PINE BLUFF, Ark. – The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) has been awarded $3.5M from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to further support the Arkansas Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ARK-LSAMP) program at UAPB. According to Dr. Mary Benjamin, vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, the award is a testament to the collaborative work of eight Arkansas colleges and universities to help increase the diversity and workforce preparedness of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates. With a shared vision and a well-defined set of interventions including a Pre-First Year Academy, internships, study groups, lecture series and select cohort grouping in Year I, and stipends, this Alliance currently enrolls 150 and has graduated 35. Among them is UAPB alumna Ashley Rich who is in her second year of a Ph.D. program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas State University alumnus Tony James who is…