Location: Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Research
Project Number: 3096-13000-010-024-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jan 1, 2022
End Date: Dec 31, 2026
Objective:
The goal of the Student Career in Agricultural Research, Learning, and Extension Training (SCARLET) is to provide mentor-based training for undergraduate students particularly from historically under-served and underrepresented minority groups. This will provide a mentored-based training in agricultural sciences to train them for the tasks of different careers in agriculture. This 8-weeks program seeks to train 50 undergraduate students. The SCARLET objective is to educate students in agricultural practices and scientific literacy to train them for the workforce. This project includes a partnership between USDA-ARS and multiple universities in Puerto Rico and Texas to enrich the students experience in agricultural science-related topics such as: plant pathology, physiology, precision agriculture, sustainability, soil health, and tropical agriculture. This is a multi-institutional and multi-state internship exchange program.
Approach:
SCARLET includes ten researchers and extension specialists that will serve as mentors for undergraduate participants during 8 weeks each year. Mentor’s backgrounds and specialty areas include agronomy, plant physiology, virology, mycology, pathology, soil health and plant nutrition. The undergraduate student participants will intern with the mentors in a 1:1, mentor: mentee ratio. In addition, participants will train and participate in activities with graduate students, extension personnel, and research assistants that are part of the collaborator’s teams. Students will be selected from all four collaborating institutions that will include a diverse pool of participants exposed to a diverse population, knowledge, expertise, and backgrounds.
