Diversity issues in Science

An article on the difficulties of attracting minorities to graduate programs in science. The NSF's IGERT Program has yet to achieve its goals of the recruitment of minorities and women.

"A program's location can make a big difference, too. The University of Michigan's biosphere atmosphere research training IGERT site, for example, requires students to spend two summers at a research station near the Canadian border. It's a wonderful experience, says Jessica Osuna, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, and an IGERT fellow, but it can be a stretch for Latino students 'who aren't used to living in the forests of northern Michigan.'"

I would just like to make a correction and some comments on the above paragraph. The University of Michigan Biological Station is not near the Canadian border, although it is located near the rural tip of the mitt in the northern Lower Penninsula. The experience of being at this station can be a stretch for anyone that has not spent much time in rural northern Michigan, including students from the urban, post-industrial wastelands of the southern part of the state.