Tiffany Acosta, New Mexico State University

LAS CRUCES - For more than three decades, the New Mexico Alliance for Minority Participation program has helped transform the educational experiences of underrepresented minority students in STEM disciplines.
 
NM AMP, which is housed at New Mexico State University, offers a range of opportunities, including participation in the Undergraduate Research Scholars program that provides research assistantships and the NM AMP STEM PREP program, which introduces university students to research earlier in their academic lives. 
 
“NM AMP has shaped where I place my priorities,” said Jose ‘Leo’ Bañuelos, who participated from 2001 to 2004 and earned his bachelor’s and doctorate in physics from NMSU. “It has taught me to value the human element of science, including fostering the relationships we forge in our professional networks. As a scientist engaged in several interdisciplinary research areas, NM AMP provided a space to help me build the confidence to venture bravely into new areas and learn to effectively bridge communication with scientists and engineers from many diverse fields.” 
 
Since 1993, NM AMP has received almost $28 million in National Science Foundation funding, including a new $2.5 million grant to support the program through May 2029. The latest grant will facilitate collaboration among NMSU, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico Highlands University, Northern New Mexico College and Western New Mexico University. The Summer Community College Opportunity for Research Experience, or SCCORE, and other professional development workshops assist community college students in transferring to four-year institutions.
 
“I appreciate the head start that I got on having real research experiences,” said Bañuelos, now a physics associate professor at UTEP. “My mentors and NM AMP program staff encouraged me to become an independent learner, to communicate my work at conferences, and provided me with formative feedback to grow as a professional scientist. I am grateful that I got to know my mentors on a personal level and to this day consider them to be among my professional mentors.” 
 
According to NM AMP Director Jeanne Garland, NM AMP has impacted the lives of more than 9,000 students. 
 
“The goal of NM AMP for years to come is to increase the quantity and quality of underrepresented minority students who complete STEM degrees and to prepare and encourage them to pursue graduate education to eventually enter the STEM workforce,” Garland said. 
 
C.J. Quintana, a junior majoring in engineering physics at NMSU, believes NM AMP is a hidden gem. 
 
“It gives people an opportunity who might not be as good in the classroom to really shine in another complete dimension,” he said.
 
Quintana, who joined NM AMP in 2023 and is slated to graduate in 2026, was accepted into the NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program and spent summer 2024 working with an astrophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin. 
 
“There’s just no limit on how much shine that you can have in research,” Quintana said. “Coming into college, I did not have a ton of confidence that I was going to be an amazing student, that I was going to have a super successful future beyond college, but these opportunities outside of the classroom make an impact on your future that’s really giving me the confidence.”
 
A version of this story was published in the fall 2024 issue of Panorama. For more stories, visit https://panorama.nmsu.edu.

Tiffany Acosta writes for New Mexico State University Marketing and Communications and can be reached at 575-646-3929, or by email at tfrank@nmsu.edu.