Equity

BIPOC Farm Mentorship Program Application

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The Connecticut Department of Agriculture is soliciting applications from individual farms and/or non-profits to identify, host and mentor a BIPOC apprentice(s) for the 2023 season. The focus of the apprenticeship must be on specialty crops. Specialty crops are defined as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.”
The CT DoAg has up to $50,000 in funds to award in 2023. Funding for this initiative is from USDA’s Specialty Crop Block
Grant Program. Prospective mentors may apply for up to $5,000/apprentice to be spent between mid-May- September 29, 2023. 

The deadline to apply to be considered to be a mentor/host is Monday, May 1, 2023 at 4pm. Please apply using this Cognito form. Preference will be given to mentors who identify as BIPOC, but it is not a requirement. 

Please read the attached guidance document for complete details. If you have questions or need assistance with completing the application, please contact Cyrena Thibodeau at CT DoAg , Cyrena.Thibodeau@ct.gov or 860-895-3094

Click here to view the guidance document.

Click here to apply.

rows of lettuce, white and green text, white and green boxes

Registration For The CCNR-COEAA Conference Is Now Open

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Beaver Brook State Park in Chaplin with dead treesThe Connecticut Conference on Natural Resources and Connecticut Outdoor & Environmental Education Association Joint Conference for 2021 will be Monday, March 15, 2021 from 9:00AM – 3:30PM.

This year’s theme is Creating a More Equitable & Inclusive Environmental Sector.

Click here to register.

Visit the conference website to learn more about conference highlights, including: 

  • Plenary Panel: BIPOC Young Environmental Professionals: Stories & Reflections to Guide Ways Forward 
  • Keynote: Parker McMullen Bushman: Making the Outdoors Welcoming Spaces for All People 
  • Conference platform facilitating 24 concurrent talks and an interactive poster & networking session (stay tuned for a call for presentation next week) 

 Interested in being a CCNR-COEEA Sponsor? Learn more here: https://ctcnr.weebly.com/host–sponsors.html 

Fellowship Supports Diversity in Marine, Coastal Research

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scallop shells on a Connecticut beachThree undergraduate students helping pave the way for greater diversity in the sciences have been chosen as the first recipients of Connecticut Sea Grant’s new summer undergraduate research fellowships for underrepresented and underserved students in marine and coastal scientific research.

UConn students Andrew Tienken and Larissa Tabb and Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) student James Hannon each will receive a $5,000 stipend to conduct summer research projects under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

“We are pleased to support more students in their pursuit of a career in the sciences and look forward to learning about the outcomes of their individual projects,” said Nancy Balcom, associate director of CT Sea Grant.

The program is designed to provide early career experience, training and mentorship to underrepresented minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged students as well as students of color, indigenous students, members of the LGBTQ community and students with disabilities.

“This fellowship is the result of several years of visioning efforts that I was involved in within the National Sea Grant program which focused on enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Syma Ebbin, who led the creation of the program as CT Sea Grant’s research coordinator “Funding was made available from the National Sea Grant program for state programs to push this visioning agenda forward. The motivating idea is that in order to have greater diversity in marine and coastal sciences, more efforts are needed to engage and mentor students earlier on in their academic careers. This effort is being made to prime the pipeline, so to speak, so in the future there will be a greater diversity of highly trained individuals working in marine research.“

Tienken, Hannon and Tabb, who are all rising juniors majoring in environmental science, biology and marine science, respectively, said they are grateful for the support Connecticut Sea Grant is providing to help increase diversity in their fields of interest.

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