Data Science for Social Good (DS4G) will provide meaningful research opportunities to students from UCR and other accredited Minority Serving Institutions in Inland Southern California. Students will work in teams under the guidance of UCR faculty and advisors from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the County of Riverside to learn and apply data science techniques to two critically important issues affecting Southern California and the United States more broadly — homelessness and wildfires.

Intellectual Merit: Students will be recruited from high schools, community colleges, and undergraduate institutions in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, a region that is more populous than half of U.S. states. They will participate in one of two Driving Computational Projects (DCPs) (stand-alone, ongoing research) or one of at least six Sponsored Collaborative Projects (SCPs) based on active extramurally funded research at UCR. The DCPs focus on issues of national security and social good — homelessness and wildfires — and will employ datasets from the County of Riverside and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, respectively. Unique features of this REU Site include a richly diverse population of prospective student recruits (like UCR, all participating institutions in this Site are accredited Minority Serving Institutions), inclusion of graduating high school students, a focus on significant public issues, and a relationship that extends for two years beyond the 10-week Site experience.

Broader Impacts: The project builds on the University of California system’s strategic initiative to recruit more transfer students from community colleges, and will introduce trainees to a new Data Science degree program at UCR. It also will attract a diverse cohort of students from 4-year undergraduate institutions to advanced degree programs. The population from which the Site will recruit is highly diverse and economically disadvantaged relative to the rest of California. The REU Site will foster a Community of Practice among students who will work actively to increase STEM pathway awareness via year-long service and outreach activities, based on experience with real-world issues and data.