Students from low-income or minority backgrounds are underrepresented in biology programs across the country, but Cornell's Biology Scholars Program (BSP) -- which just graduated its first class of students -- is helping to buck that trend.

The program, which is designed to support students majoring in biological sciences who come from economic, gender, geographic, ethnic or cultural groups historically underrepresented in the biological sciences, offers study groups for math, chemistry, biology and physics courses over the first three years; exposure to careers in research, medicine and biological sciences; tours of research labs; opportunities to network with faculty members, alumni and others; academic advising; and a community where students may feel included from the start.

"Students come to Cornell with a wide range of preparedness," said Jeff McCaffrey, BSP coordinator and academic adviser in the Office of Undergraduate Biology. "They may have graduated high school at the top of their class, but their high school may not have had the resources" to prepare them for what they face at Cornell, he added.

"The Biology Scholars Program is about helping these students keep their eye on the prize in terms of going on to graduate or medical school," said Bonnie Comella, director of advising and BSP. "We give them a grounding in their first couple of years."

The program also seeks to diversify the sciences by retaining talented individuals with varied backgrounds and experiences who are uniquely positioned to analyze and solve health issues that face minority communities, Comella said. "In science we need to promote divergent thinking, which will in turn create better decision making based on multiple viewpoints," she added.

This past academic year, BSP has increased its enrollment from 20 students when it began four years ago to 80 last year, as the program admitted a new freshman class each year. All incoming biology majors -- 15 percent of whom are underrepresented minorities -- receive information about BSP once they are accepted to Cornell, and must apply prior to starting classes. The program's advisers track students' grades early on to make sure no one falls behind. If a student appears to be struggling, McCaffrey makes an appointment with them to "come up with concrete plans for getting them caught up," he said.

Among the benefits, freshman, sophomore and junior BSP students may attend weekly study groups in introductory science courses, which are led by upper-level members trained to run the groups.

"I have to say the study groups really helped me," said Victoria Morgan '13, an African-American from Miami, who added that her high school did not prepare her well for Cornell biology classes. She also said that three lab tours exposed her to professors and their work, and gave her the tools to approach Drew Harvell, ecology and evolutionary biology professor, for a lab job studying coral diseases.

Ida Bernstein '12, a Jewish and Mexican sophomore from Spring, Texas, found that BSP immediately connected her to "wonderful support groups," she said. "You have a network of people who come from backgrounds you can relate to and you are all interested in biology." Like Morgan, the lab tours helped Bernstein land her job in the lab of Chris Schaffer, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering.