Articles Archives - Page 3 of 3

NSF grant funds program to increase diversity in physics and astronomy

Published: October 1, 2018
Publication: UC Santa Cruz News Center
Author: Tim Stephens

Cal-Bridge program receives $5 million grant for Ph.D. pathways at 24 campuses

UC Santa Cruz is part of a consortium of nine UC and 15 California State University campuses collectively awarded a five-year, $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to dramatically increase diversity in physics and astronomy through the Cal-Bridge program.

Launched four years ago in Southern California, the Cal-Bridge program creates a pathway for students from multiple CSU campuses to Ph.D. programs in physics and astronomy at UC campuses across California. Last year, the program began a small-scale expansion into Northern California, with UC Santa Cruz and San Jose State University leading the effort.

“This new grant allows us to ramp up the program substantially,” said Bruce Schumm, professor of physics at UC Santa Cruz, who leads the the Northern California Cal-Bridge program along with principal investigator Aaron Romanowsky, an astronomer at San Jose State University.

“This program knits together the three branches of the California higher education system by identifying promising physics and astronomy students within the broadly diverse CSU and community college systems and connecting them to a strong mentoring and professional development network,” Schumm said.

Currently, students from underrepresented minority groups represent 30 percent of the U.S. population but less than 4 percent of physics and astronomy Ph.D.s awarded nationwide. The Cal-Bridge program aims to have a national impact on the number of students from underrepresented groups graduating with a physics degree and matriculating to Ph.D. programs in physics or astronomy.

The new grant allows Cal-Bridge to expand from about a dozen scholars per year to as many as 50 statewide. The national average of underrepresented minorities earning a Ph.D. in these fields is about 80 per year. Cal-Bridge is led by principal investigator and program director Alexander Rudolph, a Cal Poly Pomona professor of physics and astronomy.

Cal-Bridge scholars are recruited from the 15 CSU campuses and more than 30 community colleges in the Cal-Bridge network, with the help of local faculty and staff liaisons at each campus. Once selected, Cal-Bridge Scholars receive substantial financial support, intensive mentoring, professional development workshops, and exposure to a wide variety of research opportunities.

“We’re trying to identify students who are ‘diamonds in the rough,’ who show potential but might not stand out by the usual academic indicators,” Schumm said. “The goal is to get these students into graduate school and ultimately to bring more diversity into the ranks of physicists and astronomers in California and nationwide. Our new cohort was just here for a program on campus, and they are a diverse group of very impressive students.”

Every student has two faculty mentors, one at a CSU and one at a UC. A steering committee of CSU and UC faculty convenes several times a year to discuss each student in depth, providing important group feedback into the mentoring process.

“We lay out the path for them to get into graduate school, offer workshops for professional development and computing skills, and provide connections to summer research internships,” Schumm said.

The program has been highly successful in its first five years in developing a pipeline of highly diverse, qualified scholars, many of whom have already successfully matriculated to a Ph.D. program in physics or astronomy. The program just selected its fifth cohort of 27 scholars from 10 different CSU campuses across the state, bringing the total number of scholars to 61 in five cohorts, including 35 Latinos, seven African-Americans, and 27 women (16 of the 27 women are from underrepresented minority groups). In the last three years, 19 of 21 Cal-Bridge Scholars who have earned their bachelor’s degree in physics have begun or will attend Ph.D. programs in physics or astronomy at top programs nationally, including UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Harvard University, Northwestern University, the University of Maryland, Michigan State University, and Penn State University.

Schumm said he hopes the Cal-Bridge program can serve as a model for programs to address diversity issues in other STEM fields and in other states.

October 1, 2018

Cal-Bridge Grant Readies SJSU Undergrads to Apply for PhDs in Physics and Astronomy

Articles

Published: October 1, 2018
Publication: SJSU News Center
Author: Melissa Anderson

San Jose State University joins a consortium of 15 California State University (CSU) and nine University of California (UC) campuses collectively awarded a five-year, $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to dramatically increase diversity within the fields of physics and astronomy through the Cal-Bridge program.

The Cal-Bridge program launched four years ago. It creates a pathway for underrepresented minority students from multiple CSU campuses to gain the experience needed to apply for doctoral programs in physics and astronomy at UC campuses across California. Currently, students from underrepresented minority groups represent 30 percent of the U.S. population, but represent less than 4 percent of physics and astronomy PhDs recipients nationwide. The national average of underrepresented minorities, or URM students, earning a PhD in these fields is about 80 per year.

