John Barthell
$2,999,753
Zakiya S Wilson-Kennedy
Jeremy M Brown
Morgan Kelly
Nicholas A Mason
Louisiana State University
Louisiana
Biological Sciences (BIO)
Racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, armed service veterans, and first-generation college graduates are critically underrepresented in STEM disciplines. To build a strong multicultural and diverse scientific research workforce, there is an acute need to design effective interventions via the development of training pathways that cultivate the talents of researchers from underrepresented groups at critical training junctures, including the transition from undergraduate student to graduate school or STEM careers. Evolutionary thinking presents an ideal framework through which to diversify the next generation of scientists: it is the primary unifying principle that unites all of the biological sciences, with obvious and immediate implications in our lives. From pandemics to climate change, extinction crises to pioneering medical treatments, modern agricultural practices to forensics, evolutionary perspectives and frameworks are essential to tackling many of the challenges humans face today. Leveraging the broad importance of evolutionary biology and the strength of research in the discipline across Louisiana, the Louisiana Graduate Network in Applied Evolution (LAGNiAppE) will be established to holistically train three cohorts of ten post-baccalaureate scholars interested in advancing their knowledge and research skills in evolutionary biology. Through LAGNiAppE, recent college graduates from underrepresented groups will engage in a year-long research project with a mentor based at LSU and a co-mentor from another Louisiana university. This training program will prepare participants for a diverse array of STEM careers via a combination of research projects that provide training in high-demand technical skills and structured programming that provides professional development opportunities. The LAGNiAppE training program includes a mentoring framework that integrates high-impact educational practices and the theories of community cultural wealth and social cognitive career theory. The training approach includes multiple mentors, all of whom receive evidence-based mentor training; primary research mentors are based at LSU, while co-mentors are faculty members at other Louisiana institutions, including three Minority Serving Institutions and five Primarily Undergraduate Institutions. This integrated network model will strengthen the research community across an underfunded state and establish a strong foundation through which collaborative training and research can continue into the future. In addition to research projects at the forefront of evolutionary biology, the LAGNiAppE program will be interspersed with key professional development opportunities, including a research bootcamp, a program retreat at a state park, career roundtables, and an inclusive excellence seminar series; the scientists leading these activities form an informal mentor network available to LAGNiAppE Scholars. Rigorous program assessment will be conducted by social scientists with expertise in program evaluation, and the resulting data will contribute to the larger body of knowledge regarding effective mentoring and practices. Scientific results from LAGNiAppE projects will shed light on pivotal questions in evolutionary biology, including processes generating and maintaining biological diversity, and the role of evolutionary change in shaping contemporary processes, such as disease outbreaks and responses to climate change. Research results will be disseminated by Scholars and their mentors via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at SACNAS and LAGNiAppE conferences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.