Attracting minority, school-age students to agricultural careers across Arkansas is the focus of a three-year project funded through a $190,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The multidisciplinary project is sponsored by the U of A System Division of Agriculture and U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Other collaborators include the U of A, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Arkansas Tech University, Arkansas State University, MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences) and community partners Arkansas Lighthouse Charter Schools and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Jacquelyn Mosley, assistant dean of Bumpers College and professor of human development and family sciences in the college's School of Human Environmental Sciences, is the project director. Mosley, who also conducts research and outreach work through the Division of Agriculture's Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, hopes to draw more students into agricultural-related majors and careers.

"Our team includes all the major advisers from their respective college MANRRS programs across Arkansas," Mosley says. "The goal of our project is to expand the already-existing partnership between the U of A and Lighthouse by including partners across the state. We want to break down location barriers for underrepresented rural students, as well as including peers and mentors from all these universities who can provide opportunities for scholarships, financial support, collegiate peer mentors and career exploration of agriculture."

The project aims to support and expand student knowledge of and experience with agricultural sciences in education and extension functions throughout the state by creating and drawing students into JR MANRRS organizations.

The purpose of MANRRS is to promote academic and professional advancement by empowering minorities in agriculture, natural resources and related sciences.

Arkansas Lighthouse Charter Schools, in Jacksonville, is home of the only JR MANRRS chapter in the state. It is made up of 66 percent African-American students, 18 percent white and 8 percent Hispanic/Latino.

Goals include:

• Creating immersive experiential curriculum for 100 underrepresented minorities in grades six-12 per year,
• Mentorship and leadership opportunities in partnership with collegiate MANRRS students and
• Creation of JR MANRRS curriculum and instructional materials as well as an agricultural-STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) inclusion outreach summit to expand reach of the program to partners and stakeholders across the state.

The program will build off the college's continuing collaboration with the Arkansas Lighthouse Summer Enrichment Academy, which is a three-day, three-night immersive experience at the U of A for seventh- to 11th-graders.

The initiative was recently recognized with an Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine.

The grant funding was awared through USDA-NIFA's Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fields program. The purpose of this program is to support research, education/teaching and extension projects that increase participation by women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in STEM. NIFA intends this program to address educational needs within broadly defined areas of food and agricultural sciences.

Bumpers College and the U of A created the state's first Junior MANRRS chapter in 2022, collaborating with Arkansas Lighthouse Charter Schools. The grant creates opportunities to work with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Arkansas Tech University and Arkansas State University to create Junior MANRRS chapters in other areas of the state. 

Co-directors include Wendell Scales, Arkansas Lighthouse Charter Schools; Mike Daniels and Ashlyn Ussery, U of A System Division of Agriculture; Toimekia White and Dameion White, UAPB; Tatum Simms and Justin Killingsworth, Arkansas Tech; Nina Crutchfield, Arkansas State; and Ayanna Bledsoe, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Women and Minorities in STEM Program, award No. 2024-38503-43491.

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About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $3 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.