Outreach and internships
The vast night sky visible from the Choctaw Indian Reservation in Mississippi sparked Powtawche Valerino鈥檚 love of space. 鈥淭he stars were so vibrant. To me, it was just like another world,鈥� she says. Valerino鈥檚 family moved to New Orleans when she was ten, and science outreach programs kept her interested and helped transform the budding astronomer into one of the few female engineers froma minority background in the US.
鈥淥nce my teachers knew I wanted to be a scientist, they started suggesting all these outside programs I could participate in,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淎lmost every summer, I was busy at some kind of camp.鈥� Open to all students, the camps focused on math or science and motivated Valerino to 鈥渟tick with the hard topics鈥�.
In the summer before her senior year in high school, Valerino interned with a mechanical engineer as part of NASA鈥檚 Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program, in which high achievers shadow NASA professionals.
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鈥淭his was the moment I realized I really enjoyed mechanical engineering,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was a culmination of all my interests, from the creative side to science and engineering, with plenty of collaboration and teamwork.鈥�
Valerino always knew she would attend college but it was still a shock when she arrived at Stanford University in California. 鈥淚t was a really big transition for me,鈥� says Valerino. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 identify with the big school spirit. Luckily, Stanford has a strong minority community, so I was fortuitous to still feel like I was around family.鈥�
Through internships and fellowships her affiliation with NASA continued. After earning her doctorate, Valerino joined the Cassini spacecraft navigation team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. She currently helps design maneuvers that put Cassini in position to collect data while orbiting Saturn.
鈥淓ven today, I may be the only female Native American PhD at JPL,鈥� says Valerino. 鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 amazing because science is so accessible to everyone.鈥� However, she says, obstacles still exist for minorities and women interested in science careers.
鈥淭he pathways are not always accessible if you don鈥檛 have people to support you or if programs don鈥檛 exist at your school. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunities that came before me.鈥�
Mentoring and grants
An empty stomach set Emmitt Jolly on the path to science. In middle school, he missed his free school lunch when a counselor wanted to discuss his high math scores. But Jolly was indifferent. 鈥淚 never planned to go to college,鈥� he says.
After the following year鈥檚 tests and another stellar performance, Jolly鈥檚 counselor pushed harder. 鈥淭hat time, we had a conversation about what I wanted to be. I said either a janitor or an electrician,鈥� he says.
The counselor convinced Jolly he could go much further. She took him under her wing, introducing him to the late plant physiologist James H.M. Henderson at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama. The meeting led to a paid summer internship and Jolly fell in love with genetics. 鈥淲hen I walked in there, I said to the professor, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e going to pay me to learn?'鈥� recalls Jolly. 鈥淔or me, it was extremely different. I no longer had to work in a cotton field or at a truck stop.鈥�
Jolly鈥檚 academic prowess soon garnered awards that paid for his studies, including a fellowship from the Ford Foundation, which aims to increase racial and ethnic diversity in university faculties, and awards from the UNCF/Merck Science Initiative, which provides African-American students and postdocs with grants.
Jolly is now an assistant professor of biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His research explores how gene expression is regulated in a parasitic worm that infects more than 200 million people worldwide. He hopes that it will identify future drug targets.
Since realizing science was a viable career option for him, Jolly has tried to inspire others to follow his path. While at Case Western Reserve, he co-founded a mentoring group of biomedical researchers from minority groups that has since grown into a not-for-profit think tank, the Association of Underrepresented Minority Fellows. The group aims to develop and sustain a pipeline of exceptional minority biomedical scientists.
鈥淚 think everyone needs mentors,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f it weren鈥檛 for that high school counselor, the potential I had would never have been realized.鈥�
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Inside information
Clifford Houston is head of the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students and associate vice president for educational outreach at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas
Why is it important to get more people from minority groups into science?
There is great concern that the retirement of the baby boomers over the next five to 15 years will create a gap in our scientific workforce. In view of the rapidly changing demographics of our country, the people replacing them will have to be underrepresented minorities and women.
What is the most critical area of the pipeline?
Most students are very interested in math and science at the elementary level. We begin to lose them between the ages of 11 and 14.
What can be done at the college level?
Many historically black, Hispanic and Native American colleges and universities may not have a strong research environment on their campuses, so students must go to other campuses in the summer to have a research experience. We must increase the research infrastructure at these places to attract more underrepresented students to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
You head the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. What is the impact of the conference?
I鈥檝e found that when students have more career options available to them, they make better choices. But many students, especially those from underrepresented groups, have very few options available to them. This conference exposes students to a wide variety of career opportunities and puts them in a better position to make good career choices by attending career awareness workshops and meeting outstanding research scientists.
