Fostering Leaders in Resilience

Arizona is home to a diverse population with varying strengths, interests, and vulnerabilities. Preparing for a resilient future requires our next generation of leaders and decision makers to reflect that diversity and be able to communicate across sectors and disciplines. STEM training is necessary, but with fluency that goes beyond just STEM. New cross-disciplinary fields are emerging that mix science with technology or policy, for example, and we need to draw students into them. Students, in turn, seek opportunities to make a difference in their communities even before they graduate.

Program Goals

Research in this program focuses on: 

• increasing diversity in existing scholarship and internship programs; 

• design and implementation of experiential learning curricula; 

• expanding internship programs to include more opportunities, especially for underserved populations and less-advantaged students; 

• leadership training and mentoring for junior faculty via TRIF-funded programs;  

• growing programs to reach K-12 students in STEM and attract them to the University;  

• and creation of new environment-focused courses that allow high school students to gain UArizona credit.