Echale Ganas

This work is funded by two grants from the US Dept of Agriculture's Hispanic Serving Institution and non-land grant university programs, awarded to Drs. Matt Johnson (Dept Wildlife), Rafael Cuevas-Uribe (Dept Fisheries Biology), and Susan Marshall (Dept Forestry & Wildland Resources).  We also work in close collaboration with Fernando Paz of El Centro Académico Cultural and the Working Landscapes division of Point Blue Conservation Science.

The purpose of these grants is to enable Humboldt to better serve Latinx and other underrepresented students in natural resource sciences, and help students obtain extra-curricular experiential learning opportunities to advance their careers.  In particular, this work aims to engage natural resource students at the nexus of agriculture and natural resource conservation.  We have a particular emphasis on aquaculture, wildlife on farms, and rangeland conservation.

The grant builds from the momentum and accomplishments of the HSI STEM and HHMI grants to Humboldt.  Specifically, those grants have helped improve academic achievement for first-year students, and helped equity close gaps for Hispanic students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines.

“Échale ganas” is a Mexican expression literally meaning “throw some life into it.”  A rough colloquial translation into English is “go for it” or “give it your all.” We chose this expression because our hope is that these grants enable and empower Latinx students to seize opportunities to propel their learning and careers in natural resources.  "Camino al Rancho" means "gateway to the ranch" and refers to our efforts to connect students to wildlife and rangeland conservation opportunities.

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The grants have five main components:

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1 STEM Promotores:  Support Latinx graduate students in Wildlife, Fisheries, and Rangeland Resources who will also serve as mentors for Latinx undergraduates majoring in natural resource sciences. These graduate students’ thesis research projects will focus on wildlife/fish/range and agriculture.

2 Revelar sesiones: The STEM Promotores, in collaboration with the Academic and Career Advising Center (ACAC), will offer periodic informational sessions focusing on empowering underrepresented students to seek, find, and secure internships, research experiences, paid positions with researchers, natural resource biologists, land use and agricultural agencies, etc.

3 Portón internships: The grant will offer internships each summer for Latinx and other underrepresetned undergraduates to participate in work with agency/industry partners in natural resources and agriculture. These partners include a federal agency (the Natural Resource Conservation Service), non-profit conservation organizations (Point Blue and the Northcoast Regional Land Trust), and private industry (local oyster aquaculture companies Hog Island Oyster Co. and Pacific Seafood and cattle ranches). Each internship will provide a stipend of $1000 and the opportunity for course credit.

4 A new course on the nexus of wildlife, fisheries, and rangeland conservation with agriculture that will satisfy a general education requirements and content will include historical impacts of agriculture on wildlife and fisheries; opportunities to integrate wildlife and fish conservation with agriculture, including aquaculture and aquaponics; and the integration of food production, social justice, and biodiversity conservation.  For now, this course is being offered as WLDF 309 -- Case Studies in environmental ethics.

5 Faculty training. Wildlife and Fisheries faculty will attend an immersive training institute, offered by Escala, to learn more about equity mindsets, asset-based student framing, and practical in-the-classroom instruction and tips to improve and enhance culturally responsive pedagogy, particularly for Latnix students.