Education

WASHINGTON, March 18 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- From March 26 to 29, 2009, the Self Reliance Foundation will host the first-ever national conference to address Latinos in science education. Titled Expanding Informal Science for Latinos, the conference will take place at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town.

According to the National Science Board's Science and Engineering Indicators report, less than 2% of the scientific "stem workforce" is Hispanic. However, a full twenty percent of the country's youth population will be Hispanic by 2020. The Expanding Informal Science for Latinos conference will address this issue by designing solutions to increase Latino enrollment in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers.

"This problem needs to be addressed now more than ever," says Roberto Salazar, President of the Self Reliance Foundation. "Many of our domestic growth sectors -- such as the emerging green economy, or information technology -- require scientific preparation. If we don't do something now, millions of Hispanic children will be unable to meaningfully participate in our country's economic future."

This is nowhere more apparent than in the state of New Mexico, which proportionally has the largest population of Latinos per capita in the U.S.

The Self Reliance Foundation aims to establish the Expanding Informal Science for Latinos conference as one of the premier conferences in the field. The conference will bring over 100 representatives from informal science institutions, science research organizations, Hispanic organizations, and the media to jointly develop new strategies to enrich the informal science learning environment for Latinos.

"We know from research that informal science education -- science outside the classroom -- provides powerful formative experiences that have inspired many to become scientists," says Self Reliance Foundation Science Advisor Bob Russell, Ph.D. "Our task at this meeting is to harness science resources more effectively, and work together to create new opportunities for Latinos to get involved in science."

Speakers include Fred Mondragon, New Mexico's Cabinet Secretary of Economic Development; Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez; Marisol Gamboa, Senior Software Engineer for Harris IT Consulting, Inc; Dr. Ines Cifuentes, a volcanologist and science educator, and other Latino leaders.

Organizations attending include the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, the National Children's Museum, the Institute for Learning Innovation, the Space Science Institute, the Exploratory Science Museum - UNICAMP, the Boys and Girls Club, the Society for the Advancement of Native Americans and Chicanos in Science, the ASPIRA, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and others.

The Expanding Informal Science for Latinos conference builds upon the Self Reliance Foundation's long track record in the field of Latino educational outreach. Founded in New Mexico in 1979, the mission of the Self Reliance Foundation (SRF) is to link marginalized communities to educational and informational resources to improve their quality of life. In January 2009, SRF celebrated its 30th anniversary of informing, connecting and empowering marginalized communities nationwide.

The Expanding Informal Science for Latinos conference is made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation. For more information about the conference, please visit http://www.srfdc.org, or call (202) 496-6044.

SOURCE Self Reliance Foundation