Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
888 N EUCLID AVE
TUCSON,AZ 85719-4824
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
If we aim to provide equitable STEM education for every student in the United States and developa diverse workforce, it is critical to develop and offer barrier-free leadership and science educationprogramming to inspire women and gender non-confirming high school students in rural areas toenter the STEM pipeline. We propose to develop an existing program in southeastern Arizona forunderserved high school girls and gender non-confirming students that first brings participants intothe backcountry to learn about local ecology and natural resources while developing leadershipskills and then facilitates a year-long mentorship between participants and near-peer women inSTEM. We further propose to deploy the program in south central Michigan and subsequentlyassess how aspects of the Arizona-based curriculum translate to a new location. We will achieve theproject goals through specific objectives in two Educational Need Areas: Student ExperientialLearning, and Curriculum Design & Materials Development. This project will deliver life-changing science programing to over 80 students, and we expect to identify how best to transport curriculum for place-based science programing across state lines. Overall, the GALS Arizona & Michiganproject will develop student scientific and leadership competencies by providing opportunities forhigh-school women and gender non-confirming students from rural areas to participate in science,take on leadership roles, explore diverse career opportunities in FAHN sciences, and connect withfemale and minority scientist mentors.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
GALS Arizona is proof of concept that a free, hands-on, place-based science program providesopportunities for high-school students who identify as female or gender non-conforming andminority students from rural areas of Arizona to participate in science, take on leadership roles,and explore diverse career opportunities in natural resources. This GALS Arizona & Michiganproject aims to examine and enhance the design features of GALS Arizona that are critical forparticipants to develop science proficiency and leadership skills and establish best practices toguide the implementation of those critical design features to deploy the new GALS Michigan.We will achieve the project goals through specific objectives in two Educational Need Areas: (E)Student Experiential Learning, and (A) Curriculum Design & Materials Development. Specificobjectives of this project include:(E1) Enhance and increase admission to the existing GALS Arizona program at theUniversity of Arizona to develop student scientific and leadership competenciesthrough place-based science experiences related to Arizona natural resource issues andagricultural systems;(E2) Deploy a new GALS Michigan program at Michigan State University (MSU) to develop student scientific and leadership competencies through place-based scienceexperiences related to Michigan natural resource issues and agricultural systems;(A1) Systematically describe the critical design features of the GALS Arizona programcurriculum that increase participants' scientific and professional competencies to informa set of "best practices" to guide the development of GALS program curricula inadditional states;(A2) Test, refine, and disseminate the best practices by using them to design,implement, and evaluate a GALS Michigan program curriculum.
Project Methods
GALS Arizona Program (Objective E1)The first objective of the GALS Arizona & Michigan project is to enhance the existing GALSArizona program. During the free year-long program, participants engage in the practices anddiscourses of science7 to investigate regionally-relevant natural resource and agriculturequestions and concepts. Authentic participation in the practices and discourses of science allowsparticipants to become enculturated into a scientific community of practice6. Participants posequestions, make observations, and design and carry out scientific investigations. Participants aresophomores and juniors from high schools in low-income and rural communities (seeRecruitment).The program is divided into two parts: camping trip and mentorship. In GALSArizona, participants (15) engage in a week-long camping trip in the Chiricahua NationalMonument over the October break under the guidance of four leaders (female-identifying STEMgraduate students). All materials as well as travel are provided to participants free of charge.Two weeks prior to the camping trip, participants attend an event where they meet the tripleaders and each other, get fitted for backpacks, learn camping basics, and review packingessentials. Each participant is also given a t-shirt, water bottle and publicity materials (stickers,pens, etc.).Each day of the camping trip is different, but they all focus on local ecology, naturalresources, hiking, leadership, and team building. In addition to general learning objectives foreach day (see Curriculum), participants are exposed to opportunities in STEM careers. Forexample, several female members of the natural resource community visit the camping siteduring the week to talk about their job and lead a small activity focused on their expertise (seeLetters of Support). Participants are also involved in group discussions, such as a mock town hallactivity where everyone takes on the role of a different stakeholder to discuss management of alocally-relevant resource. Throughout the trip, students are challenged to work as a team;opportunities for student leadership abound, as do opportunities for group problem solving. Thechallenges of living in, and hiking through, the backcountry increase students' self-awarenessand push them to realize their potential. Each participant is also responsible for one job each dayto enhance leadership skill training. Finally, students both journal independently about their dayand share their experiences with the group.Leadership development and team-building activities are thoughtfully interwoventhroughout the trip. In the evenings, students break into smaller groups to discussenvironmental issues (e.g., environmental justice, environmental economics), set personal goals,and engage in reflections. On the final night in the backcountry, students write letters tothemselves that are mailed to them one year later. This serves as an opportunity for the studentsto set and hold themselves accountable for future goals.The second part of the program is mentorship. Maintaining connections to participantsafter the camping trip concludes is critical for retaining students who identify as female or gender non-conforming in the STEM pipeline. We attempt to do this in two ways. First, wepair each participant with a mentor. The mentor is a female-identifying or gender nonconforminggraduate student or postdoc in STEM. Mentors meet their mentee the day of the pretripevent, after which mentors interact with mentees through text messages at least twice amonth. Mentors ask mentees about schoolwork, help with college application navigation, and actas a sounding board for participants. They also attend the poster session (see Curriculum). Twicea year after the camping trip, mentors and mentees attend GALS-funded events together tostrengthen and maintain relationships.We also engage GALS alumni annually by inviting them to the pre-trip event where theyhave the opportunity to provide feedback to the new GALS participants. This provides anotheropportunity for participants to connect and practice communication skills. GALS alumni are alsoencouraged to start after-school programs or one-off workshops at their high schools focused onsharing some of the skills they learned during the summer program. We provide them with thelogistical support to lead these activities.