Special Session 5 Student Diversity: Trail Blazers in Transforming the Culture of Ecology

Abstract

Reflections on diversity usually begin at the level of “How do I recruit more minorities into my program?” This quickly turns into a discussion of the mechanics of outreach where students are faceless digits to be tracked to measure program success, essentially begging the question, “Why do we want more minorities in the first place?” Is program success and the advancement of science what we are concerned with, or is student success more important? At Special Session No. 5 during the 2008 ESA Annual Meeting, ESA's SEEDS program staff members Teresa Mourad and Melissa Armstrong, mentors Alan Berkowitz and Claudia Lewis, and SEEDS alumni Amber Finlay, Jorge Ramos, and Raynelle Rino shared their views and experiences of the role of leaders in the field and opportunities available to young minority students in ecology. The Special Session highlighted the importance of leaders in the field who have stepped beyond the boundaries of convention to embrace diversity, both in terms of designing mentoring programs for minority students and in terms of the intellectual expansion of what “ecology” means. The presentations invited and challenged session participants to think critically about their motivations for their interest in minorities, to go beyond looking at recruitment issues in terms of numbers, and particularly, to reflect on how programs can be sensitive to the background, the aspirations, and challenges of our minority students. The following are vignettes that shed light on these issues. Our motivations for diversifying the field of ecology are, not surprisingly, diverse. They include a deep conviction that the joys and opportunities of ecological understanding and careers, and the applications of ecological knowledge to human concerns, must be available to the entire human family and not restricted to subgroups. They also include a reciprocal pair of hypotheses that holds that diversity begets diversity; that is, (1) that a more diverse community of ecologists (and people engaged in ecological thought and application) will produce a more diverse ecological science (and, thereby, a better science), and (2) that a more diverse science (in terms of the topics and approaches included) will produce a more diverse community of people engaged in it. While strong evidence for these hypotheses may be scant, corollaries from them appear in the rationales for many of our major initiatives to improve and strengthen ecology. From these notions, we can easily identify several roles that leaders in the field can play in fostering diversity writ large. Through our influential organizations—professional societies, funding agencies, national initiatives—leaders shape the scientific landscape of the field. Besides programs aimed directly at recruiting and retaining more diverse groups into ecology, such as the NSF Alliances for Minority Participation (AMP), Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), Undergraduate Research Mentoring (URM), and graduate training programs (IGERT, GK–12), recent national initiatives aimed at the science as a whole also have championed diversity. Thus, both NEON and the decadal plan for the LTER network highlight needs and opportunities on each “side” of the reciprocal hypotheses. That is, the leading scientists who gave shape to these projects recognized the need for broadening the scope of the science we call “ecology” to include more social sciences, more application, more attention to humans as part of ecosystems; and the need to make explicit efforts to engage a broader sweep of society in the science at every level. The increased emphasis on broader impacts in the NSF proposal review process, a change brought about by leading scientists and not just government bureaucrats, has had a similarly subtle but pervasive influence on implementing facets of the reciprocal diversification we are interested in promoting. A similar suite of changes is taking place within many institutions where ecologists work, recruit, and train future generations of scientists, and apply their knowledge to societal problems. The leaders of these institutions, universities, the research branches of government agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, can play a tremendously important role in blazing a trail for diversity. Their efforts include broadened definitions of scholarship and excellence to represent a diversity of types of contributions, creative ways of supporting interdisciplinary work and community engagement, and cultural changes to the way departments and other units welcome, respect, and support people with diverse backgrounds, styles, and perspectives. Finally, the intellectual leaders of the field play an essential role in helping to broaden the scientific community's notion of what counts as good ecology. Getting our discipline to embrace urban ecology, environmental justice ecology, community-based citizen science and participatory research in ecology, all are trails being blazed by a combination of newly recruited ecologists and established ecologists with new ideas and approaches. Indeed, it might be that the lion's share of this burden belongs to ecologists moving from the mainstream to the new, rather than expecting newcomers to the field to tackle the multiple frontiers faced in both the personal/social and intellectual arenas. Established ecologists also play invaluable roles as mentors, sponsors, and advocates for young recruits of every sort, an activity that has paid handsome dividends for everyone involved, as clearly demonstrated in the SEEDS program. My first experience with SEEDS was in 2004, when I was given the opportunity to go to Calgary, Canada and the Portland, Oregon ESA conference. Here is where