Lucy Okumu, director of KAUST’s international office,
says part of the mission of the university is to foster
exchanges between scientists around the globe. “We
recognize that financial constraints are a big barrier for top
students going forward in research careers,” she says. The
poster competition, she says, builds awareness among
those students that there is an opportunity to study at a
world-class institute like KAUST and receive full financial
support.
These students came away from their travels with a
sharper sense that solving global research challenges,
such as climate change or the need for pandemic
vaccines, requires them to participate as both global
scientists and citizens. “The LSAMP students are just like
sponges,” says Gras. “They are very open-minded and get
everything they can from their stay abroad.”Global currency for changing minds
Going into his fourth year of doctoral studies, Keyes
already has three first-author publications to his credit.
He has been developing new polymerization platforms
to synthesize novel block copolymers that could help in
recycling and reusing mixed plastics for new materials.
But in addition to newfound confidence, while in France,Keyes also found his voice as an advocate for minority
scientists.
As a Black man, Keyes often found himself answering
questions about diversity initiatives such as LSAMP-NICE.
He explained the importance of promoting minority
participation in research by pointing to the larger French
lab group, which was run by five men and one woman, all
white. “If you can’t see yourself in the professors you work
for doing research, then that is a huge problem,” says
Keyes. “It’s disheartening for minorities like me to navigate
science when our voices are not being heard, and leaders
in the field do not mirror the diverse range of us who
aspire to be scientist s.”
Having these conversations is uncomfortable, he says,
but they need to happen: “I was very outspoken—it was
one of the key skills I polished in France. It’s not just
minorities, however, who should learn to initiate these
tough conversations.” Everyone, he says, needs to discuss
issues of systemic racism in academic science.
Similarly, Blevins explains that students attending tribal
colleges in the United States often don’t see themselves
as world-traveling researchers. “Our extended families
are very close-knit,” she says, adding that students rarely
leave home for university studies, much less the country.
But her participation in LSAMP programs broadened
Blevins’ horizons on the impact researchers can make
globally and in their own communities. “We are so
focused with my own tribe’s concerns, but seeing the
problems that farmers face with pollinators or those that
another country has with an invasive species brings it full
circle for me as a researcher,” she says. She recognizes the
challenges of having the Bakken oil field and extraction
infrastructure in the Fort Berthold Reservation’s backyard,
and she knows that the environmental and health impacts
of oil and gas extraction must be addressed—not only
for the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, but also
globally.
“Every country has a global issue that needs solving,”
says Blevins. “Tribal and other underrepresented STEM
students bring a different perspective, and that’s required
when doing research—you want to look at a problem from
as many angles as possible.”
Produced by the Science
“From a
research
perspective,
that summer
was the
first time I
felt like a
scientist.”
— Anthony
Keyes
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY LSAMP