CLOSING THE SUCCESS GAP THROUGH UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Community college faculty and students from across STEM disciplines have been slowly growing a portfolio of successful undergraduate research projects, many centered around geographically relevant environmental science. Lack of resources and time, and institutional understanding, remain the biggest challenges to this endeavor. However, the success of our students has gained institutional support and has dedicated space and resources to this High Impact Practice. This presentation is a case study of how Triton College, a Hispanic Serving 2YC just outside of Chicago, has grown its offerings and capabilities for students and faculty to collaborate outside the classroom on authentic research and present their findings at meaningful venues. Student-Faculty teams have discovered sources of pollution in the Chicago River by working with the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, studied the effectiveness of oyster mushrooms to remediate road salt and E. coli pollution in the Des Plaines River (mycoremediation), and demonstrated the ability to grow food indoors without the use of synthetic fertilizers through worm waste (vermiponics), and many other projects while learning how to map, collect, and test water and soil. Students participating in these activities graduate and transfer to 4YCs at a rate of over 80%, where the school average is around 20%. Of the students that then go on to present their findings and attend conferences, all of them have successfully gone on in careers or further education in STEM. When looking across demographics, the gap between majority and minoritized students typically observed at the institution go away among students with research experience. Building on this success, Triton College has recently created the Physical and Life Science Undergraduate Student (PLUS) Research Lab dedicated to these collaborative student-led experiences.