CCNY Receives $500k NOAA Grant To Increase Underrepresented Minority Participation In Sciences
The City College of New York (CCNY) has received a $499,314 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to introduce undergraduate students to applied research applications. The grant, one of five awarded by the federal agency for an “Environmental Demonstration Project,” is part of an initiative to develop and enhance educational opportunities at minority-serving institutions.
CCNY will partner with the NOAA Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology Center (NOAA-CREST), which is based at the college, to introduce students to applied research applications and the mechanics of constructing business model ideas in oceans, satellites, fisheries or research.
NOAA-CREST was established in 2001 to, among other things, conduct research consistent with the agency’s missions and to create a framework to recruit and train students from underrepresented minorities for professional opportunities with NOAA and related industries. Dr. Reza Khanbilvardi, NOAA Chair Professor of Civil Engineering, serves as its Director.
“As the home of NOAA-CREST and an institution with a long tradition of providing quality education and opportunity to the underprivileged and underrepresented, City College will benefit enormously from this support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” said Dr. Khanbilvardi.
“These grants will help students pursue careers, advanced degrees, or environmental entrepreneurship opportunities in the sciences directly related to NOAA’s mission,” said Jacqueline Rousseau, director of NOAA’s Educational Partnership Program (EPP).
The other institutions that received grants were Clark Atlanta University, Savannah State University, the Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Wash., and Oxnard College in Oxnard, Calif.
The EPP program, in its fourth year, provides funding to cooperative science centers and undergraduate scholarship and graduate sciences programs to support educational and research opportunities. A new “high school pipeline” project was added this year.
“This educational initiative is a special partnership between NOAA, several academic institutions and the public-private sector aimed at preparing the next generation of students to pursue careers, advanced academic studies, and new opportunities in the NOAA sciences,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D, Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator.#
