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Participation in technical/research internships may improve undergraduate graduation rates and persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), yet little is known about the benefits of these activities a) for community college students, b) when hosted by national laboratories, and c) beyond the first few years after the internship. We applied Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to investigate alumni perspectives about how CCI at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) impacted their academic/career activities. We learned that alumni had low confidence and expectations of success in STEM as community college students. Participation in CCI increased their professional networks, expectations of success, and STEM skills, identity, and self-efficacy/confidence. Hispanic/Latinx alumni recalled the positive impact of mentors who prioritized personal connections, and women valued "warm" social environments. We propose several additions to the SCCT model, to better reflect the supports and barriers to STEM persistence for community college students.

A student-led mathematics bootcamp has been designed and implemented to help foster community building, improve confidence in mathematical skills, and provide mathematical resources for incoming physical chemistry doctoral students. The bootcamp is held immediately before the start of the first semester of graduate school and uses an active learning approach to review and practice undergraduate-level mathematics problems over 5 days in small student groups. This work includes the development and presentation of a new, publicly available mathematics curriculum for the bootcamp on select mathematics topics, including calculus, linear algebra, functions, differential equations, statistics, and coding in Python, aiming at improving students' confidence and learning experiences in graduate quantum mechanics and statistical physics courses. Surveys before and after the bootcamp showed an increase in students' confidence in problem-solving in key mathematical areas and social aspects of peer-led group learning. Qualitative and quantitative analyses demonstrate that the bootcamp reduced prior inequities in students' confidence metrics based on gender and mathematical background.

Ultrafast laser pump-probe spectroscopy is an important and growing field of physical chemistry that allows the measurement of chemical dynamics on their natural time scales, but undergraduate laboratory courses lack examples of such spectroscopy and the interpretation of the dynamics that occur. Here we develop and implement an ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy experiment for the undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory course at the University of California Berkeley. The goal of the experiment is to expose students to concepts in solid-state chemistry and ultrafast spectroscopy via classic coherent phonon dynamics principles developed by researchers over multiple decades. The experiment utilizes a modern high-repetition-rate 800 nm femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser, split pulses with a variable time delay, and sensitive detection of transient reflectivity signals using the lock-in technique. The experiment involves minimal intervention from students and is therefore easy and safe to implement in the laboratory. Students first perform an intensity autocorrelation measurement on the femtosecond laser pulses to obtain their temporal duration. Then, students measure the pump-probe reflectivity of a single-crystal antimony sample to determine the period of coherent phonon oscillations initiated by an ultrafast pulse excitation, which is analyzed by fitting to a sine wave. Students who completed the experiment in-person obtained good experimental results, and students who took the course remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic were provided with the data they would have obtained during the experiment to analyze. Evaluation of student written and oral reports reveals that the learning goals were met, and that students gained an appreciation for the field of ultrafast laser-induced chemistry.

Understanding the impact of undergraduate research experiences (UREs) and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) is crucial as universities debate the value of allocating scarce resources to these activities. We report on the Berkeley Undergraduate Research Evaluation Tools (BURET), designed to assess the learning outcomes of UREs and CUREs in chemistry and other sciences. To validate the tools, we administered BURET to 70 undergraduate students in the College of Chemistry and 19 students from other STEM fields, comparing the performance of students who had less than one year of undergraduate research to those with more than one year of research experience. Students wrote reflections and responded to interviews during poster presentations of their research project. BURET asks students to communicate the significance of their project, analyze their experimental design, interpret their data, and propose future research. Scoring rubrics reward students for integrating disciplinary evidence into their narratives. We found that the instruments yielded reliable scores, and the results clarified the impacts of undergraduate research, specifically characterizing the strengths and weaknesses of undergraduate researchers in chemistry at our institution. Students with at least a year of research experience were able to use disciplinary evidence more effectively than those with less than one year of experience. First-year students excelled at explaining the societal relevance of their work, but they incorporated only minimal discussion of prior research into their reflections and presentations. Students at all levels struggled to critique their own experimental design. These results have important implications for undergraduate learning, suggesting areas for faculty members, graduate student research mentors, and CURE or URE programs to improve undergraduate research experiences.

Ultrafast laser pump-probe spectroscopy is an important and growing field ofphysical chemistry that allows the measurement of chemical dynamics on theirnatural timescales, but undergraduate laboratory courses lack examples of suchspectroscopy and the interpretation of the dynamics that occur. Here we developand implement an ultrafast pump probe spectroscopy experiment for theundergraduate physical chemistry laboratory course at the University ofCalifornia Berkeley. The goal of the experiment is to expose students toconcepts in solid-state chemistry and ultrafast spectroscopy via classiccoherent phonon dynamics principles developed by researchers over multipledecades. The experiment utilizes a modern high-repetition-rate 800 nmfemtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser, split pulses with a variable time delay, andsensitive detection of transient reflectivity signals using the lock-intechnique. The experiment involves minimal intervention from students and istherefore easy and safe to implement in the laboratory. Students first performan intensity autocorrelation measurement on the femtosecond laser pulses toobtain their temporal duration. Then, students measure the pump-probereflectivity of a single-crystal antimony sample to determine the period ofcoherent phonon oscillations initiated by an ultrafast pulse excitation, whichis analyzed by fitting to a sine wave. Students who completed the experimentin-person obtained good experimental results, and students who took the courseremotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic were provided with the data they wouldhave obtained during the experiment to analyze. Evaluation of student writtenand oral reports reveals that the learning goals were met, and that studentsgained an appreciation for the field of ultrafast laser-induced chemistry.

