PROJECT HIGHLIGHT
This project created a new program, Pathways to Marine Science, that helps students majoring in marine science or related fields transition from community college to the University of California, Davis. The program offers a “bridge” for community college students, providing research experience and community building before their official matriculation at UC Davis.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Community colleges typically enroll higher proportions of students from historically marginalized groups than four-year institutions. Financial and social burdens can keep students from transferring from these two-year programs to four-year institutions that provide the degrees necessary for many jobs in the science workforce.
This project created a new program, Pathways to Marine Science, that helps students majoring in marine science or related fields transition from community college to the University of California, Davis. The funding provided a “bridge” program for five community college students, which began in the summer of 2023, before their official transfer to UC Davis’s marine and coastal science major that fall. Most of the students had little to no prior research experience. Through the Pathways to Marine Science program, they were paired with faculty and graduate student mentors from UC Davis and engaged in research projects. To develop data synthesis and communication skills, the mentees presented their research to faculty and students from UC Davis’s Bodega Marine Laboratory and had the opportunity to attend a scientific conference. The participating students reported that, by gaining confidence through the research experience and building a network of peers and faculty members, they felt more comfortable and prepared for the transfer experience.