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JULY UPDATE
The InterMountain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Launch Pilot (IM STEM)

This final IM STEM Network meeting will focus on strategies for recruiting women and girls into Advanced Manufacturing pathways and will include effective programs from the IM STEM states. In preparation for the IM STEM Network Meeting go to NAPE’s Make the Future site for educators and student microsite for great educator resources, videos and student social media recruiting materials.


We want to highlight your program
Learning about programs and initiatives around the network is a key benefit to being part of the IM STEM community. If you would like to have your program highlighted in a future IM STEM newsletter or potentially showcased at a network meeting, please click here to enter your information.
What's going on In the network?
Communications and Resource Sharing
The Communication and Resource Sharing group asks that you get the most out of network membership by engaging in conversation with each other on our social media channels, including our LinkedIn group (IM STEM Network) and Twitter (@imstemequity). We have also created a form on the IMSTEM website where you can enter information about your program, so we can share it across the network in future IM STEM newsletters.


Please also continue to invite your professional colleagues to take advantage of the network by signing up today at our website: https://www.napequity.org/stem/stem-equity-project/imstem/ . 
Data and Metrics
To learn more about Perkins V and to view the national data dashboards go to NAPE’s resource page at https://www.napequity.org/public-policy/frontline-legislation/strengthening-career-and-technical-education-for-the-21st-century-act/  
Asset Map Building

Our asset mapping team is currently working with Nevada to develop an asset map that shows where STEM programming exists. We are currently adding data to our beta site. Some states already have maps, including Idaho , Wyoming , and New Mexico . You can view them by clicking on the state name. Any other questions about the IMSTEM Asset map initiative, please contact Kathleen Fitzpatrick kfitzpatrick@napequity.org . 
Effective Practice Scaling
The Effective Practices Workgroup has developed a Rubric for Evaluating Programs to Broaden Participation in STEM. Click here to access it .  
Pilot Monitoring
This workgroup continues to monitor NAPE’s professional development efforts in the six states, even as we move toward the need for more virtual training. For more information about NAPE’s PD contact Kathleen Fitzpatrick at kfitzpatrick@napequity.org .
NSF INCLUDES National Network Webinar on Leadership and Communication
Mimi Lufkin, IM STEM Project Director and NAPE CEO Emerita, presented at the NSF INCLUDES National Network Webinar on Leadership and Communication.Leadership and communication, one of the Five Elements of Collaborative Infrastructure, is focused on improving communication among partners and participants and increasing visibility with external stakeholders. Presenters shared effective communication strategies, especially with the advent of COVID-19, on enduring lessons during this time.

Log in to the NSF INCLUDES Network at: https://www.includesnetwork.org/home

What's going on Around the network?
Colorado


Increasing gender diversity has been a long-sought goal across many of the sciences, and interventions and programs to attract more women into fields like physics and math often happen at the undergraduate level. But is representation enough to improve gender diversity in science? In a new study, Colorado State University researchers say there’s more to the story: They’ve found that even when undergraduate women outnumber men in science courses, women may still be experiencing gender biases from their peers. Click here to read more .


Reimagining High School in Rural Colorado: Cañon City High School

Cañon City Schools is the 2019 Winner of The Succeeds Prize for Excellence in STEM Education and Homegrown Talent Initiative exemplar . The Homegrown Talent Initiative (HTI) is a statewide partnership between Colorado Succeeds and the Colorado Education Initiative (CEI). HTI is designed to bring together K-12 (students, educators, leaders), business and economic development partners, higher education, and families and community stakeholders and support them throughout the process of transforming their students’ educational experience. While students still receive what may be perceived as traditional high school lessons, Cañon City High School (CCHS) has elevated experiential learning to include internships with local businesses. They have partnered with TechStart, a remote tech start-up incubator. Here, approximately 8-10 small businesses from a variety of industries share collaborative office space. Students’ internships at TechStart allow them to gain real-world experience in careers such as river science, software development, and architecture. Students now have the opportunity to see real-world relevance in their lessons every day. Cañon City’s career-connected program proves that Colorado towns don’t need a single large corporation or industry to support their economies. With some creativity and support, rural areas can bring quality job opportunities to eager and talented kids right in their hometown. https://coloradosucceeds.org/teachers-leaders/high-school-redesign-rural-colorado/
Idaho

