VSU’s Jazmin Borges Wins Research Award at LSAMP Summit

Jazmin Borges’s research, “Gopher Tortoise Mortality and Reliability of Passive Integrated Transponders at Reed Bingham State Park,” recently won the People’s Choice Award at the 2023 Southwest Georgia Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Summit Juried Poster Competition in Columbus. She is a senior from Griffin, Georgia, who plans to graduate from Valdosta State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, a Minor in Environmental Studies, and a Minor in Psychology on May 6.

VALDOSTA — Jazmin Borges’s research, “Gopher Tortoise Mortality and Reliability of Passive Integrated Transponders at Reed Bingham State Park,” recently won the People’s Choice Award at the 2023 Southwest Georgia Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Summit Juried Poster Competition in Columbus.

“My research involves working with an endangered species of the southeast region of the United States — the gopher tortoise,” said the Valdosta State University senior from Griffin, Georgia. “In 2008, 174 hatchlings were implanted with passive integrated transponders, or PIT tags, also known as identification tags. These hatchlings were released in two different management sites at Reed Bingham State Park. My job is to go out, conduct field surveys, catch and release tortoises, and place camera traps to investigate what happens to those original 174 hatchlings — now juveniles — to monitor their mortality and the reliability of the PIT tags after 15 years. This project's results could be used for potential management plans for the park managers and educational initiatives for conservation efforts.”

“I am immensely proud of the work I am doing,” she added. “This has been an incredible opportunity for me to be part of this research. I just want to keep going, expand on this research to see what else I can do, and broaden my horizons.”

Borges plans to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a Minor in Environmental Studies and a Minor in Psychology on May 6.

“Jazmin has been a superior research mentee and a great student,” said Dr. J. Mitchell Lockhart, a professor of biology in VSU’s College of Science and Mathematics and Borges’s mentor. “She has taken my Wildlife Biology course and is currently taking my Wildlife Diseases course. She has been aggressive in pursuing her research project and has been a very active participant in both of my courses. She is exactly the kind of student-researcher that I enjoy having in my research laboratory and in my courses.”

“I anticipate Jazmin will apply for graduate school soon,” he added. “I believe she has tremendous potential as a graduate student. I hope that I have helped her reach her goals and set new, higher goals.”

Throughout the two-day LSAMP Summit, Borges had an opportunity to learn more about a variety of topics, including how to form research partnerships with librarians, how to turn challenges in opportunities, and how to create her own lane when pursuing a career in STEM.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the LSAMP initiative is designed to assist institutions of higher education in diversifying the nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce by increasing the number of STEM degrees awarded to populations historically underrepresented in those disciplines — women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders.

The Southwest Georgia LSAMP, formally known as the Southwest Georgia STEM Pathways Alliance, includes VSU, Columbus State University, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Georgia Southwestern State University, and Columbus Technical College. VSU’s program is housed in the College of Science and Mathematics.

Through LSAMP, VSU faculty and staff are working to support underrepresented students and others facing barriers to success in STEM disciplines.

Participating students benefit academically, personally, and financially. The LSAMP program allows them to get more involved in their academic major and acquire practical hands-on experience in their chosen career field — all while developing deeper mentoring relationships with faculty, current practitioners, and leaders in the scientific fields.    

“LSAMP has introduced me to a lot of opportunities that I would not have the chance to be a part of, and I am incredibly grateful for it,” Borges shared. “It has allowed me to create well-thought-out plans for my future and guided me through the research and presentation process, while allowing me to participate in fun travel experiences.”

According to recent research by the Pew Research Center, better minority representation in the STEM workforce is sorely needed. While African American workers comprise 11 percent of total employment across all occupations, they comprise only 9 percent of STEM workers and represent just 5 percent of engineers and 7 percent of workers in computer occupations. While Hispanic workers make up 17 percent of the total workforce across all occupations, they comprise only 8 percent of the STEM workforce.

Pay gaps for women and minorities working in STEM fields — when compared to their male and white counterparts — are equally pervasive.

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation was established in 1991 and named in honor of former United States Congressman Louis Stokes, who spent his life serving and defending those in need. Stokes, the first African American congressman elected in the state of Ohio, served 15 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his 30 years in Congress, he was one of the Cold War-era chairmen of the House Intelligence Committee, headed the Congressional Black Caucus, and was the first African Americans to serve on the House Appropriations Committee.