“Cal-Bridge has already shown spectacular results in its first phase in Southern California, with a 95 percent admission rate for CSU undergraduates into doctoral programs,” said Aaron Romanowsky, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at SJSU and co-director of the Cal-Bridge North Leadership Council. “Now with the expansion of the program into Northern California, and into physics as well as astronomy, we are excited to begin seeing even more access enabled for CSU students going into advanced STEM education and careers.”

Expanding into Northern California

The recent grant allows Cal-Bridge to expand from about a dozen scholars per year to as many as 50 statewide, with the addition of students from SJSU, San Francisco State, CSU East Bay and CSU Sacramento. SJSU is serving as a lead institution for Cal-Bridge North, with the support of Romanowsky and College of Science Dean Michael Kaufman, former chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. SJSU students Jean Donet and Javier Bustamante joined the first cohort of Cal-Bridge North. Participating Cal-Bridge Scholars receive a full scholarship for the final two years of their undergraduate degree, based on demonstrated need; a year of scholarship funding to cover the first year of graduate school at a participating UC campus; mentoring from faculty members at both CSU and UC campuses; professional development opportunities and research opportunities.

Cal-Bridge is led by Principal Investigator and Director Alexander Rudolph, a Cal Poly Pomona professor of physics and astronomy. Cal-Bridge Scholars are recruited from the 15 CSU campuses and more than 30 community colleges in the Cal-Bridge network, with the help of local faculty and staff liaisons at each campus.

Success for Early Cohorts

In the last three years, 19 of 21 Cal-Bridge Scholars who have earned their bachelor’s degree in physics have begun or will attend PhD programs in physics or astronomy at top programs nationally, including UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Harvard University, Northwestern University, the University of Maryland, Michigan State University and Penn State University.

Learn more about Cal-Bridge and watch a video about the program online.

CAL-BRIDGE CONTACT

Alexander Rudolph
Director, Cal-Bridge
Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Cal Poly Pomona
Email: alrudolph@cpp.edu
Cell Phone: 909-717-1851

LOCAL CONTACT

Aaron Romanowsky
Co-Director, Cal-Bridge North Leadership Council
Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
San Jose State University
Email: aaron.romanowsky@sjsu.edu

About San Jose State University

The founding campus of the 23-campus California State University system, San Jose State provides a comprehensive university education, granting bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in 250 areas of study – offered through its eight colleges.

With more than 35,000 students and nearly 4,370 employees, San Jose State University continues to be an essential partner in the economic, cultural and social development of Silicon Valley and the state, annually contributing 10,000 graduates to the workforce.

The university is immensely proud of the accomplishments of its more than 260,000 alumni, 60 percent of whom live and work in the Bay Area.

October 1, 2018

Cal-Bridge is Changing the Face of STEM – One Student at a Time

Articles

Published: October 1, 2018
Publication: CalPoly Pomona
Author: n/a

African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans combined earn between 70 and 80 Ph.D.’s annually in physics and astronomy. That’s less than 4% of the national total even though they represent 30% of the U.S. population.

The Cal-Bridge program is having a significant impact on this disparity and thanks to a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) the program will have an even bigger impact.

Cal-Bridge was started at Cal Poly Pomona in 2014 with the goal of increasing the number of underrepresented minorities (URM) earning Ph.D.’s in physics and astronomy. The Principal Investigator (PI) and Director of the program is Alex Rudolph, professor of physics and astronomy at Cal Poly Pomona.

“This grant will increase representation nationwide by 50%, all from one program in California.” Rudolph said. “CSU students aren’t always aware of opportunities for continuing their education. UC schools are the only public institutions in the state that grant Ph.D.’s in physics and astronomy so their participation was key and Cal–Bridge creates a bridge between the CSU and UC systems. The program provides the mentoring and financial resources students need to achieve their dreams of becoming physicists and astronomers.”

Initial funding provided support for about 12 students per year, and with the newly acquired $5 million NSF grant that number will grow to 40 to 50. The program just selected its fifth cohort of 27 scholars from 10 CSU campuses bringing the total number of scholars to 61.

The partnership between 15 CSU, nine UC, and 30 community colleges is what makes this program so powerful. Cal-Bridge scholars benefit from mentors at both the CSU and UC systems, and over 150 physics and astronomy faculty are participating in the program.

Scholars can receive up to $10,000 per year yet they cite mentorship as being one of the most valuable aspects of the program. Evan Nuñez, a Cal-Bridge scholar and physics major at Cal Poly Pomona said, “Cal-Bridge is preparing me to succeed, particularly through the mentorship. Having mentors pushed me to want to be in their shoes someday so I can inspire some students who might be going through a rough patch.”

