Chipping away at the “Green Ceiling” – Pilot Summer for Chesapeake StREAM Program

The Chesapeake Research Consortium (CRC) and Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) have consistently used their partnership to drive a shared objective to help train and develop the next generation of research scientists, educators and managers. In this regard, there have been ongoing conversations among the CRC Board of Trustees and others about better ways to assist a more diverse group of candidates toward completion of graduate studies within environmentally related sciences; however resources and programming to fill this gap have remained scarce.

According to a study conducted by University of Michigan Professor Dorceta E. Taylor (Green 2.0), people of color comprise 29% of the science and engineering workforce yet do not exceed 16% of the staff in any of the 293 environmental organizations surveyed (non-profit, government agencies and leading grant making foundations) across the country. This 16% limit has been referred to by Dr. Taylor and others as a “green ceiling.” With the help of CRC Director, Dr. William Ball, and members of the CBPs Diversity Workgroup – including Darius Stanton, CRC Environmental Management Staffer for the Diversity Workgroup and Jim Edward, Acting CBP Director/Workgroup Chair – conversations led to the generation of a “concept document” for a program that aims to chip away at the green ceiling and foster an environmental career pipeline for students who have traditionally been uninformed about these types of opportunities.

The draft concept document (available for review here) is titled the “Chesapeake Student Recruitment, Early Advisement, and Mentoring Program” – C-StREAM for short – and is designed to encourage students from traditionally under-represented communities in the fields of natural sciences, engineering and mathematics to pursue environmentally oriented research and/or management careers in the academic, public or private sectors. It is the team’s hope that all regional faculty, agency scientists, foundation leaders, and other NGO leaders – in fact, any active participant within the CBP’s vast partnership — will review the concept document, join the ever-growing “network” of involved individuals and institutions, and provide input and feedback to refine the concept, help us find and welcome new partners, and synergize the effort with other on-going programs (such as various existing programs that provide Research Experiences for Undergraduates), all while growing the base of institutional and financial support for these types of experiences.

Toward this end, the CRC is working closely with NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) to develop longer term funding, even while partnering more immediately with the US EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO) and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) to develop a summer 2018 pilot as a “jump start” to the program.  This coming summer, up to four fully paid student positions for undergraduate and Masters level students of diverse or underrepresented backgrounds have been made available to promising students as entry points to environmental careers. The summer positions (advertised here and elsewhere) will be coupled with follow-up mentoring and training to prepare students for competitive applications toward PhD support in environmentally related programs at CRC member institutions or elsewhere, or to move directly into professional career paths related to environmental policy, natural resource management and/or environmental non-profit leadership. This pilot summer will serve as an opportunity for the CRC and CBP to learn and find ways to strengthen the program.

This summer, one student will be conducting research in collaboration with an environmental scientist at SERC under direct support from the CRC as an additional mentee chosen from SERC’s robust REU applicant pool. (This is a program that we would love to expand to other institutions in future summers, if funding can be developed.)  In addition, two or three interns will be supervised by management professionals at the CBPO under CBP funding. The projects at CBPO will be related to environmental justice, GIS analysis and water quality. Going forward, it is the hope that Chesapeake StREAM researchers and management interns will work with other academic institutions, agencies, and non-government organizations on any of the full range of topics relevant to understanding and managing the Chesapeake Bay watershed and estuary ecosystem, including all of its complex human-natural interactions.  Relevant topics range from anthropology and environmental economics through agricultural engineering and urban planning to all aspects of water resource, watershed, estuarine, and fishery science, engineering, and management.  Students and mentors in fa wide range of programs in socials sciences, natural sciences, computational sciences, mathematics, and engineering are all welcome to the network.  Criterion for involvement are focused principally on relevance to ecosystem understanding and management and, perhaps most importantly, long-term (multiple-year) involvement of faculty and professional mentors at both the students’ “home” (undergraduate or MS) institutions and their “host” (CRC partner) institutions.

It is our hope that this program will assist in the development of a prepared talent pool for the 21^st century workforce, develop, foster and maintain a sustainable network among dedicated mentors, and expand the cadre of new doctoral scholars within environmental science. Also as a commitment to the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement, a program of this undertaking will sustain an institutional commitment to diversity, and help drive the Bay Program’s commitment to their Diversity Outcome.  Those interested in participating in the C-StREAM network are encouraged to contact the authors to learn more and/or to get involved as a mentor, funder, or other kind of supporter and partner.

William P. Ball (ballw [at] chespeake.org)