UTCSR Education and Outreach Department Receives 2024 Stand Up for STEM Award

UTCSR’s Education and Outreach Team (L to R): Celena Miller, Margaret Baguio, and Laura Tomlin

We are pleased to announce that The University of Texas Austin Center for Space Research, Education and Outreach Department has been awarded the Texas Girls Collaborative Project 2024 Educational Organization Stand Up for STEM Award.

This award recognizes individual K-12 schools, pre-K schools or non-profits, educational non-profits, and similar organizations. Nominees shall demonstrate a commitment to engaging STEM mentors and role models in programs encouraging women and girls to pursue STEM careers, increasing the diversity of those pursuing STEM careers, and retaining women and girls who enter the STEM education pipeline.

Nominees were evaluated on the following attributes:

  • Demonstrated diversity objectives/ goals for STEM educational initiatives.
  • Demonstrated passion for encouraging girls to pursue a STEM career.
  • Educates parents, other educators, and/or the community to encourage girls to pursue STEM careers.
  • Designs, supports, or offers programs for students, parents, educators, etc., that actively and thoroughly incorporate STEM mentors and role models.
  • Demonstrated activities to encourage girls to pursue STEM pathways and careers.
  • Engages students in mentoring or leads STEM mentoring programs that address STEM student success, including sharing/exploring academic and career pathways, encouraging a growth mindset, emotional and social support, self-confidence and self-efficacy, and career-related skills.

UTCSR’s impactful outreach programs, which include the STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) High School Summer Internship Program and the LiftOff Educator Institute, reached over 15,000 young women in 2024. These initiatives create a supportive environment where women and girls excel in STEM, with a focus on diversity and inclusion. By engaging both students and educators, UTCSR breaks barriers in STEM education, fostering gender equity and supporting underserved communities. Its mentorship and outreach efforts position UTCSR as a leader in creating lasting change in STEM fields.

Official press release: https://www.txgcp.org/2024-stand-up-for-stem-awards