Jane Wolfson
Towson University
Alan R. Berkowitz
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

The Baltimore Collaborative for Environmental Biology (BCEB) engaged diverse students in environmental research and learning, exposing them to career paths in research and academia. Under the leadership of Jane Wolfson of Towson University and supported by an NSF Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) grant, BCEB gave four cohorts of students two years of research experience in the field. IES Head of Education Alan Berkowitz was a co-director of the project, helping run an annual short-course in environmental biology in Baltimore, providing support to the students through their research experiences, and helping design assessments of student and mentor outcomes.

Research by Jane Wolfson and Towson psychology professor Julie Quimby revealed very interesting insights into the factors that support and constrain interest in environmental biology among the urban, predominantly minority student population served by BCEB (Quimby, J.L., J.L. Wolfson & N.D. Seyala. 2007. Social Cognitive Predictors of African American Adolescents' Career Interests. Journal of Career Development 33(4):376-394).

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