The Females in Natural Sciences (F.I.N.S.) initiative is designed, developed, and implemented by girls for girls. Its overarching goal is to increase the number of women in STEM fields by providing middle and high school girls with an exciting hands-on experience in marine science as shark research volunteers under the mentorship of female University of Miami students. During the day-long shark tagging expedition, not only are participants able to experience research in action, they also have the opportunity to engage with an all-female research team at various stages of scientific careers.  The F.I.N.S. experience is interactive, empowering, and rewarding. Working under the supervision of female University of Miami students and faculty, the participants see powerful role models of women in science.

Previous studies have revealed that girls presented with primarily male examples of scientists and engineers are less likely to think they could be successful in STEM careers, which is why the F.I.N.S. initiative is run by female graduate students and staff. This initiative is intended to ultimately inspire more women in STEM fields by providing girls with exciting and informal science experiences free of grades or evaluation, where they can seek inspiration and mentorship from relatable women at many stages of their scientific careers.

Some of the major objectives of this work include:

The F.I.N.S. initiative is an extension of the SRC’s successful community outreach program, which provides more than 1,000 people from the public, mostly school children, with opportunities to participate in authentic scientific research. We are thankful to former SRC member and Fulbright scholar, Julia Whidden who helped establish the F.I.N.S. initiative and graduate student Gaitlyn Malone who has grown F.I.N.S. initiative by leaps and bounds. Of course, F.I.N.S. would not be possible without all the strong woman who have served as F.I.N.S. mentors and role models.