Who are we?
Diverse Stories in STEM is an interdisciplinary speaker series developed by three Cal Poly Pomona professors who aim to change the classroom environment to reflect anti-racist teaching and learning by increasing representation of scholars of color in our classes, and extending students access to diverse ways of knowing. While many of our speakers are leaders from the academic sphere, we have a broad definition of “scholar” that extends beyond the Western academic definition, to include keepers of knowledge from a range of backgrounds. Racism hampers learning and inclusivity within higher education, with implications for retention and success for students of color. At Cal Poly Pomona, most of our students are people of color, yet the majority of our instructors are white. This project enables us to address this imbalance by inviting science experts who are also people of color to speak in our classrooms. Everyone has a story, and we want to put a spotlight on scholars of color to inspire our students! We are scientists and believe in evidence-based interventions, therefore we will also be collecting data to assess our students' feelings of belonging in a STEM environment.
Our first seminar, “Harnessing Interdisciplinarity to Improve Human-Carnivore Interactions” features Dr Christine Wilkinson of UC Berkeley, who is young, Black, and a thought leader in carnivore ecology and human-wildlife conflict.
How can you help?
We want to extend Diverse Stories in STEM to next year and beyond. While we work on getting ongoing funding, we need help to cover the costs of:
Would pay for one meal for a student at the meet and greet with the speaker
This pays for 10 students to meet the guest speaker and have lunch.
Your contribution pays for securing a location to hold one speaker session.
For businesses and individuals who can provide more support for this project, you can become a Diverse Stories Ally. You will be provided with a poster of recognition to display and you will be listed as a contributor on our webpage to show our thanks!
For businesses and individuals who can spare even more to support Diverse Stories in STEM, you have the opportunity to become a Diverse Stories Champion. Your name, contribution (and a link to your website if desired), will be listed on our webpage and you will be announced as a contributor at a minimum of one of our seminars. You will also be provided with a poster of recognition to display. Larger contributions help us fund student artists, technicians and administrators from our talented student body, so they can gain experience while helping keep Diverse Stories in STEM running.