色吧亚洲

Undergrad students from minority-serving institutions get hands-on research experience and mentoring from faculty and grad students

Eight students from minority-serving institutions got two months of hands-on research experience with faculty and graduate students at the University of Colorado 色吧亚洲 this summer, thanks to a (REU) program at the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC).

Julie K. Lundquist, associate professor in ATOC and fellow in CU 色吧亚洲鈥檚 Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, said the experience, which ran from May 26 through July 29, aimed to create 鈥渁 meaningful, supportive, and inclusive research community鈥� where students learn what it means to be a scientist by conducting research in atmospheric, oceanic and cryospheric science. 听

鈥淭he ATOC REU provides research and educational opportunities for undergraduate students historically excluded from STEM (science, technology, engineering and math),鈥� Lundquist said. 鈥淧rofessional scientists鈥攆aculty and graduate students鈥攕erve as mentors who help students develop crucial skills like computer programming, data analysis and scientific communication so the REU students can envision possible careers as professional scientists."

One of those students, Rebecca Torres, a senior at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley studying environmental science, said she hopes to attend law school or graduate school to become a 鈥渕iddleman between the scientific world and the governmental policy making world.鈥�

She said she enjoyed meeting people from different walks of life. 鈥淚'm from a very closed-off bubble in Texas, but with this program I was able to get close to so many people I would have never gotten the chance to meet back home,鈥� Torres said. 鈥淎nd it was comforting to know that no matter what educational background I come from, a science-related career is possible if I want it.鈥�

Another student, Sarah Womantree, a senior at Metropolitan State University of Denver studying meteorology, said her mentors were helpful and eager to answer her questions. 鈥淭hey helped me at every step of the way in my research. They shed light on topics I didn鈥檛 understand or was curious about, which only fueled my curiosity and interest into more complex topics and research questions.鈥�

Womantree, whose research project explored wind speeds in mountainous areas, said the REU helped her explore career options that she didn鈥檛 think were possible:

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know you could get paid to go to graduate school, and I didn鈥檛 realize how many jobs were available in renewable energy and the private sector of atmospheric science. I learned so much, and it was definitely the highlight of my undergraduate academic career. I can鈥檛 wait to use my new data analysis and visualization skills to help understand weather and climate data in the future.鈥�

ATOC Assistant Professor Sara Sanchez said that in addition to the research projects, the REU includes professional development seminars in applying for graduate school and industry jobs, preparing resumes, and creating LinkedIn pages.听

鈥淲e emphasize providing the students with multiple mentors and in helping them develop an identity as a scientist,鈥� Sanchez said.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) REU program is designed to give undergraduate students intensive research opportunities related to a theme. This summer there were at least three REU programs听at CU 色吧亚洲鈥攊ncluding this one.

This was ATOC鈥檚 second REU program, and the program will continue for at least three more years.

The department鈥檚 Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee decided in the summer of 2020 to create a REU, and ATOC held its first REU in 2021 virtually with 17 students funded by a mix of support from the NSF, NASA, the U.S. Department of Interior and CU 色吧亚洲鈥檚 Graduate School Diversity Recruitment Grant. Lundquist said the success of the first REU helped ATOC 鈥渕ake a compelling case to NSF鈥� for funding for the summers of 2023-25.听

A new NSF grant, awarded this August and worth $525,000, will fund those three summer programs, supporting 12 REU students each summer.听

Lundquist called the ATOC REU 鈥渁 great community effort鈥� that involves nearly the entire ATOC department.

鈥淢ost of our graduate students are involved one way or another in mentoring the REU students, designing or teaching the two-week python bootcamp that opens the program, teaching the REU students how to give presentations or a scientific writeup, leading a social outing, or helping debug code,鈥� Lundquist said.

鈥淔aculty served as mentors or joined panel discussions about working in science. Our staff has been incredible about supporting the students, too. Expanding the scientific community requires all hands on deck.鈥