Title: Associate Dean for Academics and Land-Grant Programs and Associate Professor, Tennessee State University
Education: B.S., urban forestry, Southern University and A&M College; M.S. and Ph.D., forestry, Texas A&M University
Age: 39
Mentors: Frances Williams, Tennessee State University; Chandra Reddy, Tennessee State University; Beattra S. Wilson, U.S. Forest Service
Words of encouragement/wisdom: “Balance self and work by making self-care an absolute priority.
According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), geosciences have the lowest ethnic and racial diversity rates of any STEM discipline, but Dr. De’Etra Jenra Young is working to make sure it doesn’t stay that way.
Associate dean of academics and land-grant programs and associate professor in the College of Agriculture at Tennessee State University (TSU), Young knows just how powerful historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are when it comes to retaining underrepresented students in the sciences. Not only does she teach at one, she’s a proud first-generation alumna of Louisiana’s Southern University and A&M College.
Yet Young also knows that — when it comes to earth sciences — HBCUs might not offer the extensive list of courses that can be necessary for employment or advanced degrees in geoscience, she says. So, Young took action. She partnered with Vanderbilt University, less than three miles down the road from TSU, to develop the Earth Horizons program. The NSF-funded program provides a variety of experiential and classroom experiences within the geosciences.
