SW New Mexico News

The New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation (NM AMP) program has been awarded a $2.5 million grant by the National Science Foundation to support the Louis Stokes Renewal STEM Pathways and Research Alliance: New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation at New Mexico State University (NMSU). The principal investigator for the program is Lakshmi Reddi, interim provost at NMSU.

This funding, designated for the period from June 2024 to May 2029, aims to enhance science, technology, engineering, and math education for underrepresented minority students across New Mexico.

“We value programs encouraging minority participation at all levels,” Reddi said. “The NSF AMP project is very much aligned with our student-centric mission at NMSU. We are proud of the long track record this project brings in terms of its positive impact on our learning environment.”

Since its inception in 1993, NM AMP has played a significant role in transforming educational experiences for underrepresented minority students in STEM disciplines. The latest grant will facilitate collaboration among seven four-year institutions: NMSU, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico Highlands University, Northern New Mexico College, and Western New Mexico University.

“Planned Alliance interdisciplinary activities and events increase institutional capacity to serve underrepresented minority students and encourage individual student engagement, retention and progression,” said Jeanne Garland, NM AMP director. “For the past 31 years, NM AMP has impacted the lives of over 9,000 students in direct support and over 3,000 students in indirect support.”

This iteration of NM AMP focuses on sustaining effective practices for supporting underrepresented minority student success. A significant aspect of the program is its emphasis on climate sustainability and resilience aligning with NSF’s Growing Convergence Research initiative. Students will engage in research projects that enhance their academic skills while addressing critical environmental challenges.

The NM AMP program offers various opportunities for underrepresented minority students including participation in the Undergraduate Research Scholars program which provides research assistantships and the NM AMP STEM PREP program introducing university students to research early in their academic careers.

Additionally, programs like Summer Community College Opportunity for Research Experience (SCCORE) and other professional development workshops assist community college students transferring to four-year institutions.

“Being a faculty mentor of NM AMP Undergraduate Research Scholars at NMSU has given me great satisfaction over the years,” said Paola Bandini co-principal investigator and NMSU civil engineering professor. “My Undergraduate Research Scholars are enthusiastic about learning and contributing to my research projects. The students went on to have successful professional careers and several have pursued graduate education because of their research experience through this program.”

“AMP has taught me to never give up and always continue persevering,” said Sandra Rios Alba a biochemistry student at NMSU mentored by NMSU biology Professor Graciela Unguez.

“NM AMP helped me learn skills needed to overcome adversity providing a low-stress research experience exploring different areas of my field,” said Damian Lovato-Admire a math physics student at New Mexico Tech.

Overall since 1993 NM AMP has received $27.8 million in NSF funding enabling it to impact students statewide through seven five-year cycles encouraging underrepresented minority students to pursue bachelor’s degrees graduate school and beyond.

“The goal of NM AMP for years to come is increasing quantity quality of underrepresented minority students completing STEM degrees preparing encouraging them pursuing graduate education eventually entering STEM workforce,” Garland said.

To learn more about NM AMP visit https://nmamp.nmsu.edu/index.html.