UC Santa Barbara presented Jasmine McBeath Nation of the Gevirtz School with the 2019 Michael D. Young Engaged Scholar Award. The award recognizes the legacy of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Emeritus Michael D. Young, for his commitment to empowering students toward principled leadership. Each year’s award-winning student has skillfully integrated scholarly knowledge and values into action.
Nation received the award from Dr. Katya Armistead, Assistant Vice Chancellor/Dean of Student Life, at the 2019 University Awards Ceremony on June 14 at Corwin Pavilion. Nation took part in Graduate Division commencement just prior to the ceremony, having received her Ph.D. from the Department of Education.
The award largely was in response to the work that Nation has accomplished at the St. George Family Youth Center in Isla Vista. There she led a makerspace program integrating science, technology, and art into social action projects. She was also the coordinator of the Curie-osity Project where 4-6th grade girls learned about science through researching, interviewing, and writing a book about female scientists at UCSB. She remains interested in afterschool programs that broaden the definition of science, and is passionate about getting more girls to participate in and contribute to STEM fields. She has accepted a post-doctoral position at UC Irvine.
Nation completed her doctorate with an emphasis in Learning, Culture, and Technology, studying with Dr. Richard Durán as her advisor. She majored in Spanish and Ecology as an undergrad at the University of Arizona. After college, she spent a year teaching English to indigenous leaders in Manaus, Brazil on a Fulbright Scholarship. Since then, she enjoyed working for nonprofit organizations in California and New Mexico as a teacher, community organizer, and case manager.