Established by UB's Office of Public Service and Urban Affairs to expand participation in the sciences by women and minorities, IRIS is supported by a $50,000 gift from the Coca-Cola Foundation.

The Office of Public Service and Urban Affairs and UB's Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics are coordinating selection of the fellowship recipients, which is based on academic performance and departmental recommendations.

"We have found that women and minorities do not traditionally enter the science fields in large numbers, especially at the postsecondary level," said Charles Carr, UB fellowship coordinator. "However, the IRIS Program is a step in the direction of diversifying the field and getting many talented women and minorities interested in science."

Burhans, a computer-science doctoral student, agrees that the number of women and minorities in science significantly falls off at the doctoral level.

"Throughout my education, it has been clear that women and minorities are very underrepresented in science," said Burhans, who also received a master's degree in computer science from UB and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan. "There are ways to make education in the sciences more accessible, such as providing opportunities like the IRIS fellowship."

Burhans' strong interest in improving computer understanding of natural language is incorporated into her current research on artificial intelligence. She explained that discovering new ways to enhance a machine's understanding, adaptability and responsiveness will be highly useful in the field of robotics.

Both fellowship recipients will speak at local elementary and secondary schools as part of an outreach program to pique interest in sciences among pre-college students. Patterson, who is pursuing doctoral studies in chemistry, believes that such efforts can have a positive impact.

"I became fond of the sciences at an early age, but I researched on my own to find minorities in the sciences who could serve as my role models," said Patterson, who received his bachelor's degree in chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "There are prominent minorities in science, but there is not a rich history of young minorities entering science or technological fields."

Patterson's research, funded by the Office of Naval Research, involves the analysis of coatings on steel in marine environments. He says, "It's a tremendous opportunity to have received the IRIS fellowship, especially since it was uncertain where I was going to receive funding assistance for my final year at UB." After completing his studies, he plans to work in private industry and eventually enter teaching. Burhans also is planning to teach at the university level.