The Aquarium’s African American Scholar Program provides funds to support African American students who demonstrate a commitment to studies related to careers in the aquarium field, including ocean education, animal husbandry, water quality, building maintenance or facilities, microbiology, and business management. Through this program, the Aquarium hopes to bring meaningful opportunities in the marine sciences to African American students and to bring diverse minds to solving the issues facing our planet and its inhabitants. In February 2021, the first cohort of African American Scholars were announced.

On November 20, 2021 the Aquarium will host a symposium at the Aquarium for the 2021 scholars to strengthen their connection to the Aquarium. As part of this event, scholars will present a 5 minute “lightning talk” to a live audience of Aquarium staff, Board members, program supporters, and a group of high school students from Long Beach Unified School District. Guests can watch from home here or in the video embedded below. The presenters are:

• Leslie Nguyen
• Katherine Hannibal
• Frederick Nelson
• Jahlen Pinelo
• Elishebah Tate-Pulliam
• Newton Hood
• Candice Mitchell

Applications are now available for the second year of the program. Eligible students are encouraged to apply before the December 31, 2021, deadline.

Apply for the African American Scholar Program here.

This program is made possible by donor support. Thanks to an anonymous matching gift of $10,000, your gift goes even further towards supporting the next group of deserving scholars! To make a donation visit: https://pacific.to/africanamericanscholarfund

“The Aquarium of the Pacific is committed to creating pathways for African American students to pursue careers in our field, and it has been very gratifying for us to collaborate with the first group of scholars from this program as they engage in the Aquarium’s work. This has included developing new initiatives and serving as a platform for the scholars to connect with other scientists and the next generation of students,” said Anthony Brown, chief financial officer at the Aquarium of the Pacific. “As the African American Scholar program enters its second year, I hope to see an even larger pool of candidates and encourage other zoos and aquariums to undertake similar efforts to diversify our industry.”