I grew close to many students from around the nation, sharing the same drive and understanding of being a minority in the sciences. Through this developed solidarity I found my family; I started to build my community. As I moved along my path I craved these connections and experiences with a common cohort of students. Being approached by many more challenges of being a minority in the coming years, I began to see the real discrepancies in the career path and gained insight to the cause of diversifying the field. During one particular meeting in San Jose I came to realize that the SEEDS' support was limited to undergraduates. Here is where I, along with Amber Finley, bore the idea of an Alumni Committee to enhance support and network for students on their path to career completion. Now in the midst of developing this component to the program along with other students, I am nurturing my voice as an underrepresented ecologist with the support and guidance of the SEEDS staff. If it hadn't been for the encouragement and follow-through of these ideas with the staff, there would be no relevance in giving back to this program, and overall, the career. The empowerment available to SEEDS students and members is what makes their efforts functional and successful. SEEDS students participate in SEEDS and are equally encouraged to BE the program. Society now faces global challenges that require the input of scientists, specifically of ecological scientists. The Ecological Society of America (ESA), has been an exceptional model of a scientific society because it has built a community of ecological scientists that, besides contributing to scientific knowledge, also collaborates with policy makers, international, regional, and local community leaders, and believes that a diverse scientific society is a stronger society by promoting the SEEDS program. SEEDS students graduate from the program thinking globally and interested in graduate programs and mentors that will allow them to carry out cutting edge research with applications in the community. Unfortunately, most graduate training programs do not function like ESA. Educational institutions, producers of the future leaders in science, struggle to recruit a diverse pool of applicants into their ecological science graduate programs. Because numerous minority students are passionate about giving back to their native communities, they almost always have on their resume/CV a powerful community service component that leads them to gain experience as scientists and as leaders outside the classroom. Most graduate programs in the ecological sciences promote themselves as only research oriented, and have no community service component advertised with it. Similarly, professors who might potentially serve as graduate school mentors are not involved in community service activities, and in some cases, even discourage the student from participating in community service activities. It is extremely rare to find an ecology professor producing cutting-edge research who is significantly involved in outreach activities in the local community. Minority students, for example SEEDS students, might search for schools and mentors, based not just on research opportunities, but also on support for community service. This is where minorities students will be motivated to apply, pursue their scientific goals, while still be involved in some aspect of community service. Ultimately, these programs will continue to nurture and graduate top-notch scientists and community leaders who will then join ESA, produce relevant science, communicate it, and apply it to our world in need. I believe that in order to understand how outreach programs such as SEEDS can benefit students, you have to understand where the students are coming from. I attended most of my primary and secondary education in the public school system of California, and also received some of my education in a tribal school. Critical thinking is important because in order to be successful in STEM disciplines, such as ecology, your mind has to be trained to think in new and inventive ways. You have to be able to see the whole picture and you have to be able to analyze data, which often times feel abstract at best. Sadly, in most tribal schools, regardless if they are public or BIA, students are highly underestimated, and opportunities for advanced math and science classes are limited. The students that do decide to leave the reservation to attend college face yet more challenges because they enter an environment that is often foreign and unsympathetic to them. Often times the only support on campus, where you are suddenly the minority, is to join clubs/organizations that support and foster your growth as a student. Programs such as SEEDS are unique in that it offers minority students the opportunity to sample a variety of ecology options, without making us feel like we have to commit to the field of ecology, that we have to in some way make a promise to give back, and it is understood that we are accepted as equals and not quotas. This has created a rather unique situation, because now the students have to make the choice for themselves, they choose to pursue a degree in an ecology or STEM-related field, they choose to give back to the organization, and they feel accepted for their individual contributions as a scholar. SEEDS is also unique in the relationships that are fostered not only through the mentoring program, but also among the students. Many of the students feel a quick bond due to the simple fact that they all in some way have shared many of the same experiences, regardless of ethnic background. Many find much deeper connections because of the world view that most minorities share. For the most part that world view is vastly distinct from the “western” scientific world view. Students