Award Abstract #0305057
UMEB: Diversity in Research in Environmental And Marine Science

NSF Org:	DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure
Initial Amendment Date:	July 2, 2003
Latest Amendment Date:	December 23, 2004
Award Number:	0305057
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Sally E. O'Connor DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date:	July 1, 2003
Expires:	June 30, 2008 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$155797
Investigator(s):	Deidre Gibson deidre.gibson@hamptonu.edu (Principal Investigator) Benjamin Cuker (Former Principal Investigator) Benjamin Cuker (Co-Principal Investigator) Deidre Gibson (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	Hampton University E. Queen and Tyler Street Hampton, VA 23668 757/727-5000
NSF Program(s):	UNGRAD MENTORING IN ENVIR BIOL
Field Application(s):
Program Reference Code(s):	BIOT, 9184
Program Element Code(s):	1135

ABSTRACT

This NSF award from the Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) program will support a unique partnership between Hampton University (HU) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) of the College of William and Mary. This partnership will take form in the DREAMS (Diversity in Research in Environmental And Marine Sciences) program. Hampton University is one of the top ranked minority serving institutions in the nation. It has a history of producing successful graduates in the sciences, including a growing number in environmental biology through its Department of Marine and Environmental Science. VIMS is a major research entity that has a strong reputation for educating graduate students in coastal and environmental biology. The goals of this program are: to enhance the performance of HU undergraduate students studying environmental science, to increase enrollment and retention in HU environmental science programs, to increase the diversity of students in the VIMS graduate program, and to increase the diversity in the environmental workforce in general.

DREAMS is a comprehensive program that stresses early involvement in research and strong mentoring as a way to enhance undergraduate performance and the likelihood for success in subsequent graduate training. This is of critical importance, since production of minority graduate students in the environmental sciences is well below that which would be predicted from the pool of students earning undergraduate degrees. The DREAMS program will leverage the UMEB commitment by taking advantage of three other ongoing efforts at Hampton (two sponsored by NOAA, and one by NSF), as well as a new NSF sponsored joint effort between Hampton, VIMS, and Old Dominion University to produce minority PhD's in the ocean sciences.

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