technical, leadership, and employability skills required to enter the FANH and USDA workforce.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The major goals of the HONEY (Honeybee Oriented NextGen Entrepreneurs and Youth)program are threefold:(1) to cultivate the next generation of leaders of urban beekeepers by training URM students via curriculum focused on honey bee biology, beekeeping, pollinator research and entrepreneurship;(2) to construct a curriculum model--including learning materials, outreach, recruitment, mentoring, retention, and branding strategies--focused on the economic, medical and ecological value of bees and other pollinators in order to attract and retain URM students in FANH majors and career paths; and(3) to coordinate educational opportunities between UTSA, St. Philip's College, the USDA Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics & Physiology Research Lab, Texas A&M University's Bee Research Lab, Texas Apiary Inspection Services, SweetBio, as well as Texas Beekeepers Association (TBA), Bee Mindful Honey Farms, and Alamo Area Beekeepers Association to facilitate experiential research opportunities, which cultivate acquisition of technical, leadership, and professional skills required to enter the FANH and USDA workforce.Through these training and opportunities, the HONEY Pathway will support URM students in becoming engaged, diverse, and talented professionals capable of addressing pressing societal challenges like climate change, equity, rural prosperity, nutrition insecurity, supply chain resilience, natural resource conservation, and agricultural biosecurity.
Project Methods
Recruitment and Planning: All Senior Personnel will be actively engaged in recruiting students from UTSA, SPC and partner high schools (e.g., SPC's Early College High School Program, Judson High School). Existing recruitment relationships between UTSA and SPC will facilitate communication between institutions and assist with recruitment of SPC students and high school teachers. Recruitment for different activities will occur according to the timeline provided in Table 3, with the primary recruitment criteria being that participants are URM students. Recruitment materials will include a one-page graphic for each activity which outlines learning objectives, skill acquisition, participant responsibilities and potential benefits of participating. Participants recruited for introductory level activities (e.g., HONEY Seminar Series) will be encouraged to continue to more advanced activities, thereby establishing matriculation of participants from freshman through senior year via increasingly complex activities.Mentoring and Participant Support: A key element of the HONEY Pathway will be ongoing monthly meetings for participants in the CURE Lab, summer REUs and internships. These meetings will provide opportunities for participants to reflect on and share experiences with one another and with faculty mentors (led by Drs. Nash and King-Kostelac with support from faculty members overseeing student research projects). These meetings will thereby provide peer and faculty mentoring as well as rich, qualitative data on student learning and experience via memo-ing/notetaking at all meetings (conducted by Dr. King-Kostelac).Dissemination: Best practices and findings produced by the HONEY pathway program will be disseminated to a variety of local, regional, and national audiences via a combination of academic conferences and publications, outreach to local and regional organizations engaged in beekeeping and pollinator research, and outreach events. Finally, A website will also be maintained through UTSA's existing server with information on HONEY Pathway activities, criteria for participating, and examples of research and activities from prior years. The program website will also function as a method of disseminating best practices and program outcomes.