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NOAA
2003-R901 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: David Miller 3 /31/03 |
NOAA
News Releases 2003 NOAA Home Page NOAA Public Affairs |
Commerce Department Deputy Secretary Sam Bodman and officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will participate in the 4th Expanding Opportunities in Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences: Inclusion, Innovation and Investment conference held March 30 - April 1, 2003, on the campus of Florida A&M University (FAMU). As part of an agency wide initiative to expand partnerships with minority serving institutions, NOAA has awarded a $7.5 million grant over a three year period to FAMU to establish the NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center. The final installment of the grant award is due this year. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center, located on the campus of FAMU, was established to address ecological and coastal management issues at specific National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. "NOAA’s Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions encourages students to pursue exciting careers in environmental science," said Bodman. “The NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center open the door of opportunity, giving students valuable, hands-on experience while advancing NOAA’s scientific missionsss to minority students in the state of Florida,” said Florida Education Commissioner Jim Horne. “Thanks to this program over 50 undergraduate and 36 graduate students are actively learning and gaining valuable experience in the environmental sciences.” The Expanding Opportunities conference is sponsored by NOAA and will address building institutional capacity; sustaining partnerships between the public and private sectors; and exchanging scientific information among NOAA and the minority-serving institution (MSI) community. Last year NOAA awarded $13.1 million in grant awards as part of its Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI). These awards provide funds for programs aimed at atmospheric, environmental and oceanic sciences and remote sensing research and educational programs to minority serving institutions. The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. On the Web: Department
of Commerce: http://www.commerce.gov NOAA’s EPP/MSI program: http://epp.noaa.gov Conference details: http://epp.noaa.gov/famu Florida
A&M Univeristy: http://www.famu.edu |
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