UCLA’s Neuroscience Research Building Auditorium was the site of the fifth “Scientific Excellence through Diversity” seminar Wednesday afternoon.
About 100 students, faculty and scientists came to learn and show their support for how diversity contributes to scientific progress.
The seminar series was hosted by UCLA for the second year in a row and presented by the STEM-PLEDGE Graduate Student Diversity Group.
The main goal is to successfully present a “new paradigm for how diversity can be an asset to science,” according to the seminar Web page.
Seminar speakers included Chancellor Gene D. Block and Professor John Alderete, from the microbiology department at Washington State University.
“I think that this (lack of diversity in the science field) is one of the things that need to change if our country needs to survive. I think we have some very serious issues of diversity that we have to deal with. It’s not enough to talk about it,” Alderete said.
“What are the mechanisms that are going to insure that all of the subpopulation of this country are a part of this workforce so that they can all contribute to this country? As a nation, I don’t think we can survive if we are dependent on foreign-born scientific workforce.”
Getting Block to be the keynote speaker built on the seminar series’ success. The chancellor is a scientist and spearheaded diversity initiatives at the University of Virginia.
“Diversity plays an important role in all fields,” Block said. “Diversity in the sciences is critical for success in the sciences,”
Guest speaker Alderete is a Chicano microbiology professor at Washington State University dedicated to improving diversity in the sciences.
He studies trichomoniasis, a common sexually transmitted disease that disproportionately affects minority women and can predispose them to HIV infection.
When asked about the importance of diversity in the scientific field, second-year physiological science student Cristopher Santos said, “When the problem you are dealing with is directly affecting your community, you are even more determined to find a solution. The advancement of science and fields such as medicine was not achieved solely by understanding scientific concepts but also by considering social and cultural factors specific to different ethnicities.”
When Santos was an incoming freshman, he also became part of the UCLA Program for Excellence in Education and Research in the Sciences, which encourages minority students to pursue a science-related career.
He continued by stating that one of his interests is to help decrease the presence of diabetes in large numbers among the Hispanic community.
“Science is meant to help the entire world, and therefore without diversity, the well-being of many underrepresented communities can be compromised,” Santos said.
STEM-PLEDGE, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Providing Leadership and Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education, is a student-led group of graduate and doctoral students.
According to the group Web page, its primary goal is to “identify and address the barriers that prevent the full participation of groups underrepresented” in these scientific fields.
The group stresses four core areas of interest, which include peer mentorship, career development, informal networking, and support and recruitment.
“The seminar series provides students with the unique opportunity to meet active scientists that contribute significantly to resolving societal issues while taking an interest in promoting diversity in the sciences,” said Armando Villalta, a sixth-year graduate student in molecular, cellular and integrative physiology and STEM-PLEDGE board member.
Another board member, Gloria Preza, said that “the seminar series provides exposure, inspirational stories and great science to graduate and undergraduate students. She also added that it provides the opportunity for students to see firsthand how diversity in science can help answer questions that address health disparities in our nation.
“The group is for graduate students, but we include undergraduate students in our events,” said Dennis Montoya, chair of STEM-PLEDGE’s Scientific Excellence through Diversity committee. “We are looking to be mentors for undergraduates and sit on panels to encourage undergraduates to get into science.
“I got help from diversity programs as an undergraduate, and I want to contribute back. I really believe diversity will help science become better.”
Montoya also hopes that the STEM-PLEDGE group can team up with undergraduate groups to organize more events highlighting the diversity cause.
More seminars will be held in the upcoming winter and spring quarters.