Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** purpose: the SAN joaquin valley…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** purpose: the SAN joaquin valley of california is among the nation's most disadvantaged regions, with among the lowest graduation rates and level of education, and highest poverty rates. The SJV is also among the most ethnically and racially diverse regions of california (and likely the nation). SJV also serves as the world's food-basket with among the most agriculturally rich regions in the nation. The primary purpose of our proposal is to maintain and enhance the excellent momentum established in the original cycle of our USDA HSI education collaborative program at UC merced by expanding the number and type of research training opportunities to the diverse population of students supported by UC merced and our partner hsis, CSU stanislaus and UC santa cruz, and others (JGI, wcmc, UCD).audience: our program targets primarily students from traditionally underrepresented groups in steam and those from social-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, which for UC merced is overwhelmingly hispanic scholars. We will also benefit local schools and their students and other community stakeholders through outreach opportunities.number of scholars benefiting: while we propose to financially support 15 undergraduate and 10 graduate scholars, the broader impacts will benefit all uroc scholars and regional students (over 450).products: our principal products are well-trained undergraduate and graduate level scholars that will be highly qualified for academic or professional positions in agriculture-related disciplines. Other products include many peer-reviewed publications, conference and meeting abstracts and proceedings, and new learning materials for our outreach efforts. Outcomes/impacts: we expect 100% of our UG scholars to graduate with a BS/BA and 100% of our GS scholars to graduate and contribute to the diversity disparity in the steam workforce especially within USDA. Based on the first iteration of our grant we expect the following to constitute most of our expected outcomes: (1) maintain our perfect graduation rate, (2) increase publications by both UG and GS, (3) increase conference and meeting presentations, (4) increase number of awards and honors by both groups, (5) increase number of scholars pursuing agriculture-related careers, and (6) an opportunity to meet and discuss career opportunities with USDA representatives at meetings and on campus.