Plant Sciences’ Diane Beckles Awarded Inaugural Chancellor’s Fellowship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Diane Beckles, associate professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, has been named an inaugural recipient of the Chancellor’s Fellowship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Awarded by UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May and the Academic Senate, the fellowship recognizes faculty with an “abiding commitment to reducing opportunity gaps for underrepresented students and/or students from underserved communities.”
The four recipients were announced on July 16, which included Beckles, Colleen Bronner in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Milmon F. Harrison in the Department of African American and African Studies, and Margarita Jimenez-Silva in the School of Education.
Beckles was honored for her demonstrated extraordinary leadership, contributions, results and impact in diversity, equity and inclusion at the classroom, departmental, campus and UC levels. She has increased the number of African American students in the UC system through the UC Historically Black Universities and Colleges Initiative. Among other efforts at UC Davis, she actively recruits/retains African American students through the Plant Agricultural Biology Graduate Admissions Pathway Program (PABGAP), trains/mentors underrepresented minority students in her lab, and creates an inclusive classroom to promote, sustain, ensure and further students’ scholarship.
Each fellow receives $5,000 in academic enrichment funds to support their continued efforts in support of diversity, equity and inclusion. Beckles plans to use the funds to carry out a five-point STEM pipeline plan to increase recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority students over three to five years.
“I hope to instill a love of plants and science in all students, and to use proven strategies that would allow each student, regardless of their background, to make important and unique contributions to plant sciences,” said Beckles. “Differences in a person’s socioeconomic status, race, gender, disability, nationality, sexual orientation or political or religious beliefs should not be a barrier to their ability to succeed.”
Related:
Announcing UC Davis’ Inaugural Chancellor’s Fellowships for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Photo caption: Mentee Caylen Goldsberry and Dr. Beckles at ABRCMS (Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students). Caylen was a PABGAP Scholar from Tuskegee University who worked in the Beckles Lab in summer 2018. (courtesy)
Photo caption: Courtney Lester, an undergraduate student from Fort Valley State University, conducted research in Dr. Beckles’ lab in summer 2017 and won a prize at ABRCMS later that year. (courtesy)