Career Development Activities for Undergraduate, Graduate,
and Recently Graduated Students in Coastal Ocean Science, Management,
and Policy (CAREER)
Issue
In the U.S. there is a growing support
to boost earth science education. Recent policy recommendations from
the U.S. National Research Council and the U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy stress the importance of educating students on the basics of
Earth science. This renewed emphasis on increasing access to and understanding
Earth science is complemented by NOAA’s dedication to add significantly
to the number of students that choose education and careers supportive
of NOAA’s mission, with particular focus on underrepresented
groups. There is also the NOAA concern about building future generations
of scientists. While science is becoming increasingly complex, nearly
60 percent of NOAA’s scientific workforce is within 10 years
of retirement eligibility. Where will NOAA’s future scientist’s
come from?
To address these issues, the Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research
(CSCOR) proudly supports a educational and career development program
(CAREER) designed to facilitate and/or enhance the development
of qualified professionals in the fields of coastal ocean science,
management and policy.
Approach
The CSCOR CAREER Program is designed
to facilitate and/or enhance the development of qualified professionals
in the fields of coastal ocean science, management, and policy. CSCOR
works in partnership with the NOAA Office
of Education and NOAA Education
Council in regards to educational and career building activities in
earth science. These efforts help support NOAA goals
and objectives to increase environmental literacy outreach and education,
a cross-cutting priority with NOAA.
CSCOR strongly encourages projects involving Minority Serving Institutions
(MSIs), institutions collaborating with MSIs, or that serve minority
students
Examples of such activities include, but are not limited to establishing
an invited speaker series; mini-courses, symposia, workshops, visiting
or resident scholars or special sessions at national meetings (e.g.,
sessions on career options in research, management agencies, consulting,
environmental education, non-governmental organizations, and so forth.);
funding to support student attendance, including minority and under-represented
students, at appropriate national meetings or workshops; establishing
networking or instructional web sites; and establishing mentoring programs
and/or internships with research institutes, management offices, non-governmental
agencies.
Management and Policy Implications
NOAA’s
mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment
and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet the Nation’s
economic, social, and environmental needs. CSCOR supports NOAA’s
science mission through high quality research programs designed to
address critical management issues in the Nation's estuaries, coastal
waters, and the Great Lakes. CSCOR supports NOAA’s education
and outreach activities by recognizing the need to foster the development
of qualified professionals in the fields of coastal ocean science,
management, and policy. It is the intent of the Career Program to augment
NOAA’s existing programs in research and education and to increase
the participation of minorities and under-represented groups. These
efforts help support NOAA goals and objectives to increase environmental
literacy outreach and education, a cross-cutting priority with NOAA.
Accomplishments
The Career program is currently
funding three projects:
- Integrated Training in Coastal Science and
Management – This
project at the Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, Mass.)
funds 3 students in a 4 month integrated training in coastal science
and management program. The goal of the program is to provide a broad-based
experience that will encourage interdisciplinary thinking and emphasize
the social and political aspects of coastal management. Unlike
most training opportunities that are strictly science-based, this
program incorporates interdisciplinary research and hands-on experience
with management agencies to emphasize the ways in which scientists
can go beyond research to influence local and national environmental
policy. Interns work with scientists from the Marine Biological Laboratory
to study the impacts of additional nutrients on salt marshes in
the ongoing Trophic cascades and Interacting control processes
in a Detritus-based aquatic Ecosystem (TIDE) project, while also
assisting the local Conservation Commission to evaluate requests
for development permits that have the potential to impact nutrient
loading. Similarly, interns evaluate the effects of nutrient loading
on fish habitat at a regional National Wildlife Refuge and develop
related outreach and education materials.
- Harmful Algae Research Program: A Coastal
Development Initiative for Undergraduates – This project
at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
funds 2 students per semester to focus on harmful algal blooms
which have become an increasing threat to the coastal marine environment.
A harmful algae research program, developed and implemented at
WHOI, includes a mentor-based research internship for undergraduate
students coupled with a career symposium to showcase the work of
undergraduate interns and highlight career opportunities in the
coastal ocean sciences. Selected students conduct a research project
that is focused on ongoing harmful algae bloom research in the
coastal ocean. They are required to give presentation of their
experiences and also write a research paper on their work and present
their work at a career symposium. Students are recruited through
an existing internship collaboration with Roger Williams University
(Bristol, RI). There is a special commitment to increasing research
opportunities for under represented students including women and
ethnic minorities.
- Dissertations Initiative for
the Advancement of Limnology and Oceanography (DIALOG) – DIALOG
is an interdisciplinary, international program for recent Ph.D.
recipients across the aquatic sciences supported by the NOAA Center
for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR), NOAA Sea
Grant and four other Federal agencies. DIALOG includes:
- a Dissertation Registry were
abstracts are posted online in a searchable format to provide a
concise overview of the field and highlight individual accomplishments;
- Electronic
Communication through the weekly DIALOG News provides a
clearinghouse for job announcements and other information of interest
to recent PhD's; and
- a Symposium enabling graduates to
present their research in an interdisciplinary forum, learn about
agency programs, discuss emerging research, education and societal
issues, and forge lasting collegial bonds with their peers. Starting
in 2004, symposia are held on an annual cycle instead of the previous
biennial schedule. DIALOG is sponsored by the American Society
of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and co-sponsored by: American
Geophysical Union (AGU), American Fisheries Society (AFS), Ecological
Society of America (ESA), Estuarine Research Federation (ERF),
International Society of Limnology (SIL), North American Benthological
Society (NABS), North American Lake Management Society (NALMS),
Phycological Society of America (PSA), The Oceanography Society
(TOS), Society of Canadian Limnologists (SCL) and Western Society
of Naturalists (WSN). DIALOG is supported through grants from NOAA
CSCOR, NOAA Sea
Grant, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
U.S. National Science Foundation U.S. Office of Naval Research
and U.S. Department of Energy. Program information, abstract submission
form, Dissertation Registry and symposium application instructions
are available at http://aslo.org/phd.html .
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