are appreciated for their contribution to this type of thinking, and are rewarded for making a significant contribution through discussions and project ideas. The success of SEEDS can also be attributed to its staff, whose encouragement is the binding factor that creates a level of success unlike many other programs that seek to attain the same goals. Recruitment is not the primary issue, it is persistence (retention). Minority students seek and need support structures. Minority student leaders encouraged by a supportive network emerge to become leaders in the community. Go to the schools where the diversity is, such as HBCUs. Look at what your definition of success is when recruiting: is it more producing Ph.Ds or something broader? Think about smaller institutions when recruiting. They simply aren't getting the information. Support students to travel to your institution to become familiar with the school. Funds can be the limiting factor for students. Are we ready to go beyond diversity statistics? Do we truly believe that differences in perspectives, worldviews and abilities are the avenue to successful problem solving in ecology? Are we ready to embrace the change in thinking and approach that come with diversifying the field? The student presentations emphasized that the availability of a support network during their undergraduate years was essential to their success. Having been raised in environments and communities where minority students have been marginalized and under-resourced, strong support makes it possible for students to view themselves as part of the scientific community and pursue their careers in research. Maintaining adequate resources to provide culturally sensitive mentoring as well as that “space” and experience where minority students feel accepted is critical for retention. Part of the reason that SEEDS has been successful has been its ability to create safe spaces for students to participate in the community of ecologists. This has been done through bringing promising students through more than one SEEDS opportunity, through special events such as the SEEDS Leadership Meeting and through the Campus Ecology Chapter network. These program activities give vital support for isolated minority students as they strive to perform and succeed. A support network lends itself to the development of an emerging leadership where minority students not only feel they belong, but are encouraged to take on leadership roles. SEEDS intentionally fostered this capacity through its annual Leadership meetings (held since 2006) and through the Campus Chapters. These activities have encouraged SEEDS students to reflect and publish on the importance of ecology and to become more involved in the wider community, such as through organizing local ecology field trips or projects with elementary school children. It was only a matter of time that SEEDS leaders, upon graduation, now call for a new role for themselves as SEEDS alumni. Although still in its infancy, the role of the Alumni Committee within SEEDS is viewed as an important factor for the program's long-term success. The alumni are obvious role models for new undergraduate students. They can also support the ever-growing chapter network and be highly effectively at representing SEEDS at minority-serving events. Coming from diverse viewpoints with interests ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to land use change, minority students are inspired by pushing the boundaries of ecology. They recognize the importance of interdisciplinary study through their questions and their focus on anthropogenic influences on the ecosystems. Many minority students resonate with the need to bring scientific knowledge to the wider community. They are eager to give of their energy and talents. Their purpose for scientific endeavor becomes clearer, and service becomes a priority with a sense of empowerment and “ownership” in the field of ecology. Are institutions ready to reward outreach in science? Many agencies and institutions seek to increase diversity of students in their science programs. While recruitment strategies such as the availability of scholarships are enormously important, we are challenged to go beyond this if we want a culturally diverse field. Many minority students continue to struggle with isolation after successful admission into the sciences. The ability to establish or be connected to a solid support structure such as SEEDS is critical for the success of many minority students to persist in ecology and other sciences. Over time, as efforts bear fruit, a young generation of diverse leaders is emerging and a keen sense of public outreach is an integral part of their commitment to the scientific enterprise. How outreach is valued in our institutions will thus play a crucial role in determining the retention of many minority students on the ecological career pathway. What is encouraging is to find that many agencies and institutions have already put into place key initiatives that create an inclusive environment and have creatively expanded the frontiers of ecology. In doing so, they have blazed the trail for a new generation of ecologists. Our task is to see to it that these gains continue to build and grow. The ways in which synergy can be developed and the means to build adequate resources for these programs are crucial to ensure that more minority students have the opportunity to flourish in the ecological sciences. Today's successful minority students and scientists, institutions and agencies with key inclusion initiatives, are the courageous pioneers and trailblazers for those that come after. With their stories, we can draw upon the components of diversity, and from these stories, begin to change the culture of science for a stronger, more dynamic science and society.