Symposium: Increasing Awareness of Plant Science Opportunities among Students from Underrepresented Groups

A changing world presents challenges that will be addressed specifically by plant scientists. To meet demands presented by climate change, a growing human population and diminishing non-renewable resources, the U.S. will need a diverse work force focused on increasing our plant specific knowledge base and its applications through basic and applied research in plant sciences and related fields.

However, the number of Ph.D. degrees awarded in the plant sciences have been stagnant for the last two decades and the field lacks participation from members of marginalized groups. This problem is compounded by low awareness of the plant sciences among students interested in pursuing advanced degrees. As a first step in tackling this challenge, a series of plant science-focused scientific sessions and career development workshops will be developed that target members of underrepresented groups attending the annual meeting for the Society for the Advancement of Chicano/Hispanic and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

These activities will highlight cutting edge plant science and present students with an array of career opportunities to inform and recruit the next generation of plant scientists.

Plant Sciences represent a large sector of the public and private research portfolios and is an area that is expected to grow and provide important career opportunities in the next decades. The goal of this project is to increase the visibility of the plant sciences at SACNAS, a professional society that serves groups underrepresented in STEM fields, by creating a new community space for plant scientists of diverse backgrounds where they can be supported and mentored to achieve success in their careers.

It is the hope that these efforts will also increase participation of industry and diverse groups from plant science related professional societies such as the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) and the Botanical Society of America (BSA).

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.