Differently Abled in Entomology

Authors: Mankin, Richard; ROHDE, B - University Of Florida

Submitted to: American Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2014
Publication Date: 9/1/2014
Citation: Mankin, R.W., Rohde, B. 2014. Differently Abled in Entomology. American Entomologist. 60(3):154-155.

Interpretive Summary: Scientists at the USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE), Gainesville, FL, have been involved in science education outreach activities for over thirty years, including mentorship of students with disabilities. A symposium was conducted last year at the Entomological Society of America annual meeting that described some of the mentorship methods and practices that have been most successful at helping students with disabilities begin and successfully continue careers in entomological research. The participants were asked to follow up with an article outlining these best practices. In this article, we focus on successes with internships that introduce undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities to a variety of stimulating research experiences and enable them to determine necessary accommodations for laboratory and field experiments. Typically, young persons with disabilities have minimal hands-on experience in research prior to graduate school and they may accrue exceptional benefits from such internships. Because fear, caution, or unfamiliarity often raise high barriers to interactions with persons who have disabilities, summer research projects have been developed at CMAVE that engage not just the students but also encourage structured interactions with the students’ colleagues, advisors, and institutions. The students gain confidence and visibility by conducting, discussing, and presenting their work in a variety of settings, and the networking interactions have enhanced the research and personal perspectives of all involved.

Technical Abstract: The rapidly changing demographics of the United States and the need for scientific innovation, which has been demonstrated to be enhanced by interactions among persons with diverse backgrounds, has led to numerous efforts in the last thirty years to increase the level of diversity in our scientific workforce. However, members of minority groups and persons with disabilities remain significantly underrepresented in scientific research. The results of multiple initiatives by many different organizations suggest that no one single approach to increasing scientific workforce diversity meets the needs of all concerned. The optimal mix of institutional change, mentorship, and networking has been difficult to achieve, and the scientific workforce remains primarily a non-minority-dominated field, especially at the mid- and upper professional career levels. In this article, we focus on successful experiences of students with disabilities who have participated in summer internships at the USDA ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology. We have developed internships that introduce undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities to a variety of stimulating research experiences and enable them to determine necessary accommodations for laboratory and field experiments. Typically, persons with disabilities have little prior exposure to hands-on experience in research laboratories and they may accrue exceptional benefits from such internships. Because fear, caution, or unfamiliarity often raise high barriers to interactions with persons who have disabilities, research projects have been developed that engage not only the students but also encourage structured interactions with the students’ colleagues, advisors, and institutions. The students gain confidence and visibility by conducting, discussing, and presenting their work in several settings, and the networking interactions have enhanced the research and personal perspectives of all involved.