Idaho STEM Action Center Receives NSF INCLUDES Planning Grant to Develop Idaho STEM EcosySTEM

The Idaho STEM EcosySTEM is an emerging network of partners from PreK-12 and higher education, out-of-school educators, business and industry, nonprofits, state agencies, legislators, and the Governor’s Office. The group is working to build awareness of and ensure equitable access to science, technology, engineering, and math education opportunities and careers. It also seeks to align STEM education with Idaho’s current and future workforce needs, create successful metrics for STEM education and programming, and build momentum for STEM within the state and nationally. The network was established in August 2019. Two months later, in October, Idaho was accepted as a member of the STEM Learning Ecosystem Community of Practice, joining 88 other STEM ecosystems from across the county and the world. The STEM Action Center, which works to address talent shortages and create a stronger Idaho with STEM learning opportunities for all, coordinated the state’s application process. The agency, under the Executive Office of the Governor, also serves as the backbone organization for the Idaho STEM EcosySTEM. Learn more at Learn more at https://stem.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/Press-Releases/StemAcEarns100kGrantFromNSF_FINAL.pdf
Nevada


University of Nevada, Reno, College of Science Podcast Series 
Exploring the relationship between space, race and STEM attainment

According to Tobler’s first law of geography, “Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.” On this episode of the Discover Science podcast, an offshoot of the lecture series by the same name , Dr. William F. Tate IV sits down with former College of Science Director of Advising, Recruitment and Retention Blane Harding as well as 2020 physics graduate Ohidul Mojumder to discuss the complex relationship between place, race and STEM attainment and the uneven contours of the education pipeline. Listen to the podcast at https://anchor.fm/discover-science/episodes/Discover-Science-William-F--Tate-IV-efpir5
New Mexico

Eight UNM Faculty Selected for 2020 UNM Women in STEM Awards

Eight faculty members at The University of New Mexico have been selected for the 2020 Women in STEM awards. Their work includes research on the impact of global warming on alpine stream biology, the creation of a better way to identify missing and murdered Native Americans and analysis of high pressure-temperature studies on Martian rocks. The recipients this year are Rebecca Bixby, a research assistant professor in biology; Tara Drake, an assistant professor in physics and astronomy; Heather Edgar, an associate professor in anthropology; Tamar Ginossar, an associate professor in communication and journalism; Maryam Hojati, an assistant professor in civil, construction and environmental engineering; Mousumi Roy, an associate professor in physics and astronomy, Lani Tsinnajinnie, an assistant professor in community and regional planning, and Jin Zhang, an assistant professor in earth and planetary sciences. Learn more at https://news.unm.edu/news/eight-unm-faculty-selected-for-2020-unm-women-in-stem-awards

Tech-Trek-In-A-Box: Taking STEM Camp Across New Mexico
Los Alamos Daily Post, July 6, 2020

Sixty 7th grade girls from across the state were selected in April to attend the American Association of University Women’s (AAUW) STEM camp at New Mexico Tech.

This was to be the seventh year that AAUW in New Mexico ran Tech Trek NM to nurture girls’ interests in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). So when COVID-19 made holding camp impossible, AAUW decided to try a new approach: take (literally mail) the camp to the girls. Thus was born Tech-Trek-in-a-Box. Learn more .
Utah

The Utah STEM Action Center is partnering with American Indian Services to provide 3D printers to their students through their Prep Programs ( https://americanindianservices.org/aisstem-and-aisteam/welcome/ ). American Indian Services serves about 400 students each summer in six different states: Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, and South Dakota. Providing printers to these programs gives the students the opportunity to fight COVID-19 on the front lines while learning the STEM skills required to 3D print essential personal protection equipment like face shields and masks. The STEM Action Center is excited to be supporting students as they engage with their communities in meaningful ways.
Wyoming

University of Wyoming Science Roadshow Shares STEM From Home

Due to the pandemic, the University of Wyoming Science Roadshow has reinvented itself. The Science Roadshow made its name by sending UW graduate and undergraduate students to schools across Wyoming to show science to kids. Following the coronavirus outbreak, the program went virtual. Topics in the Virtual Roadshow include the night sky, how to brew kombucha and how weed killers work. The lessons cover a lot of the requirements for science education in Wyoming, and team member Liam Guille said the Virtual Roadshow will help teachers. "It really gives educators a great opportunity to become more comfortable with working with STEM," said Guille. "So we hope at Virtual Roadshow to make that a little bit more accessible for educators to jump into that STEM learning environment." Guille said that he and his team created the material to be interesting and understandable for everyone. The Virtual Roadshow is accessible online .
Why Does the Phrase “Woman Scientist” Even Exist?  
(Scientific American)