“I firmly believe the adage that ‘talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not,’”said Soraya M. Coley, president of Cal Poly Pomona. “Cal-Bridge is an engine of opportunity that is providing transformative educational experiences for students across our state.”

The Co-PI on the grant, and College of Science Dean, Alison Baski said, “Cal-Bridge can become a model for expansion to other STEM degrees and to other states to create similar networks. I think it’s a superb model that could be scaled across the nation and have a concrete impact on the number of underrepresented students who are in STEM disciplines.”

October 1, 2018

Cal-Bridge scholar Evan Nuñez receives award for best poster presentation at AAS meeting

Articles

Published: February 1, 2018
Publication: CalPoly Pomona
Author: n/a

Evan Nuñez’s journey to Cal Poly Pomona started as a child when he watched documentaries about astronomy with his mother. His mother once majored in the subject and though she didn’t complete her degree, it remained a lifelong interest that her son inherited. One day his mother took him to the library and while exploring a book on Venus he came to the realization that astronomy was for him. At that time he didn’t even know exactly what astronomers did, but in high school he learned that in order to pursue his passion for the stars he needed to improve his math skills and study physics, which he did.

Nuñez’s experience at El Camino Community College was formative. There he found a nurturing environment and encouragement from professors. That encouragement included information about CAMPARE. It’s important to note that the Director of CAMPARE is Cal Poly Pomona Professor Alexander Rudolph. The program is a network of CSU and community colleges from which students are recruited to participate in 8-10 week research projects during the summer. Nuñez researched the offerings and saw that University of Wyoming had a very good telescope and since his interest was in observational astronomy he applied. He recalls “I got to live the astronomer’s dream, driving up to the telescope every night and recording data.” He was looking at quasars. The quasar research was his first exposure to the research world and it reaffirmed his passion for astronomy.

After the CAMPARE experience Nuñez presented at a research symposium at Cal Poly Pomona. During that symposium he met Professor Povich who invited him to join his research group and apply to the Cal-Bridge program. Nuñez had been accepted at Berkeley, UCLA and UC Santa Cruz but chose Cal Poly Pomona. His research work with Professor Povich and Professor Breanna Binder is what earned him the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award. Only 5 undergraduate submissions are selected out of over 100 entries. The title of the poster he presented to judges at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington D.C. was, “Characterizing Intermediate-Mass Pre-Main-Sequence Stars via X-Ray Emission.” The research aims to determine the age of very young regions of the galaxy. Researchers looked at the Great Nebula in Carina and used the x-ray emission of intermediate-mass pre-main-sequence stars to determine the age of the region. What excites Nuñez most is the potential to gain insight into which stars may have solar systems and the potential for life.

The research required running models that required a lot of input and Nuñez says that wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Dr. Binder. Nuñez was impressed by how supportive Binder and Povich have been. They ensured he had access to all the software he needed to do the work and taught him how to run it and interpret the data. Nuñez said they made him feel at ease with asking questions. After Nuñez earns his BS degree his goal is to earn a Ph.D. in astrophysics. His experience at Cal Poly Pomona has inspired him to consider teaching as a profession. Though Nuñez likes research, he feels it would be an honor to be able to do for others what his professors have done for him.

February 1, 2018

Cal-Bridge scholar Adrianna Perez highlighted by her summer REU

Articles

Published: June 22, 2017
Publication: Texas Astronomy Undergraduate Research
Author: Caitlin Casey

Scholar Spotlight: Adrianna Perez

We are thrilled to share with you the first of our 2017 TAURUS Scholar Spotlights! Adrianna Perez is a senior at California State University, Dominguez Hills where she majors in Physics. Adrianna participated in the Banneker-Aztlán Institute last summer working with Dr. Jill Naiman and Prof. Jorge Moreno and joins us for TAURUS this summer. Adrianna is also a CAMPARE and Cal-bridge Scholar. She was interviewed by her research mentor, Dr. Chao-Ling Hung.

CLH: Can you tell me about yourself? What is your story?

AP: I’m from California, live in Bellflower. Basically my whole life in Bellflower, went to Bellflower high school, graduated from there. Right out of the high school, I went to Cal State Dominguez Hill as a first generation college student with already my Physics major declared, although I was still unsure whether that was what I wanted to do. I took Physics in high school, and I did really well in it and I thought it was fun, so I went with that :). I was like, OK, I like Physics, so I feel like that’s a good place to start.

So I went to Dominguez Hills, start taking my Physics classes there, and really started to like it. The problems were harder at first. So I was a little, oh no, what if I can’t do this. But I just kept working at it, got better at it, and really started to like it. And then, just space was cool, so that’s how the Astronomy part came in. But we don’t have an Astronomy department at my school, so I wasn’t really exposed to it.

