'Transformative' Mentoring Program Puts Students on Path to STEM Careers

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NWACC graduates Silver Babb and Brandon Prado.

The community college faculty members who encouraged undergraduates Silver Babb and Brandon Prado to apply for a hands-on research program at the U of A knew it had the potential to be transformative.

The National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience and Mentoring Program supports students' immersion in laboratory-based research and pairs them with university students and faculty mentors who show them they're not only capable of doing research, but also have the potential to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called STEM fields.

Students entering the program often have a nontraditional path, so science and laboratories can be intimidating, said Tom McKean, a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Engineering who mentors students in the program.

"They don't think it's accessible to them. In reality, they're just as capable, especially if they are connected to the right opportunities," McKean said.

Second Efforts

Tom McKean

LaShall Bates

Gary Bates

Ranil Wickramasinghe

Prado's first stab at college as a first-generation student wasn't going well when a car accident during his second semester forced him to drop out. He returned home to Huntsville and went to work at a $7-an-hour job cleaning out buckets at the Butterball processing plant where his parents had once worked.

He worked three or four months without a break, banking money to return to school. At NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, Prado was taking classes from science professors LaShall and Gary Bates, whom he knew from a high school program. They encouraged him to apply for the Research Experience and Mentoring Program, typically known by its acronym REM.

"They told me about it, and I thought, I really like science, but I'm not smart enough," he said.

Babb also had hesitations. For one, she was working full time while going to school. But the NSF program requires that the students receive a stipend so the program is feasible for those it seeks to reach. The undergraduate college students earn $6,000 for the 10-week program, making it possible for them to focus on laboratory work instead of trying to juggle a summer job as well.

After the summer immersion is over, the undergraduates continue to meet as a cohort and with their mentor for the following academic year.

Accepted Into the Program

Babb and Prado were accepted into the program, which welcomed seven participants in summer 2022. They were assigned university student research partners to work in U of A Distinguished Professor Ranil Wickramasinghe's Membrane Science, Engineering & Technology Center, known as MAST. Wickramasinghe believes in the REM program as a pipeline to bring people of diverse experience, backgrounds and philosophy into science.

"The aim is to try to encourage these students and make sure they're successful when they transfer, to increase the representation of disadvantaged groups," he said.

Babb said she pictured STEM fields being populated with introverts, but that wasn't the case. What she and Prado found instead were successful people at different stages of their careers excited to share their experiences, knowledge and techniques.

"There's a lot of things that you'll learn and only a fraction of it is what you expected to learn," Babb said. "There's so much more that goes into the program than just sitting in a lab all day. One thing that's struck me most was people's open-mindedness."

Seeing Success Breeds Success

Likewise, the program helped Prado see people succeeding at science and making their living at it. Immersing himself in learning also made an impact.

"It was the first time I could put my full attention on science. I was getting paid to learn and work with these interesting tools," he said. "Everyone has so much knowledge, and they're all so supportive. At this point, I see that if they can do it, I can do it. It's definitely changed my trajectory."

Prado, the student who thought he wasn't smart enough to apply, won runner-up for best poster among REM undergraduates at the Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM in Washington, D.C., which the program paid for him and other REM students to attend.

Both Babb and Prado graduated with associate degrees from NWACC in May. Babb took a job as a lab technician at NWACC, while Prado is taking a semester off to consider options, all of them including a future in STEM.

The Bates, who are involved in multiple programs to help interest students in STEM fields, are thrilled with the students' success.

"A lot of our students are coming from disadvantaged backgrounds," LaShall Bates said. "These are opportunities that are hard won. It's a big deal with them. They're seeing and developing their future goals and careers in STEM."

Added Gary Bates, "It's a life-changing effect, for sure. We have students who sometimes have stubbed their toe. They're in a career change or trying to restart. This type of program gives them an opportunity to really get a good foundation in science and get that second wind."