This page includes a summary of ongoing and past projects related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in science.
FLi Sci
I created FLi Sci as a result of both anger and love: frustrated with the lack of mechanisms to include poor people but optimistic that STEM fields do want to support us.
Check out a video below highlighting FLi Sci
To view working drafts of materials that illustrate the mission and vission of FLi Sci, please refer to the resources below:
FLi Sci Scholars Program
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many educational programs suffered and subsequently shut down. In response to this, 4.0 Schools released a last-minute grant program called the New Normal Fellowship, which awarded me $5,000 to pilot a program in response to the pandemic’s educational disruption.
I pitched a reearch program because I knew that such opportunities are often scarce to individuals that come from marginalized backgrounds — particularly low-income students of color. This problem is certainly exacerbated if one also does not attend a research-intensive insitution, and even harder if resources are finite. That is why, to combat this, the first pilot program through FLi Sci is a virtual research trainee program aimed to support 8 gifted scientists-in-the-making. My goal will be to leverage the next few months to engage students in high school in the “Hidden Curriculum” of STEM and learn more about additional program that should be generated through resources such as FLi Sci.
Resources for URMs in STEM
I worked with various scientist to create a resource guide to support URMs in STEM. The document can be found HERE.
The Opportunity Network (OppNet)
Summer Science Research Program (OppNet SSRP)
As a Career Success Intern, I worked with Stephanie Nudelman to design a research trainee program for pre-college students with scientific aspirations. Originally planning to do a lab placement match program (i.e., helping students seek at research assistantships in labs in NYC), the project shifted to a remote program due to COVID-19. For OppNet, I created curriculum that focused on skills utilized in most research settings such as reading, discussing, and presenting empirical research.
The student’s final projects can be found at the OppNet SSRP website HERE1.
Data, Activiated!
In Summer 2020, and as a Decision Science Graduate Intern, I worked with Katherine Hanson on a virtual course introducing high school students to introductory data science. My primary role was to mentor 8 students as their Data, Activated! Teaching Assistant (D.A.T.A.), providing academic and personal support with their data project and future goals.
New Scientist Collective (NSC) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Projects
While at Brown, I was an active participant of the New Scientist Collective. NSC was a program to recruit and retain students of color pursuing degrees in science by providing professional, academic and social support. I was hired to be a Racial Equitect Coordinator, where I was tasked with spearheading various initiatives in support of their mission. Below are some of my major milestones as an NSC Coordinator:
NSC Mentoring Program
The NSC program was primarily focused on a mentoring program where upperclassmen were matched with students to provide 1:1 mentorship during their first year. However, data (both qualitative and quantitative) indicated that our mentoring program was not successful at retaining students in the program. I hypothesized that this was the result of our matching system: we decided who the mentors were matched to. In an effort to shift power and provide more autonomy to the mentees, I re-designed the matching program by creating a tool that showcased all elgible mentors in the program and designed a system for mentees to self-select their mentors based on their own individual needs and desire. You can find a copy of my presentation HERE and some more resources HERE.
Faculty Lunch Grant Program
Details forthcoming!
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Changes to the program were made after my departure from the team over the summer which is not publicly available. For more details, please contact OppNet directly (anyone on the Career Success team) for more questions about SSRP. ↩