{"id":4866,"date":"2014-02-18T11:59:10","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T16:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=4866"},"modified":"2014-02-18T11:59:10","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T16:59:10","slug":"drawing-the-next-generation-to-stem-fields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2014\/02\/18\/drawing-the-next-generation-to-stem-fields\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing the next generation to STEM fields"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"RoseMartin\"
Rose Martin talks to Woonsocket middle school students about how she turned an interest in animals and plants into an exciting career.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grad students share their science journey<\/h3>\n

Rose Martin recently stood before a group of about 45 Woonsocket middle school students, looking nothing like the stereotypical scientist.<\/p>\n

She is, after all, a woman.<\/p>\n

Although women comprise nearly half the country\u2019s workforce,\u00a0only 26 percent work in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. And, gender is not the only disparity \u2014\u00a0minority groups, particularly Black\/African American and Hispanic\/Latino, post even more dismal STEM percentages.<\/p>\n

To help dispel any lingering myths and encourage all students to consider a STEM career path, Martin and her cohort, Francoise Morison, are visiting several schools this academic year, sharing their stories and their science with Rhode Island youngsters.<\/p>\n

Both are grad fellows with Rhode Island NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). They are pursuing their doctorate degrees \u2014 Martin, in biology, and Morison, in oceanography \u2014 at the University of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not the kind of scientist who wears a lab coat and works in a lab,\u201d Martin told the group. \u201cI\u2019m usually out in the field, and I\u2019m using science to solve problems. Sometimes I\u2019m working in greenhouses or working at the beach, or in the salt marshes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raised in Rhode Island, Martin is investigating ways in which human-induced stressors such as climate change impact salt marshes and cause the emission of greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n

Morison, who grew up in France, focuses her research efforts on the microscopic marine organisms known as plankton, working to understand the relationships within the food web\u00a0and how the dynamics are affected by climate change.<\/p>\n

Importance of outreach<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"Woonsocket.outreach\"
Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR outreach coordinator Tim Pelletier describes the many varied career opportunities in the STEM fields.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Woonsocket students attended the Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR outreach event through the Educational Talent Search (ETS) and College Crusade<\/a>, both programs that serve youth from low-income families in the state\u2019s urban centers.<\/p>\n

ETS provides monthly, in-school sessions with varying themes that range from study skills to time management, decision making, test taking, school course selection, college application preparation, financial aid and career information.<\/p>\n

A member of a family of TRIO<\/a> programs funded by the US Dept. of Education, ETS also takes participants on educational trips to colleges or universities.<\/p>\n

The College Crusade of Rhode Island works to reduce high school dropout rates and increase educational and career success for low-income urban youth. Each year, the program serves about 3,500 Crusaders from Rhode Island\u2019s most economically disadvantaged families in\u00a0Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls,\u00a0Woonsocket, and Cranston.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe partnership with EPSCoR is vital to our organizational and legislative goals, and community outreach,\u201d said April Brown, ETS counselor.\u00a0 \u201cThe feedback from students is always positive and constructive, particularly when we travel to the university campuses. \u00a0This experience is often the first time these young people can wrap their minds around the possibility of attending a post secondary institution.<\/p>\n

Tim Pelletier, EPSCoR outreach coordinator, said the classroom visits were part of an ongoing effort to broaden the STEM pipeline in Rhode Island and increase the number and diversity of students pursuing degrees and careers in the STEM fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to introduce students to opportunities in marine biology as well as in other areas they may not know about,\u201d he said. \u201cWe show kids that there are really cool things to do in the sciences and that there is a place for them, whether it\u2019s designing a remote operated vehicle, being thrown off the side of ship to explore the ocean floor or doing research in a lab.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why science?<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"FrancoiseMorison\"
Francoise Morison talks to students about the important role science plays in every day life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Explaining the key role science plays in society, Morison told the students: \u201cWe need science to help us understand the world around us, because these natural resources are important to our well being. We need to manage our resources in order to make sound decisions, so it\u2019s important understand the science.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Martin, science did not immediately present itself as a viable career path, although she was drawn to science at an early age. She talked about growing up in Rhode Island, and not having anyone in her life involved in the field. She didn\u2019t know any scientists. Worse yet, she said, math always posed a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut,\u201d she said, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a math whiz. You just need to know the basics. So try and accept that math is very important and work your hardest. Math is going to help you in every area of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contrary to preconceived notions, Martin added, research is not a solitary pursuit: \u201cScience is a social activity. The stereotype of a nerdy scientist hiding in a lab is not true. Science has allowed me to travel and see places I never would have gotten the opportunity to go to. It\u2019s a great career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morison, too, shared her joy of going to the varied and unique locations science has taken her, including work on the research vessel, the Meteor, which belongs to the University of Hamburg.<\/p>\n

Even if science is not their chosen path, Pelletier emphasized to the students the importance of gaining greater awareness about how their daily actions impact food and water sources: \u201cThe more knowledge you have, the more affect you have on policies and decisions. Even if you don\u2019t choose a STEM career, your community and state will be better off.\u201d<\/p>\n

An opportunity for growth<\/b><\/h3>\n

Taking a break from academics and research, both Martin and Morison said they enjoyed the opportunity to spark interest in the next generation of scientists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe outreach experiences have been very fulfilling,\u201d Martin said.\u00a0\u201cIt’s a very positive experience for me to reach out to students here in Rhode Island, my home state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her strong interest in science from an early age, Martin said she had only a vague idea of how the science career path worked.\u00a0 For her, she said, the outreach offered a chance to clarify that process for those students interested in science as well as inspire others who may not yet see the importance of science in their day-to-day life.<\/p>\n

Morison agreed: \u201cIt is important to reach out to the kids, to sensitize them to the importance of the natural environment to our well being.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also emphasized how important it is for people \u2014 not just scientists \u2014 to understand how nature works so that they can make informed decisions regarding the management of natural resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I get out of sharing my research is experience with explaining complicated concepts in ordinary terms, and when I try to teach science, it helps me reinforce my own understanding and identify gaps in my knowledge,\u201d Morison said.<\/p>\n

Stories and photos by Amy Dunkle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grad students share their science journey Rose Martin recently stood before a group of about 45 Woonsocket middle school students, looking nothing like the stereotypical scientist. She is, after all, a woman. Although women comprise nearly half the country\u2019s workforce,\u00a0only 26 percent work in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. And, gender is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4866\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}