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care and addressing unmet medical needs. As a world-leading contract biopharmaceutical

manufacturer (CDMO), we’re helping accelerate the development of new drugs with a

complete range of services. Our state-of-the-art facilities deliver precise control of process

conditions and unmatched productivity. Utilizing our cell biology and bioprocessing

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create a healthier world for all.

Like many undergraduates pursuing a science,

technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)

degree, Maggie Fox couldnít quite figure out how to add

an international studies course to her packed schedule

of classes, labs, and independent research. So when she

received an email while on winter break asking if sheíd

like to do research in France, she quickly and furtively

tapped out her reply on her phone during her sisterís

holiday dance recital.

ìDo I need to know how to speak French?î she asked.

ìNo!î came the quick reply.

ìThen sign me up!î she typed back, ignoring her

motherís raised eyebrows. The email came from Shanise

Kent, the director of the Louis Stokes Alliances for

Minority Participation (LSAMP) program at Binghamton

University, part of the State University of New York (SUNY)

LSAMP alliance. Fox had joined the Binghamton LSAMP

group to connect with other students of color like herself

who were STEM majors.

Fox spent that next summer doing materials science

research on conductive polymers at the University of

Grenoble in France. ìAt that point, I was unsure about my

future decisionsódo I apply for graduate school, go for

a research job, or teach high school?î recalls Fox. ìIt was

a once-in-a-lifetime chance to explore another area of

research in another country.î

It was also a true exchange of scientific knowledge and

cultureóFox shared how to do a vapor polymerization

method with the Grenoble group, and they taught her

how to grow silicon nanotree structures. She learned new

research techniques and had the freedom to plan her own

experiments.

ìThe experience sold me on applying to graduate

school, because they treated me like a graduate student

there,î says Fox, now in her third year as a Ph.D. student at

University of California, Los Angeles, studying sustainable

materials and energy storage systems.

The Louis Stokes Regional NSF International Center

of Excellence (LSAMP-NICE) serves to facilitate those

connections and promote opportunities, just as the

fortuitous email to Foxís phone did, so that both

undergraduate and graduate students who are historically

underrepresented in STEM careers may participate in

significant international research collaborations. LSAMP-

NICE blends the best practices and networks built by

nearly 30 years of LSAMP alliance institutions with the

financial and logistical support of U.S. National Science

Foundation (NSF) programs and collaborating institutions

around the globe (see box). LSAMP-NICE also provides

competitive faculty awards to U.S.-based research

advisors so they can collaborate and build partnerships

with laboratories overseas; connects students to the

practical support they need to secure travel visas and

housing; and promotes the involvement of students

underrepresented in STEM in international collaborative

researchóan integral part of the LSAMP-NICE mission.

Students who traveled to France, Saudi Arabia, and

Costa Rica have shared about how their experiences

abroad encouraged them to continue careers in research,

boosted their confidence, and helped them grow into IMA

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global citizens whose research will make significant

impacts on the world.

ìIn this age of globalization, it is imperative that

underrepresented minority students be given the

opportunity to do international research,î says Martha

Mondoa-Tchounwou, LSAMP-NICE co-principal

investigator and director of the Scholars Academy and

Student Support Services at Jackson State University in

Mississippi. ìLSAMP-NICE provides a bridge between

international research institutions and minority-serving

institutions to make it easier for students to study abroad,

receive meaningful international experiences, and gain

vital knowledge and cultural skills that will make them

global citizens.î

Emmanuel Gras, a researcher and organic chemist at

CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research)

and coordinator for the U.S/France/Belgium International

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (iREU) Site in

Translational Chemistry, says that every scientist learns

from meeting people from other countries and cultures

and that these exchanges are beneficial for both the

students and their host laboratories. ìWe get students

with different training and backgrounds who strengthen

their abilities in a different environment, and the U.S.

students are always so enthusiastic that they bring an

exquisite energy to our research teams.î

Making research careers a realityLike Fox, Anthony Keyes had the opportunity to do a

3-month summer research internship in France at the

University of Bordeaux and then returned to complete a

Masterís degree within the same French laboratory. Keyes

was a prime candidate because he had already done

research as an undergraduate at Jackson State University

in organic nanoparticles. LSAMP-NICE matched Keyes to

an organic polymer chemistry group in Bordeaux that was

developing iron oxide nanoparticles for targeted delivery

of anticancer drugs.

