Enhancing Diversity in STEM Careers Through Mentored Training (2025-2026)
This team examined how mentorship, environmental health education and community engagement can broaden participation in STEM fields among high school students from historically underserved backgrounds. Building on previous work through the Health and Environment Scholars Program (HESP), the team partnered with Durham Public Schools (DPS) to provide a year-long curriculum focused on environmental justice, sustainability and stewardship while evaluating its impact on students’ STEM interests, skills, and college and career readiness.
During the academic year, HESP served 42 high school students from six schools, with more than 80% identifying as Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color and 60% as first-generation college students. Through 16 in-person sessions, DPS students participated in hands-on learning experiences and field visits alongside Duke undergraduate and graduate students trained in inclusive mentoring and STEM education practices that connect environmental science concepts to real-world challenges. The program culminated in a “hackathon” where student teams developed solutions to local environmental health issues, including lead contamination, plastic pollution and urban infrastructure concerns.
The project demonstrated measurable impact through pre- and post-program surveys, which showed statistically significant gains in students’ environmental attitudes and stewardship behaviors. In addition to delivering the curriculum, the team expanded its long-term reach by publishing lesson plans for educators, redesigning the program website, creating outreach and recruitment materials, establishing an alumni engagement network and forming an Executive Advisory Board of Durham Public Schools teachers. These efforts strengthen pathways into STEM education while providing scalable resources that can be adopted by schools and educators across North Carolina and beyond.
Timing
Summer 2025 – Summer 2026
Team Outputs
Enhancing Diversity in STEM Careers Through Mentored Training (Poster presentation at the Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 15, 2026)
Promotional and recruitment videos
Year-long HESP curriculum and program evaluation
End-of-year Hackathon, featuring five student team projects addressing local environmental health issues
Revised external stakeholder and funder materials
Developed alumni network infrastructure
Established Executive Advisory Board
Refined teacher outreach
Spanish translation of the external program handbook
Burroughs Wellcome Fund grant application (in progress)
Manuscript (in progress)
This Team in the News
Student Reflection: Max Freudenheim (Psychology '27)
Student Reflection: Lizzy Glazer (Neuroscience and Marine Science & Conservation ’26)
See related teams, Enhancing Diversity in STEM Careers Through Mentored Training (2024-2025) and Enhancing Success in STEM Careers Through Mentored Training (2026-2027).
Image: Students at the Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility in January 2023, courtesy of the Enhancing Mentoring in STEM project team