Program helps students see career paths in the sciences

December 6, 2019

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists presented their work at the American Geophysical Union’s fall meeting in San Francisco this week. This article is part of a series highlighting UAF research from the world’s largest Earth and space science meeting.

Small groups of community college students from southern California have traveled 2,500 miles northward during the past four summers to explore whether science careers might be right for them.

The students spend 11 days at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. There, they study and learn about climate change in the North and how it influences their own communities.

Katie Spellman, a UAF research assistant professor, shared lessons lessons learned from the effort during the annual American Geophysical Union meeting Dec. 9-13 in San Francisco.

The students attend Santa Ana Community College, located just south of Los Angeles. Spellman said their time in Alaska helps them see how they might pursue careers in science, even when most scientists don’t look or talk like them.

The program began when people from SACC and UAF Admissions Office approached Spellman, who works at the UAF International Arctic Research Center. They asked if scientists could work with first-generation community college students interested in studying science, technology, engineering or math at a four-year college.

Spellman and her team designed a full research experience for science, technology, engineering and math students. With funding from NASA, the program draws on both the agency’s research and protocols used in the ongoing Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment program. So, at UAF, the title became Arctic and Earth SIGNs (STEM Integrating GLOBE and NASA). At SACC, it’s called the Summer Research Intensive.

The students work directly with scientists on research teams. They communicate science, do field work and analyze data. They all present their work at professional science meetings. Spellman, who grew up in Alaska, wants to catalyze science at UAF to empower youths and help them develop science workforce skills needed to study the rapidly changing climate.