The national headquarters of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) released the 2013 Chapter Awards for this year, whereupon Grinnell received the “Role Model Award,” along with other prestigious universities such as Brown, UCLA, UCSB, Texas Tech and others. Grinnell was named an “Outstanding New Chapter.”

This award allows the continuous funding for research programs here on campus and also allows the continuing sponsorship of other programs through SACNAS to remain active in Grinnell.

“SACNAS’s mission is trying to provide mentorship and learning opportunities for students particularly of Chicano and Native American ancestry, but SACNAS is also very open to students from all backgrounds, which we found particularly appealing,” said Elaine Marzluff, Chemistry, a founding faculty member of Grinnell’s SACNAS chapter.

In the 2010-11 school year, Marzluff and other faculty members, along with 13 students, attended their first national SACNAS conference, which featured workshops intended to inspire students to pursue careers in the sciences.

“There were sessions on how to think about graduate school, about how to interact with faculty. Basically SACNAS is trying to get students to be successful scientists,” Marzluff said.

“Previous cabinet members have worked very hard to get where we are today, and I hope that the future members of SACNAS do the same to keep this program here on campus,” said Martin Estrada ’15, a cabinet member of Grinnell’s SACNAS chapter. “We also hope to gain more institutions in Iowa to join the SACNAS in the future as a way to network with other campuses in our area.”

The 2013 SACNAS Chapter Awards ceremony will take place in San Antonio, Texas on Oct. 3–6. Members of Grinnell’s SACNAS chapter will travel there to receive the award.