In many cases women are still subtly identified as outsiders. For fields stereotyped as male, like science, medicine or firefighting, we often create special two-noun phrases to describe the women storming the ivory towers of manliness: woman scientist, woman doctor, woman firefighter. To begin with, these peculiar two-noun phrases are grammatically incorrect. The right way to modify the nouns scientist, doctor and firefighter is with an adjective, for example the word “female,” as in female doctor. Unless, of course, we mean that a “woman scientist” is somehow an entirely different creature than a normal scientist. Click here to read more .

Achieving Diversity in STEM Faculty Requires Systemic Change, Says Report

Diverse Issues in Higher Education, July 7, 2020 

In 2001, Judith Ramaley, a director at the National Science Foundation, coined the acronym STEM for education disciplines in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Since then, NSF and other public and private entities have provided numerous grants and incentives to support initiatives for STEM diversity in education. However, almost two decades later, diversity among STEM faculty remains inadequate. Only 10.1% of STEM faculty is from underrepresented minorities, according to an NSFfunded report from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Learn more at  www.diverseeducation.com/article/183117/

I Am a Scientist - Initiative connects students with real-life scientists to promote diversity in STEM

Harvard News & Events June 18, 2020

As Nabiha Saklayen carried samples between the various buildings and labs of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences , she frequently ran into visitors who were curious about what she was doing. When she told them she was carrying cancer cells or plasmonic nanoparticles as part of her work, more often than not, she was met with quizzical expressions from people who were surprised to discover she was a physicist. “I guess, the stereotypical image of a physicist, they don’t really look like me,” said Saklayen, who earned a physics Ph.D. from Harvard in 2017 and co-founded a startup focused on regenerative medicine. “But I wanted to put a positive spin on that. I thought that any time I meet someone who hasn’t met a scientist who looks like me, it is a great opportunity to change their minds and change those stereotypes. We should have more of those conversations.” Learn more at https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2020/06/i-am-scientist
Virtual STEMIE Fest: Week of September 14-18, 2020: Save the date!

We are very excited to announce that we will be hosting our 1st STEMIEFest (Virtually)- a gathering of families, professionals, STEM industry members, faculty, and more to engage in innovative STEM learning experiences as well as explore and develop a model to support all young children in early STEM learning. Make sure to check back our website for more details: stemie.fpg.unc.edu/stemiefest . As always, please let us know if you have topics you'll like to explore on the community, or have a story to share on TalkAbles. Please email stemie@unc.edu . 


Carnegie Science Center Announces Women in STEM Virtual Speaker Series

Carnegie Science Center announces the Women in STEM Speaker Series, a weekly virtual event featuring interactive conversations with inspiring role models who have established themselves as experts in a variety of STEM fields. The series will be hosted by the science center through Facebook Live at 11 a.m. every Wednesday through Sept. 30. Recordings of the conversations will be available on YouTube following the livestream. The series is supported by an IF/THEN Gender Equity Grant from the Association of Science and Technology Centers and IF/THEN, an initiative of Lyda Hill Philanthropies. This program awarded funding to 26 science and technology centers to launch projects aimed at increasing the representation of women and gender minorities. “Our hope for this series is not only to celebrate the achievements of women and gender minorities in STEM, but to inspire young people who often don’t see themselves represented in these fields,” said Jason Brown, director of the science Center. To learn more go to carnegiesciencecenter.org/programs/women-in-stem-speaker-series/

Gender gaps in STEM college majors emerge in high school
By Kate Blackwood, July 1, 2020, Cornell Chronicle

Although studies have shown that women are more likely than men to enter and complete college in U.S. higher education, women are less likely to earn degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields. In new research, Kim Weeden , the Jan Rock Zubrow ’77 Professor of the Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, traces the discrepancy in college majors back to gender differences that emerge early in high school. Learn more at https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/07/gender-gaps-stem-college-majors-emerge-high-school
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IM STEM is a network of STEM educators and leaders across six states (CO, ID, NM, NV, UT, and WY) working to support STEM equity at key transition points (middle school to high school and high school to college).
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1744472. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.