Nine members of the HSU chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science attended the national conference in Kansas City, Missouri on October11-14th, where two of the Humboldt students gave presentations and club advisor Jacquelyn Bolman spoke at a workshop. Conference attendees were also impressed by the diversity and number of HSU students who made the trip, and that the group organized to form on its own.
“Students from all over the United States attended, but some schools did not have as many students representing their institutions as HSU,” says Martha Cardona, president of the local SACNAS chapter. “Many students asked us, ‘Where is Humboldt,’ and ‘What types of programs does it have to offer?’”
SACNAS, a national organization with members at universities from Harvard to Humboldt, was created more than 30 years ago, and its goal is to help members pursue and obtain graduate degrees in all fields of science, mathematics and engineering, so they may obtain jobs as researchers and teachers and become advocates for science learning in their communities. The group provides mentoring and supports science education in high schools.
The national organization offers scholarships and funding for students who pursue studies in much-desired fields such as genomics and bioinformatics. The group offers a $25,000 Genome Scholars Program, for instance.
Studies show that men and women of color are under-represented among tenured faculty members at universities nationwide and in science careers in general. Interested students can attend a meeting of the HSU chapter of SACNAS, which meets in the INRSEP House 38 every other Friday at 5 p.m. The next meetings are Oct. 19 and Nov. 2.
For more information, Cardoza can be reached at mac92@humboldt.edu. Information on the national organization on the SACNAS website.