MARY ASHLEY: CIM²AS |
AIXA ALFONSO: L@S GANAS |
MIQUEL GONZALEZ-MELER: HHMI INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE |
JARRAD HAMPTON-MARCELL: ACT-SO HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH PROGRAM |
joint initiatives
MIQUEL GONZALEZ-MELER, GABRIELA NUNEZ-MIR, & JARRAD HAMPTON-MARCELL: COMMUNITY RESEARCH ON CLIMATE AND URBAN SCIENCE (CROCUS)
This project, funded by the DOE, aims at offering solutions to the well documented historical multidimensional environmental injustice for the Chicago region. Inequities result in spatially explicit underinvestment and political under-representation of racial and ethnic minority residents. Disparities lead to adverse outcomes, including severe flooding damage, high incidence of chronic respiratory diseases (e.g., asthma), and large mortality during extreme climate events. The result of these historical disadvantages leads to poor economic development, disinvestment in formal and informal education, and affects resilience of urban communities to the impacts of climate change. CROCUS will be foundational to provide vital information and care to communities to support the design of sustainable solutions. We along with organizations such as Blacks in Green, Greater Chatham Initiative and the Puerto Rican Agenda are leading a holistic educational program around this theme to foster economic development and providing a sustained educational program to youth from k-12 to graduate education. The education and workforce development plan are based on research participation of minoritized students while acquiring skills, competences, and career preparation. Research opportunities are to be embedded within equitable and inclusive frameworks that identify and holistically address the significant barriers to student access and success created by systemic factors present at all levels of society, including the traditions and structures of the scientific community. The project will also create curricula at MSI colleges and universities with DEIJ frameworks aimed at preparing students for the new societal and scientific needs in climate change related careers. |
MIQUEL GONZALEZ-MELER & LIZA MOHANTY (OLIVE-HARVERY COLLEGE): UIC4 SCHOLAR
The UIC4-Biology program introduces students from Chicago City Colleges (CCC) to research, academics, leadership, and strategies for success at a research-intensive institution with an explicit emphasis in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. A UIC4 scholar is a CCC enrolled student who will become a UIC student for the summer program. The program provides application fee and tuition waiver for the summer 2 session of 2022, a research stipend for 8 weeks, access to parking and parking vouchers, access to library resources and any other benefits as a UIC student, and placement in a active research lab. The obligations of UIC4 interns include committing 35-40 hours a week to research and programmatic activities, registering for BIOS 199 under Dr Miquel Gonzalez-Meler, the UIC director of the program. attend the 1.5-2-hour weekly session on leadership, mentoring, academic success, and other activities to address diversity barriers in STEM and participate and in the Summer Biology Department Retreat and present individually or as groups the research activities of your internship. Alumni from this program have already been accepted to research based graduate programs. |