Developing technologies that evolve our society for the better will require a far more diverse talent pool in the science and engineering fields. Engaging faculty and students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to address these challenges is a logical starting point for expanding diversity in the STEM workforce. Current models used for engagement by PWIs, and funding agencies are narrowly focused and ineffective for promoting or sustaining DEI or equitable partnerships with HBCUs. Despite these inequities, faculty and students from under-resourced MSIs are expected to meet the same traditional expectations and metrics for success as researchers from PWIs with vastly greater resources and funding (e.g., defining graduate success based on publication numbers). Even though the realities of our research limitations were not immediately known, the highly collaborative nature of our partnership as part of the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology (CSN) opened access to well-equipped facilities and expertise which led our lab to the development of an important discovery by demonstrating that nanocellulose prepared using common processing steps could be dispersed into non-polar solvents (e.g., chloroform) without chemical modification of the starting material. This discovery led to the first student in Tuskegee University’s history being awarded a patent and resulted in the first company being founded by a Tuskegee professor. From the perspective of my research and partnership with CSN, I will discuss more effective strategies that can be used to engage and evaluate the contributions and performance of HBCU faculty and students as participants in your research program.

Challenges of research at an HBCU: Developing more effective engagement strategies

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.