The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded George Mason University researcher Chrystal George Mwangi and colleagues a combined $2.3 million to advance collaborations for equity in marine and climate sciences.
“Marine and climate sciences (MCS) are some of the least diverse STEM disciplines,” said George Mwangi, who teaches in Mason’s Higher Education Program. “Implications from the lack of racial diversity in particular are troubling when considering the importance of MCS in mitigating today’s environmental sustainability challenges.”
The project, titled Advancing Collaborations for Equity in Marine and Climate Sciences, is a collaborative partnership between multiple institutions, which includes Jennifer Johnson of Temple University, Vijay Kanagala of Salem State University, Onjalé Scott Price of the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program, and Christina Yao of University of South Carolina.
As principal investigator, George Mwangi will lead this three-year project to examine what processes are employed for developing equity-driven educational collaborations, infrastructures, and pathways in MCS. This research project will investigate the Woods Hole Collaborative Network, a Massachusetts-based multi-organizational collaboration between six predominantly white institutions.
She said the study will provide an analysis of processes for developing anti-racist and equity-driven educational collaborations, infrastructures, and pathways into MCS. The overarching goal is to develop a transformative model focused on partnership- and infrastructure-building efforts for anti-racism and equity in the discipline that can be replicated and scaled for other MCS collaborations and interventions.
“We are focused on advancing change in structures and sociocultural practices in MCS that can improve their racial equity outcomes,” she said.
This collaborative project is funded through the Racial Equity in STEM Education activities, which supports research and practice projects that investigate how considerations of racial equity factor into the improvement of STEM education and workforce. Awarded projects seek to center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of the individuals, communities, and institutions most impacted by systemic inequities within the STEM enterprise.