It wasn’t until Dr. Moreno came to my school and gave a talk about his galaxy mergers, that I learned about research in Astronomy. And he mentioned the Banneker-Aztlán Institute, and I was really interested. So after his talk, I spoke to him. He encouraged me to apply. So I did that and got accepted, and then went to Harvard, and really liked it. Now I’m positive that I really want to be in Astronomy.

CLH: Can you share a little bit about of your future and career goals?

AP: I think a lot about becoming a professor, but I’m not entirely sure. I know I want to go to graduate school and get a PhD. After that, maybe do a postdoc, and after that, get into academia, or try to be a faculty member. I feel like I might go down that path, but I’m still open to the possibilities. You don’t necessarily have to go to academia, there are other options. But I feel like, that is where I will end up.

CLH: So what brings you to the TAURUS program, and how do you think the TAURUS program will help you to reach your career goals?

AP: I was interested in TAURUS because at AAS, Dr. Moreno was telling me that Caitlin was gonna be here and the TAURUS people were going to be here. So we had a joint lunch with them, the Banneker-Aztlán people had lunch with the TAURUS people. I got to speak with the previous scholars and I asked how they liked it, and they were all really happy and excited and tell me all these great things. So I’m like, wow that sounds really good. Especially because I really liked Banneker and I wanted to be in something that’s similar. Because I know some REU can feel more competitive, and lonely. You’re just in the office, working by yourself and nobody wants to help you. So I didn’t want to be in that kind of environment. I wanted to be in a place that would feel similar to the one I was already in. And the previous scholars spoke very well of it. I met Caitlin there, and spoke with her. She said, sure, go apply! So I applied. I heard the program had a goal of diversity and inclusion and I really liked that. That’s up and coming in Astronomy, people are trying to change that. So I would like to be in part of the program where that is included.

CLH: So how would success in this TAURUS program look like to you?

AP: I hope to make many new friends. And I hope to get somewhat far in the research, and just to be able to answer that question now. And I want to give a good talk at the end! :) I want to have a nice talk with nice pictures, and explain myself well. I used to have a pretty big fear of public speaking. So I want to be able to communicate, and give a presentation without running off the stage. :)

CLH: I heard from Dr. Moreno that you gave an extremely good talk at the final presentation last year. Congratulations!

AP: Thank you. I worked really hard. We had a speech class once every week. But I would go a bit earlier, that way, I will practice before everybody else would come to, just to get comfortable saying it on stage. I can handle speaking in front of a couple people, but when the group gets bigger than five, then it’s like, oh no!

CLH: Yeah, the community here would definitely help and provide feedback, and you can give an even better talk in the end.

AP: Yeah, I hope to top my previous talk, and that would be a success to me.

CLH: Just to change the gear a bit. How do you learn best (e.g., hands-on experience, reading literature about a topic, verbal explanations, process diagrams, etc.)? What is the most useful kind of assistance your mentor can provide?

AP: I think I learn the best from reading and listening. So I can read something and if I don’t understand it right away and get some kind of verbal clarification, that would be good. Sometimes drawing pictures helps a lot. But I don’t know if I would consider myself a hands-on person. Because I normally don’t like to build, or do things from my hands, I feel uncoordinated. :) So that doesn’t work too much.

Something I like is smaller celebrations. Even if it’s like a small goal, like I read half the paper, or I got a plot to work. These small things are what make me feel good. Yes! It might not be something big or fancy, but it’s progress, and I feel that’s worth celebrating.

CLH: Can you talk about what challenges and obstacles have you faced in your career? How have you overcome these challenges?

AP: I’ve already briefly mentioned the public speaking one. I feel like it’s my biggest obstacle. Because I can get really shy, nervous, and anxious sometimes, and withdraw into myself, don’t talk to anyone and go out much. When you need any help, you should be able to ask. If you don’t ask, then nothing will happen. That’s the biggest obstacle is to come out and say I need help.

CLH: What are you most proud of?

AP: I am proud that I can make little movies. Something that makes me proud is that I make little bunch of snapshots, and compile them up into a little movie. I think it’s really cool.

CLH: If there are other freshman or sophomore students who are interested in following your path, what advice would you give to them?

AP: I feel like I was lucky that Dr. Moreno came to my school, especially because it is small. But for other places, I feel like you would at least want to look into places you would be interested in doing research. If somebody is interested in going to Harvard or here at UT Austin, then I’d say try to get in contact with somebody here or I would put them in contact, introduce them to somebody. Let them talk about what that student’s research or career goals are. And hopefully, they will get a better idea if that’s what they want to do or not.

June 22, 2017