NEWPORT, R.I.—Narragansett Bay is Rhode Island’s most valuable social and economic resource, but not everyone has an equal chance to study the varied worlds of organisms living above and below its waves.

With the creation of its ‘Diversity Action Committee’, RI C-AIM (Rhode Island Consortium for Coastal Ecology Assessment, Innovation and Modeling) is bringing talented professionals from institutions across the state together to provide opportunities for students of underrepresented groups to succeed in STEM fields.

Funded by a $19 million grant from the National Science Foundation, RI C‑AIM is a collaboration of engineers, scientists, and students from eight higher education institutions across the state developing a new research infrastructure to assess, predict and respond to the effects of climate variability on coastal ecosystems. Working together with businesses and area communities, RI C-AIM seeks to position Rhode Island as a ‘center of excellence’ for researchers on Narragansett Bay and beyond.

Charles “Chuck” Watson, assistant director for Diversity at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering, has gathered a team of diversity leaders at institutions across Rhode Island to develop pathways for students from underrepresented groups to not just be exposed to RI C-AIM research, but use it as a springboard for their careers.

“As a committee, our goal is to move opportunity in such a positive direction that it sends a strong message of collaboration and cooperation which no one will ever forget,” Watson asserts.

At their second meeting earlier this month, DAC members were in full agreement; RI C-AIM must promote the journeys of underrepresented groups, providing examples to incoming students of like professionals succeeding in disciplines such as engineering and marine biology.

“We need to look for ways to get students excited about and stay in STEM fields,” emphasizes Don Mays, director of the Intercultural Center at Roger Williams University. “We want to provide the supports so these students won’t back away from challenges and be excited about opportunities to do research, to see professionals who are doing what they want and are persevering.”

“Students from diverse backgrounds have no clue about the variety of STEM jobs out there,” says Michelle Fontes-Barros, assistant director of Student Diversity Initiatives in URI’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences. “They see, ‘be a nurse or a doctor,’ that is all they know. Geology is a great example. There are $80,000-a-year jobs in Arizona. If students knew about them, we could get them into STEM.”

“We want to provide the supports so these students won’t back away from challenges and be excited about opportunities to do research, to see professionals who are doing what they want and are persevering.”Don Mays, Roger Williams University

Mays added that a prevalent perception among STEM professionals which must be dispelled is that diversity is associated with diminishing research quality. The solution? Help educators to become supportive mentors who understand the unique challenges underrepresented groups face, but also provide pathways so students can simply conduct research and not have skin color, gender or affiliation distract from the quality of their work.

“The cultural shift is what has gotten us excited about DAC and RI C-AIM,” explains RI C-AIM Principal Investigator Geoffrey Bothun. “How do we train or faculty and provide the tools needed to be effective mentors to students from underrepresented groups?”

Training an initial group of willing faculty members as diversity mentors would be a start, DAC members agreed, and Bothun noted that seed funding for such programs is available under the current grant. Other issues persist, however: is the graduate application review process, for example, at Rhode Island institutions clear enough for mentors to recommend strategies for success in students’ high school and undergraduate careers?

“It is a black box,” says Dr. Alycia Mosley-Austin, director of Graduate Recruitment and Diversity Initiatives at URI. “Even if we get students to apply, does the department actually read that application? How are they evaluating it?”

Watson’s motto for DAC has been to work ‘smarter not harder,’ stressing that promotion of RI C-AIM-related activities and research will complement members’ commitments to their individual institutions.

But how will RI C-AIM measure success of DAC-led initiatives? By bringing a cohort of diverse students through undergraduate and graduate studies over the next four years, says Dr. Sami Nassim, assistant vice president for Student Success and director of Multicultural Programs at Salve Regina University.

“For many students from underrepresented groups, it is hard to pursue opportunities for research because they have to work and pay for school,” stresses Nassim. “We can use that cohort, a group of students who have joined and graduated after four years, to show concrete stories of student success  and as a model for the state.”

Through RI C-AIM’s collaboration with RI-INBRE (Rhode Island IDEA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence), the annual SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship), a paid, 10-week program training students how to conduct research in the lab and the field, already provides one entryway.

RI C-AIM’s career development program, which will include diversity-focused workshops and opportunities, is also scheduled to launch in fall 2019.

“These are federal dollars and C-AIM needs to represent the broadest levels of participation from society,” said Dr. Breea Govenar, co-principal investigator for RI C-AIM and associate professor of Biology at Rhode Island College. “Accomplishing good science includes making efforts throughout our activities for inclusion and diversity, and we want DAC to be an authentic cornerstone of our program.”

Written by Shaun Kirby, RI C-AIM Communications & Outreach Coordinator