The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is participating in an alliance of six regional institutions in Nebraska and Kansas that have been awarded a five-year, $3.5 million National Science Foundation Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation grant.
LSAMP is an alliance-based program that provides funding to implement comprehensive, evidence-based, innovative and sustained strategies to help support underrepresented students successfully complete undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and continue on to earn advanced degrees in STEM disciplines or join STEM workforce careers. The program has supported more than 650,000 undergraduate students in STEM since its inception.
Originally established by the U.S. Congress as the Alliances for Minority Participation in 1991, the initiative was later renamed in honor of Louis Stokes, the first African American elected to Congress in the state of Ohio. Throughout his career as a member of Congress, Stokes was a champion of civil rights, social and economic justice and equality for all.
The Nebraska Kansas alliance has created the ASTER program — Aligning STEM Trainees for Enterprising Research — to fund undergraduate research experiences with faculty mentors, as well as STEM-focused summer internships in a variety of areas including chemistry, neuroscience, genetics, combinatorics, fluid mechanics, particle physics and construction materials. ASTER, derived from the Latin word for star, was inspired by both states' flowers; the Nebraska goldenrod and Kansas sunflower are members of the Asteraceae plant family.
"The LSAMP grant will provide the ASTER program with resources that will help underrepresented minority students interested in pursuing opportunities in STEM disciplines transfer from two-year to four-year institutions, pursue graduate education and become impactful members of the STEM workforce," said Amy Goodburn, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Undergraduate Education. “Any undergraduate pursuing a STEM major and interested in contributing to the ASTER program goals can apply. “
The ASTER program will host monthly professional development sessions, offer peer- and faculty-mentored research opportunities, identify and pair students with summer STEM internship experiences, and host an annual symposium, transfer camps and faculty mentorship workshops. At UNL, the program will be facilitated through the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
While there are other LSAMP alliances within the Great Plains region, this is the first for UNL and its partners, which are Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Nebraska and the following Kansas institutions: the University of Kansas, Pittsburg State University, Johnson County Community College, and Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Undergraduate STEM majors with an interest in participating in the LSAMP alliance can apply online to the ASTER program. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until all available positions are filled. Faculty can express their interest in being matched with students by contacting Courtney Santos, Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, at courtney.santos@unl.edu.
