The equivalent program at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada (UNLV), the NEXUS Student Interactions with STEM (SISTEM) program has provided similar opportunities for 137 students over the last two years. Sixty percent of these students were female and more than 44% were from underrepresented minority groups.

Ultimately the goal is to show how exciting a career in science can be, Ewing-Taylor says. “The intention of SCIP and SISTEM is to touch students, preferably in their earlier years of high school, and to help them understand the breadth of possibilities that there are in STEM fields,” she says.

Expanding The Reach

Another NEXUS-funded program in northern Nevada also introduces STEM concepts to high school students, but the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Bilingual Online Peer Sessions (STEMBOPS) program facilitates these students in becoming STEM ambassadors and taking what they have learned to the wider community.

The STEMBOPS program pairs pre-college, undergraduate and graduate students with NEXUS researchers, who act as mentors introducing the students to science and engineering in the lab. The students then make videos about their experiences and the concepts they learn, which can then be viewed by their classroom peers.

The STEMBOPS students don’t just create videos; they also write white papers to show that they have understood the technical aspects of the science. And then, as if these accomplishments weren’t challenging enough, they create the videos in Spanish, as well as English. During the program duration students have created 17 English and 9 Spanish videos on topics ranging from human cells to robots and have written 10 technical whitepapers. The ultimate goal is that the videos will be taken to schools and can also be used to introduce the broader community to science and technology concepts.

“I like to think of it as ‘K through Gray’- that these videos can reach an audience from kindergarten all the way through the community-at-large,” says NEXUS researcher Nancy LaTourrette at UNR. By involving the community, LaTourrette hopes that more parents will spur their children to go into STEM fields.

Stepping up an age group the NEXUS-funded Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) aims to help undergraduate students learn critical research skills in STEM disciplines. Through this program students at any institution within the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) can either apply to do a 10-week summer or 9-month academic year project.

The NEXUS Bright Stars program helps recruit students by introducing them to the possibility of undergraduate research opportunities either at their institutions or at one of the research institutions within NSHE. “Bright Stars allows interested students to ask questions about undergraduate research in a non-threatening, peer-facilitated environment,” says Michele Casella, Education, Outreach and Diversity Administrator for Nevada EPSCoR.

Through applying for this program the students learn to formulate a testable research question and then write a proposal. To help the students, Nevada EPSCoR hosts application-writing workshops at UNLV, UNR, and select NSHE community colleges. A team of faculty reviewers from throughout the NSHE institutions then review and rate the applications based on the strength of the research concept, whether it is possible to investigate in the timeline and the proposed methodology for research. Each year the panel has selected twenty students for summer research and another 15-20 students for academic year research opportunities.

The successful applicants receive a $4000 stipend and the UROP awards are also made to students at NSHE community and state colleges. The final stage of both the nine-month and summer programs is the UROP symposium, where the students present their research to the academic community.

For the students, the program gives them a valuable opportunity to experience what it is like to be a scientist, Casella says. “Undergraduate research is valuable in that it provides students with advanced opportunities in fields in which they are seeking a career,” she says. “These experiences can either confirm or change a student’s career trajectory.”

Training The Teachers

Using a different approach, Dr. Erica Marti, who coordinates several workforce development and education activities at UNLV, has pioneered the NEXUS Solar Kits project. The centerpiece of this project is the Sol Traveler, a portable solar energy classroom kit, which can be used to teach both engineering and solar energy concepts to high school students in Nevada.

Each solar classroom kit fits into a neat portable carrier that teachers can easily transport to their classrooms and into outdoor sunny areas. The kits contain photovoltaic panels and all the materials necessary to turn the Sun’s energy into electricity that can power a pump to move water through a thermal panel for solar water heating.

Marti’s initial emphasis is on training the teachers on the concepts of engineering design using the solar kit and the teachers can then tailor the kit to their specific classroom needs. The teachers go on to use the kits in their classrooms to teach their students the basic principles of engineering design and solar energy concepts.

As of 2018, 18 teachers have trained in using the kits. With each educator teaching 200 students a year, the program has the potential to educate 3600 each year on solar and water topics. Marti hopes that these experiences will give the students an insight into careers in solar energy or engineering, making them interested in a future career in these fields. “I would like there to be a very easy or very visible pipeline for students who want to work in solar energy, so that they know what the field entails, how to get educated and how to get a job in the community where they grew up,” Marti says.