Targeted Infusion Project: Promoting Environmental Education in Urban Social-Ecological Resilience

Howard University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Targeted Infusion Projects supports the development, implementation, and study of evidence-based innovative models and approaches for improving the preparation and success of HBCU undergraduate students so that they may pursue STEM graduate programs and/or careers. The project at Howard University (HU) seeks to support the academic enhancement of the new Environmental Studies/Science (ES/S) curriculum by developing the Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies major through innovation in pedagogy. The Environmental Studies program at HU is an interdisciplinary major designed to provide students with a strong academic core program in Environmental Sciences/Studies (ES/S) courses across disciplines, in addition to engaging students in practical learning experiences with local and global communities. This project will emphasize urban social-ecological (USE) resilience, which will be realized through co-curricular activities in curriculum courses. The major project activity is to provide practical learning experiences for undergraduate majors in the form of environmental education, outreach, and research opportunities. The program will advance the community outreach component through collaboration with local magnet high schools and external partnerships with local stakeholders. This project has the potential to be a model for increasing the number of minority students that are highly prepared academically to pursue STEM degree programs and ES/S careers while fulfilling HU's commitment to service learning. The goals of the proposed activities are to 1) increase enrollment in the ES/S major by 50% per year over the next three years of the program's offering from the fall 2016 enrollment baseline, and retain students through the proposed program, 2) enhance students' research knowledge of and skills in integrated ecological and social systems as well as provide them with transferable skills outside of the core academic curriculum, including how to conduct independent research and communicate research findings, and 3) implement and sustain a rigorous, high quality, social justice-oriented interdisciplinary ES/S curriculum. The long term goal of the project is to increase student recruitment in STEM fields by 1) increasing students' interest, learning, and entrance in the field of Environmental Sciences and Studies, 2) increasing the number of persons of color in environmental leadership, and 3) sustaining external partnerships through the integrated research model and continued student and faculty participation. The proposed research model will establish core research and community partnerships that will be sustained beyond the duration of the project and serve as a basis for future inquiry-based teaching or independent research projects.