ìFrom a research perspective, that summer was the

first time I felt like a scientist,î says Keyes, now in a Ph.D.

program at the University of Houston, Texas. ìI had a clear

goal on where the project was headed and I was given

a large amount of independence, and we published the

work in a peer-reviewed journal.î

After finishing her first summer of research as an

environmental science student at United Tribes Technical

College in Bismarck, North Dakota, Kimberlee Blevins

had the chance to do 2 weeks of research in Costa Rica

through the All Nations LSAMP. Wrapping up collecting

and analyzing data on how bee body size was related

to foraging distances, she was primed to do more

research. ìI was hooked on the research bug, and doing

international research was the next challenge I wanted to

take on,î says Blevins.

Blevins joined a project to analyze camera-trap photos

of an invasive ginger plant to see which birds and

mammals were pollinating the plants. The trip to Costa

Rica reinforced her desire to help solve global problems

through her tribal ties to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara

Nation reservation lands. She is pursuing a Masterís

degree in environmental science at Sitting Bull College

in Fort Yates, North Dakota, to investigate the health and

environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction.

Through another LSAMP-NICEñfacilitated trip in

January, Casandra Salinas competed in the Ninth Annual

Undergraduate Poster Competition at King Abdullah

University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal,

Saudi Arabia. The week spent presenting her research,

networking with other student researchers from around

the world, and learning about KAUST and Saudi Arabia,

convinced Salinas that she should apply to microbiology

Ph.D. programs abroad as well as in the United States for

the next phase of her research career.

ìI love traveling and I was pretty stoked about the

chance to present my research,î says Salinas.

ìThe experience sold me on applying to graduate school, because they treated me like a graduate student there.î

ó Maggie Fox

Punching holes in imposter syndromeBut Salinasí confidence hasnít always run so high. She

credits her mentors in the Oklahoma LSAMP alliance with

helping build her up to a place where presenting her

research to an international audience seemed normal.

As someone who was born in the United States, but

raised in rural Mexico, Salinas keenly felt like she didnít

fit in as a student researcher. ìIt felt like I should be

working in the agricultural fields or in fast food. I didnít

see people like me in research,î she says. But OK-LSAMP

directors Brenda Morales and Jason Kirksey, who is also

vice president for institutional diversity at Oklahoma State

University, flipped her perspective. ìThey made me see

the significance of my contributions to research.î

For Salinas, getting to Saudi Arabia on her own would

have been out of the question, but the experience helped

her overcome her doubts and her imposter syndrome.

ìThe idea of going to college seemed not doable. Then

I didnít believe I was capable of finishing a degree,

especially not one in biochemistry and molecular biology,î

she says. ìEven on my way to KAUST, I was thinking, ëIím

so lucky!í But I missed an important point: Iíve actually

worked for this.î

High cultural exchange ratesOf course, cultural exchanges happen beyond

laboratory walls too. Fox and Keyes both traveled

extensively through Europe and developed friendships

with other student researchers that carried forward into

graduate school.

The students from the All Nations LSAMP alliance who

traveled with Blevins to Costa Rica had a chance to visit

with the indigenous Boruca community to learn about

their history, see their dyed-fabric arts, and share a meal.

The visit left a deep impression on Blevins. ìSometimes

the issue of tribal lands rights feels victimizing, as if you

are the only tribe fighting these issues,î she says. ìIt was

mind-blowing to hear about another tribeís land-rights

struggles in a different country.î

Salinas came away with unforgettable memories:

ìYou donít really understand other cultures until you

immerse yourself in them and are fully surrounded by the

environment,î she says. Salinas shared a late-night Arabian

coffee chat with two Saudi Arabian students exploring the

regionís views on women, culture, and religion.

Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)

Across the United States, the 57 Louis Stokes

Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)

provide professional development and

academic and financial support for both

undergraduate and graduate students from

historically underrepresented minority groups

in science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Created

in 2018, the Louis Stokes Regional NSF

International Center of Excellence (LSAMP-

NICE) is specifically charged with broadening

underrepresented student participation in

international collaborative research. LSAMP-

NICE is a collaboration of four institutions:

Salish Kootenai College, a tribal college in

Pablo, Montana (Steve Dupuis, LSAMP-NICE

PI); Jackson State University, a historically black

university in Jackson, Mississippi (Glake Hill and

Martha Mondoa-Tchounwou, co-PIs); Louisiana

State University, an R1, or research-intensive,

institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Zakiya

Wilson-Kennedy, co-PI); and the University

of Illinois at Chicago, an R1 and Hispanic-

serving institution (Denise Yates, co-PI). All

LSAMP projects are funded through the NSF

Broadening Participation initiative.

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ìThe idea of going to

college seemed not doable.

Then I didnít believe I

was capable of finishing

a degree, especially not

one in biochemistry and

molecular biology . . . even

on my way to KAUST, I was

thinking, ëIím so lucky!í

But I missed an important

point: Iíve actually worked

for this.î

ó Casandra Salinas

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Lucy Okumu, director of KAUSTís international office,

says part of the mission of the university is to foster

exchanges between scientists around the globe. ìWe

recognize that financial constraints are a big barrier for top

students going forward in research careers,î she says. The

poster competition, she says, builds awareness among

those students that there is an opportunity to study at a

world-class institute like KAUST and receive full financial

support.

These students came away from their travels with a

sharper sense that solving global research challenges,

such as climate change or the need for pandemic

vaccines, requires them to participate as both global

scientists and citizens. ìThe LSAMP students are just like

sponges,î says Gras. ìThey are very open-minded and get

everything they can from their stay abroad.î

Global currency for changing mindsGoing into his fourth year of doctoral studies, Keyes

already has three first-author publications to his credit.

He has been developing new polymerization platforms

to synthesize novel block copolymers that could help in

recycling and reusing mixed plastics for new materials.

But in addition to newfound confidence, while in France,

Keyes also found his voice as an advocate for minority

scientists.

As a Black man, Keyes often found himself answering

questions about diversity initiatives such as LSAMP-NICE.

He explained the importance of promoting minority

participation in research by pointing to the larger French

lab group, which was run by five men and one woman, all

white. ìIf you canít see yourself in the professors you work

for doing research, then that is a huge problem,î says

Keyes. ìItís disheartening for minorities like me to navigate

science when our voices are not being heard, and leaders

in the field do not mirror the diverse range of us who

aspire to be scientists.î

Having these conversations is uncomfortable, he says,

but they need to happen: ìI was very outspokenóit was

one of the key skills I polished in France. Itís not just

minorities, however, who should learn to initiate these

tough conversations.î Everyone, he says, needs to discuss

issues of systemic racism in academic science.

Similarly, Blevins explains that students attending tribal

colleges in the United States often donít see themselves

as world-traveling researchers. ìOur extended families

are very close-knit,î she says, adding that students rarely

leave home for university studies, much less the country.

But her participation in LSAMP programs broadened

Blevinsí horizons on the impact researchers can make

globally and in their own communities. ìWe are so

focused with my own tribeís concerns, but seeing the

problems that farmers face with pollinators or those that

another country has with an invasive species brings it full

circle for me as a researcher,î she says. She recognizes the

challenges of having the Bakken oil field and extraction

infrastructure in the Fort Berthold Reservationís backyard,

and she knows that the environmental and health impacts

of oil and gas extraction must be addressedónot only

for the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, but also

globally.

ìEvery country has a global issue that needs solving,î

says Blevins. ìTribal and other underrepresented STEM

students bring a different perspective, and thatís required

when doing researchóyou want to look at a problem from

as many angles as possible.î

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ìFrom a research

perspective, that summer

was the first time I felt like a

scientist.î

ó Anthony Keyes

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