On the back of a research vessel, four young women eagerly sift through a net filled with seaweed, seastars, and urchins. With a gasp of excitement, followed by whispering in Spanish, a small octopus is revealed. The young women are collecting specimens for a marine invertebrates class they selected as part of the Multicultural Initiative in Marine Sciences: Undergraduate Participation (MIMSUP) program at Western Washington University’s Shannon Point Marine Center in Anacortes, Washington.
While the oceans teem with diversity, the ocean sciences do not. The National Science Foundation (NSF) continues to recognize African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders as underrepresented in science and engineering. According to NSF surveys, ocean science is among the least popular bachelor degrees. In 2004, underrepresented minorities earned only about .06 percent of earth, atmospheric, and ocean science bachelor’s degrees, up from .03 percent in 1995.
Although the percentage of underrepresented minorities in the ocean sciences remains low, the minority population is increasing dramatically enough that demographers predict that by mid-century, whites will no longer be the majority. As the United States becomes more ethnically diverse, the marine scientists are looking less like the communities they serve. Within the past few decades, minority programs have emerged to address this concern. The multicultural program at Shannon Point is among the top recognized programs.
Since its beginning in 1973, Shannon Point served primarily as a hands-on lecture hall for biology and environmental science faculty from Western Washington University and visiting professors from institutions of higher learning from across Washington. In 1985, Shannon Point hired its first full-time director, Stephen Sulkin. With experience directing at the University of Maryland’s Horn Point Environmental Laboratories, Sulkin saw Shannon Point’s potential to provide undergraduate students with research experience. In 1990, Sulkin proposed the Research Education for Undergraduates (REU) and MIMSUP programs to NSF. While the REU program was modeled after existing undergraduate research programs, Shannon Point’s multicultural program was unique.
"I remember one [NSF] reviewer said that the idea was great, but questioned why wasn't being funded at the University of Washington or Scripps Institute of Oceanography," Sulkin said, "The answer, of course, was that neither of them, or anyone else at that time, had thought of it or were interested in it."
In 1991, both programs received funding. With a desire to promote student diversity, Western agreed to support a director for the multicultural program. A national search was launched, and Western’s Huxley College professor Brian Bingham was hired to direct Shannon Point’s new multicultural program.
"If I had to identify one decision that resulted in the program's success, it would be that we offered the position to Dr. Bingham," Sulkin said, "While I spelled out the basic outlines of the proposed program, Dr. Bingham has made it a reality."
With Bingham directing, the multicultural program has been attempting to diversify the marine science field by offering undergraduate students from the United States and its territories a chance to come to Shannon Point to be part of a six month, expense paid, marine science training program
"If we want to be at the forefront of marine science, we need individuals with different backgrounds that can contribute to the way science is conducted," Bingham said.
Bingham receives 25 to 30 applications and, with a small committee, selects eight. Even with substantial funding, only eight applicants are chosen to ensure everyone receives individual attention.
"We look for students expressing desire and motivation who are in need of a boost," Bingham said.
Each student receives a personal call from Bingham in December with notification of acceptance. In January, students arrive at a dorm hidden amongst a coastal forest at Shannon Point. Shortly after settling in, the multicultural program students listen as experienced marine biologists present research on harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification, and the nutritional requirements of crab larvae. Students choose a research topic and, over the course of three months, help conduct research.
Current multicultural program student Sabelo Duley, who is half African American and attends school at the University of Hawaii, chose to participate in Brooke Love’s research on the development of instrumentation used to measure the effects of ocean acidification.
"I chose to participate in the ocean acidification research because I would get to build an equilibrium tank while learning about an issue that is applicable back home in Hawaii where reefs are being degraded by ocean acidification," Duley said.
After conducting research, the multicultural program students will attend regional and national conferences. These conferences give the students an opportunity to present their work to marine scientists from across the nation. This year’s only female African American in the multicultural program, Jennifer Middleton, received second place for her presentation on marine algal communication at the Pacific Estuarine Research Society meeting in Bellingham.
"I was able to meet one of the first female oceanographers and she’s only in her 30s," Middleton said, "I’m part of the first generation of female African Americans going into marine science."
In addition to conducting and presenting research, the multicultural program students will receive a $3025 work-study allowance to teach second and fourth graders marine science. They will also visit businesses and organizations to learn about possible careers in the marine sciences, and take marine science courses alongside Western students.
\"The hands-on experience at Shannon Point has been incredible," said multicultural program student Rhonda Elliott, "So many doors have been opened."
Elliot is scuba certified and is able to dive for specimens for her research on crab larvae as well as for the marine invertebrates course she is taking.
The opportunities Shannon Point has offered underrepresented minorities have not gone unnoticed. In 2002, Shannon Point received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. This award came with $10,000 from NSF, which was partly used to bring in previous MIMSUP alumni as mentors. NSF has continuously supported the multicultural program, and just this past year gave $980,000 to continue the program into 2013. Continued funding is attributed to the large number of multicultural program students going on to pursue higher degrees. Out of 143 students that have been through the multicultural program, only two have not graduated, and 42 percent of the students who have graduated have gone on to professional or graduate degrees. Most pursue the aquatic or environmental sciences.
"The number one most powerful assessment of the success of the [multicultural] program is what the alumni are doing," Bingham said.
While the multicultural program may be successful at preparing students for the marine sciences, with only 25 to 30 applicants, there is outreach work to do. The program has brought in a large number of Hispanics and individuals of mixed ethnicity, but the multicultural program may only attract one African American and Native American a year.
"Getting students from historically black colleges as well as from universities that offer strong minority programs, but not a marine science program, has been difficult," Bingham said, "We continue to build bridges, but certain areas are hard to tap into."
With only a handful of other multicultural programs in marine science, there is also a concern that there aren’t enough programs to make a huge difference.
"Nothing in the data suggests we are even close to having enough representation in the marine sciences," Bingham said, "The percentage of underrepresented minorities in the general population is increasing much faster than anything we are doing with these multicultural programs. We hope we are helping, but, in reality, we are falling further and further behind."
While the MIMSUP program may have a small impact on diversifying the marine sciences, the impact on its students has been huge. Each year, eight students leave Shannon Point with more confidence and excitement, ready to bring a fresh perspective to the marine sciences.
Gina Trautner studies environmental science. She has been published in The Horizon.
.gif)