Historically, efforts to improve academic climate have been siloed-many efforts involve the collection of data to understand issues affecting diversity at an institutional level, while others prioritize recruitment and retention of historically marginalized groups. Few initiatives, however, effectively combine the two in order to create concrete action plans to eliminate structural barriers that hinder the retention of minorities in STEM. In this Editorial, we present the history and details of a collaborative effort to improve the academic climate of the Department of Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley. This initiative began in 2016 as a graduate student-led, grassroots movement to develop a method to assess the department's academic climate. Over the past several years-and with support from stakeholders at all levels-it has grown into a department-wide effort to systematically collect data, exchange ideas, and implement goal-oriented interventions to make our academic community more inclusive. With the recent development of a five-year strategic plan and funding increase to provide financial support for student-led programs, we have institutionalized a method to maintain the initiative's momentum. Here, we share our approaches, insights, and perspectives from community members who have shaped this movement. We also provide advice to help other academic communities determine a practical path toward affecting positive cultural change.

Ongoing efforts to improve diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) primarily manifest as attempts to recruit more women and individuals from historically marginalized groups. Yet, these efforts fail to repair the specific, systemic issues within academic communities that hinder diverse individuals from persisting and thriving in STEM. Here, we present the results of a quantitative, multiyear effort to make the academic climate of an R1 STEM department more inclusive. We use a student-led, department-specific, faculty-supported initiative to assess and improve the climate of the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, as a case study. Our results provide quantitative evidence that community discussions grounded in our own data, alongside cooperative community efforts to address the issues present in those data, are effective methods for driving positive change. Longitudinal assessment of our academic climate from 2018 to 2020 via annual department-wide surveys indicates that these interventions have succeeded in shifting the perception of our academic climate. This study confirms the positive outcomes of having a practical, sustainable, and data-driven framework for affecting change within a graduate community.

It is well-documented that the representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities diminishes at higher levels of academia, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Sense of belonging-the extent to which an individual believes they are accepted, valued, and included in a community-is often emphasized as an important predictor of retention throughout academia. While literature addressing undergraduate sense of belonging is abundant, there has been little investigation of sense of belonging in graduate communities. Because graduate training is required to generate new scientific leaders, it is important to understand and address sense of belonging at the graduate level-paying explicit attention to devising strategies that can be used to increase representation at higher levels of academia. Here, a visual narrative survey and item response modeling are used to quantify sense of belonging among graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty within the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Results suggest that graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty all experience impostor phenomenon. Respondents struggle most with maintaining positive self-perceptions of their productivity, capabilities as a scientist, and success-particularly in comparison to their peers. Communicating about science with peers, talking about teaching hurdles, and engaging in mentoring relationships also contribute significantly to sense of belonging. Faculty members have the highest sense of belonging, while senior graduate students and postdoctoral researchers are least likely to feel a sense of belonging. Additionally, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who identify as underrepresented, as well as those who submit manuscripts for publication less than their peers, are less likely to feel a sense of belonging. This is the first study to generate a quantitative, nuanced understanding of sense of belonging within the entire graduate academic community of an R1 STEM department. We envision that these methods can be implemented within any research-focused academic unit to better understand the challenges facing community members and identify factors to address in promoting positive culture change. Furthermore, these methods and results should provide a foundation for devising interventions that academic stakeholders can use to directly improve graduate education.

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

Participating in undergraduate research yields positive outcomes for undergraduate students, and universities are seeking ways to engage more students in undergraduate research earlier in their academic careers. Typically, undergraduate students perform research either as part of an apprenticeship where a student receives individual mentorship in a research lab setting from an experienced researcher in the field of interest or in a course-based undergraduate research experience where students work in a classroom or teaching laboratory to investigate open-ended research questions. In this work, we implement a model of undergraduate research that combines aspects of those two methods to provide benefits to undergraduate students and research groups. A cohort of 20 first-year undergraduate students at the University of California-Berkeley were recruited to work on a project investigating data previously collected by the Alivisatos research group. Over a semester, these students learned about nanomaterials and the research process, pursued curiosity-driven research in teams, and presented their results at a formal poster session. Students from this program showed quantifiable gains in their self-identification as researchers and scientists. This program was developed to be a model for other research groups, departments, and universities to combine the benefits of traditional apprenticeship research and course-based undergraduate research to provide a research experience for large numbers of undergraduate students early in their college education.