Support The Bio/Diversity Project by making a gift today!

Help us support the next generation of environmental scientists, educators and leaders committed to diversity.

The Bio/Diversity Project works to foster more diverse and inclusive environmental fields by creating a workforce pipeline that expands access to education, training, mentorship and paid work experience. We are excited to announce that for the Fall 2022 semester we have our very first cohort of paid student interns.

Each year, we recruit University of Arizona students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the environmental sciences and train them to serve as environmental science outreach educators in local K-12 schools. Over the course of a semester, interns receive training on developing hands-on and culturally-responsive environmental science lessons. Interns then implement these lessons in local Title I schools. In doing so, we expand access to culturally responsive and place-based environmental science programming, while also exposing K-12 students to a diverse set of college-going mentors and role models. 

During their internship experience, university students participate in training and networking events with local environmental science organizations, enabling them to build career readiness skills and professional networks necessary to enter and succeed in the environmental fields. Upon completion of the internship experience, students have the opportunity to apply for paid positions with partner organizations to gain additional skills and work experience.   

During the 2021-2022 academic year, Bio/Diversity Project student interns facilitated 6 Action Projects across 5 Title 1 TUSD schools. 

Interns constructed bat boxes, bird feeders, and pollinator gardens on school campuses. Due to the high visibility of the projects, the overall impact of the Action Projects extended to reach approximately 2,500 local K-12 students who are traditionally underrepresented in the environmental fields. 

A unique feature of the Bio/Diversity Project is the opportunity for creativity when engaging students in innovative environmental science lessons. Each year, our interns design and implement capstone Action Projects in the classroom through which they engage and inspire students to explore their natural environment. Action Projects allow student interns to plan a lesson that stretches over more than two weeks, and offer students a way to create something that combines all they have learned in the classroom over the semester. Student engagement always peaks during Action Projects because students are given the opportunity to be involved in a hands-on experience that will better their community.

Give today to help us continue to enrich the environmental science education of our interns and students! 

Any funds procured through this crowdfunding campaign will tremendously help us deliver hands-on lessons in the classroom that address relevant environmental needs concerning biodiversity in our region and continue doing this important work.

Your gifts make our work possible.

All donations are tax-deductible. To make a donation via check make it payable to the University of Arizona Foundation for the Benefit of WISE with Bio/Diversity Project in the Memo and mail it to:

Women in Science and Engineering Program

University of Arizona

925 N. Tyndall Ave.

Tucson, AZ 85721

For additional questions, please contact Stephanie Murphy at sumurphy@arizona.edu

*************

The Bio/Diversity Project is a collaboration between UArizona's Women in Science and Engineering Program and Saguaro National Park/The Friends of Saguaro National Park, with additional support provided by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and faculty and staff from over 21 different UArizona Departments. WISE is housed in the Southwest Institute for Research on Women in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.