Building Student Pathways to STEM
PEAQS has already impacted underrepresented student recruitment and retention in STEM in only our second year. Utilizing best practices in education and broadening participation, we are providing our students with strong peer and professional networks, highly immersive research and education projects, sustained mentorship, and career-focused training. Two examples are highlighted:
•Two high school students were recruited to work at FLC by Dr. Yiyan Li. Patricia and Kalista Pena worked closely with FLC undergrads and faculty for 4 hours per week in Dr. Jeff Jessing’s lab during the 2019-2020 school year, receiving near-peer and faculty mentoring during their research experience. Both students will be joining the FLC Engineering department in Fall 2020 and continuing their PEAQS research.
•FLC undergraduates James Sumpter and Marcus Williams and NSU undergraduate Thomas Coleman have been involved in PEAQS since its initiation, and are continuing their STEM journeys. Sumpter will be starting graduate school in materials science at UW Madison, while Williams will be starting a post-bac at John’s Hopkins University, continuing to do organ-on-a chip research, similar to his research in PEAQS, and Coleman is an 8th grade science teacher at Windsor Mill Middle School in Baltimore County, MD.
