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PHOTO: COURTESY OF LSAMPinnovation and economic development at University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
“Students can fully appreciate that global connectivity sooner through an
international research experience where they interact with people who have
different mindsets.”
These research experiences also mean that students on their way to
becoming Ph.D. holders get hands-on experience, meet the people behind
specific concepts, experience culture in different parts of the world, and develop
a professional relationship with researchers who will be in their networks for
years to come.
“It’s a great opportunity to land in a safe environment to conduct research
and to explore their host country,” says Benjamin Flores, advisory board member
and electrical engineer at the University of Texas at El Paso. He says the exposure
to different cultures, academic systems, and ways of doing science helps spur
students’ development and reinforces their desire to pursue research careers.It’s essential for students from underrepresented groups in STEM to see
themselves as international, global researchers if they want to be competitive
in today’s scientific marketplace, says Bill McHenry, an LSAMP-NICE advisory
board member and organic chemist at Jackson State University in Jackson,
Mississippi. “Where else would you find a program that supports the
participation of Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and African Americans
to do an international research endeavor? We are opening doors that were
closed to these groups of students for too long.”
Students should absorb the “think globally, act locally” mantra, because
every modern scientific puzzle requires international collaboration among
diverse scholars.
“Problems and challenges today, such as COVID-19 and climate change,
are not just local; they reverberate around the globe,” says Mary Benjamin,
LSAMP-NICE advisory board member and vice chancellor emeritus of research,Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP), currently
represented by 57 member alliances across the United States, was
authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1991. Its mission is to help diversify
the nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
workforce (including academia) by funding institutions of higher learning
to implement evidence-based strategies for recruiting and retaining
students historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines, and imbuing
them with academic integration, social integration, and professionalism.In 2018 the Louis Stokes Regional National Science Foundation (NSF)
International Center of Excellence (LSAMP-NICE) received an NSF award—
as one of six NSF regional centers to do so—to broaden underrepresented
students’ participation in international collaborative research through
mentorship, research experience, internships, conferences, and other
programming opportunities with an aim toward social professionalization.
Funded through the NSF Broadening Participation initiative, it is a
collaboration of four institutions:- Salish Kootenai College, a tribal college in Pablo, Montana (Steve
Dupuis, LSAMP-NICE PI) - Jackson State University, a historically black university in Jackson,
Mississippi (Glake Hill and Martha Mondoa-Tchounwou, co-PIs) - Louisiana State University, a research-intensive (R1) institution in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Zakiya S. Wilson-Kennedy, co-PI) - The University of Texas at El Paso, a Hispanic-serving R1 institution
(Denise Yates, co-PI).
LSAMP-NICE is overseen by an advisory board whose members include:- Dario Bassani (France)
- William McHenry (Jackson State University)
- Mary Benjamin (The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff)
- Benjamin Flores (The University of Texas at El Paso)
- John Goeltz (California State University, Monterey Bay)
LSAMP-NICE students attend a poster competition at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (K AUST) in Saudi Arabia.0408Product.indd 113 3/31/22 8:47 AM