LSAMP scholars and faculty participate in the LSMRCE 2020 Annual Conference

Chelse’ Perry and Isabel Alcantar, GSW scholars in the Southwest Georgia LSAMP Alliance, as well as Dr. Samuel Peavy, professor of geology, and Dr. Michele Smith, professor of chemistry, attended the Louis Stokes Midwest Regional Center of Excellence (LSMRCE) 2020 Annual Conference. The conference was held virtually on November 6-7, 2020.  This year’s theme was “Broadening Participation in STEM: Pivot, Adapt, and Thrive.” The conference included keynote presenters sharing success stories, interactive sessions for undergraduate students preparing for a future STEM career or graduate program, networking and mentoring opportunities, and undergraduate/graduate research presentations. Chelse' presented a poster “Investigating the Effects of Migration on Strike Related Bird Mortality” during the undergraduate virtual poster session.  Her research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD-1817519.

LSAMP scholars selected

Isabel Alcantar of Fort Valley, sophomore Biology major; Kenneth Daniels of Sylvester, freshman Chemistry major; Chelse’ Perry of Americus, senior Biology major; and Montavious Russell of Thomaston, sophomore Computer Science major, were selected as scholars for the Southwest Georgia LSAMP Alliance. The scholars are provided financial support in addition to academic and research support through faculty mentoring, research internships, group meetings, annual conferences, and graduate school preparation.

The Southwest Georgia LSAMP Alliance, is a collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), under Grant No. HRD-1817519, with the goal of transforming the STEM learning environment by significantly increasing the number of underrepresented minority (URM) majors graduating with baccalaureate degrees in STEM disciplines and entering graduate STEM programs.

LSAMP Scholars attend LSMRCE 2019 Annual Conference

LSAMP Scholars Awung Betanga and Nadia Ford attended the 2019 Louis Stokes Midwest Regional Center of Excellence Conference, held October 25-27, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The theme of the conference was “Building a Diverse STEM Talent Pool: Classrooms to Careers.” The conference included keynote presenters sharing success stories, interactive workshops for undergraduate students preparing for a future STEM career or graduate program, networking opportunities, and undergraduate/graduate research presentations. Betanga and Ford were accompanied by Dr. Samuel Peavy, Professor of Geology, and Dr. Michele Smith, Professor of Chemistry.

GSW awarded portion of $3 million National Science Foundation grant to promote minority participation in STEM

AMERICUS, GA (October 30, 2019) — The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a portion of a $3 million grant to Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) to increase the number of underrepresented minority students (URM) graduating with degrees in the STEM fields—science, technology, mathematics and engineering.

GSW is a founding member of the first-ever Southwest Georgia consortium of the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP), or the Southwest Georgia LSAMP Alliance.

Funded by the NSF LSAMP program, the Southwest Georgia LSAMP Alliance aims to transform the STEM learning environment by significantly increasing the number of URM majors graduating with baccalaureate degrees and applying to graduate programs in the STEM disciplines.

“The LSAMP program will help students in STEM fields gain valuable experience doing undergraduate research early in their academic careers,” said Sam Peavy, PhD, chair of the Department of Chemistry, Geology and Physics. Peavy, who also serves as a Co-Principle Investigator for the consortium, stated LSAMP scholars will receive a stipend, mentoring, research and internship opportunities, invitations to research conferences to present their work, and preparation for the Graduate Research Examination.

As part of the LSAMP scholar program which began in Spring 2019, 27 URM students will be selected each year. The consortium hopes to serve a total of 140 LSAMP scholars over the five-year duration of the grant; GSW is allotted three scholars per year.

Initial LSAMP scholars are Nadia Ford of Atlanta, freshman Biology major; Awung Betanga of Atlanta, freshman Computer Science major; and Chelse’ Perry of Americus, senior Biology major.

The consortium is a partnership between six institutions in southwest Georgia: Columbus State University (lead institution), GSW, Valdosta State University, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Columbus Technical College and South Georgia Technical College. 

Scholars will meet monthly with one another at their individual institutions, as well as annually with other scholars in the consortium. They will learn to complete and present research, as well as network in a professional environment. They will also be encouraged to attend national conferences and pursue additional research through the NSF.

To be eligible as an LSAMP scholar, students must be a URM enrolled at one of the partner institutions, pursue a degree in an approved LSAMP STEM discipline, maintain a 2.5 GPA or higher and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who is at least 18 years old. 

Current scholars will reapply yearly for the program. Some benefits of the program, such as guest speaker presentations, will also be available to all STEM students at each institution.

For the purposes of this grant, URM students are from the following backgrounds: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders.

Pictured left to right are GSW LSAMP scholars Awung Betanga of Atlanta, Nadia Ford of Atlanta, and Chelse’ Perry of Americus.