Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** project summarygiven the increasing…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** project summarygiven the increasing need for a robust and innovative scientific workforce to address climate change, pepperwood is committed to creating a pathway to stem for sonoma county students from elementary school through high school and college. This project serves the need areas of student experiential learning and student recruitment, retention, mentoring and educational equity. Our programs are designed to increase the number of qualified applicants for stem careers, particularly women and ethnic minorities, by introducing conservation science to 2ND, 3RD, 4TH, and 5TH graders through our students conducting environmental inquiry (sceniq) program, rural high school students through our teennat program, and college students through our conservation science internship program (CSI).we aim to increase ECO-literacy, inspire participants to pursue advanced education in stem, and provide students with resources to support pathways to stem fields. We offer several engagement opportunities, including field trips to our 3,200-acre nature preserve in santa rosa, california and 1-week and 5-week on-site institutes for teens. We offer summer education assistant positions to place teennat alumni in leadership positions with younger cohorts. We provide environmental education workshops and training with on-the-ground stewardship of habitats, implementation of field research techniques, engagement with professionals in stem fields, and networking for stem career development. Our project partners include point blue conservation science, sonoma water, california department of fish and wildlife, local elementary schools, high schools, santa rosa junior college, and more. This program serves the rural populations of the cities of rohnert park, windsor, healdsburg, sonoma, cloverdale, sebastopol, and others across sonoma county.participants work on biodiversity initiatives, invasive species control, native plant restoration, and wildfire fuels reduction projects. At least 50% of selected participants will be bipoc (black, indigenous, people of color). Based on our 2019 survey, 95% of responding teennat alumni who have chosen a major are pursuing stem majors.annually, this program serves 2,182 students.