Igniting Passion for Scientific Discovery
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Promotes Diversity in STEM Fields
UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography is committed to increasing diversity in earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences. One of their key programs is the Jane Teranes Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (JT-SURF), a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) funded by the National Science Foundation.
The JT-SURF program offers a prestigious summer fellowship to promising undergraduates early in their college careers, nurturing their research skills in STEM fields related to earth sciences. This year, the program has adapted to challenges such as COVID-19, pivoting to virtual internships, allowing students across the U.S. to conduct research remotely.
Participants have worked on projects such as coral reef ecology using advanced tools like photogrammetry in the Sandin Lab, which also leads initiatives like the 100 Island Challenge to document reef habitats. This approach enriches the research experience and helps build strong ties for students from diverse backgrounds to continue in graduate studies and scientific careers, often linking their work to their communities.
Elvira Hernandez Lopez, a UC San Diego undergraduate student and SURF participant, expresses her hope to become a future Scripps graduate student. She wrote a blog about her time at sea, expressing her love for the experience. Jesse Andrews, a SURF student from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., had a 10-day experience aboard Scripps research vessel Melville during the San Diego Coastal Expedition. He expresses gratitude for his first research experience at sea, living and working alongside Scripps graduate student mentors who taught him real-world lessons from safety at sea to deploying advanced ocean instruments and analyzing freshly collected samples in the lab.
The Focus on the Future program introduces underrepresented high school students and teachers from Compton and San Diego to Scripps science during a three-week intensive residential learning experience. Dozens of undergraduate interns from across the nation participate in Scripps labs each summer for hands-on research experience. The Scripps Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) is a 10-week summer program that provides hands-on laboratory and field experience in earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences.
Scripps Oceanography Director Tony Haymet emphasizes the importance of diversity for the institution. He believes that the variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews that arise from differences of culture and circumstance strengthens the institution and its mission. The SURF program aims to recruit individuals from institutions with limited undergraduate research opportunities.
The SURF program stands out as a central initiative with an explicit goal to encourage and support diverse student participation in oceanographic and earth sciences research. The 2010 report by the National Academies titled Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation found that while African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics comprise 28.5 percent of the U.S. population, they represent only 9.1 percent of college-educated Americans in the science and engineering workforce. The SURF program is designed to increase the diversity of students prepared to pursue earth and ocean science career pathways.
The Focus on the Future program has introduced more than 50 minority students to the academic research environment, and the SURF program has engaged hundreds of underrepresented minority students in exciting earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences research at Scripps. These initiatives are crucial steps towards a more diverse and inclusive scientific community.
Science plays a significant role in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's education-and-self-development initiatives, particularly in the realm of climate science and earth sciences. The Scripps Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, for instance, fosters personal-growth and learning by offering undergraduates research opportunities in these fields, endeavoring to increase diversity and encourage participation from underrepresented groups, contributing to the overall goal of a more inclusive and diverse scientific community.
