This program is designed to improve the educational capabilities of ECSU and to attract students into the field of remote sensing. The use of satellite imagery is a growing field and is used in an array of applications by scientists in all NOAA line offices. Techniques are rapidly evolving and have broad application to NOAA’s mission. It would be beneficial to start now to encourage future scientists, technicians or entrepreneurs to develop skills in this field.

The proposed program would take advantage of equipment and expertise at ECSU’s recently established Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research (CERSER). The Center is a collaborative effort with contributions by: a) The Office of Naval Research (ONR), b) Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), c) The MU-SPIN Office of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), d) NOAA headquarters, e) Pixoneer Corporation, and f) SeaSpace, Inc.

NOAA scientists at all levels of the agency are strong supporters of efforts to encourage the education of minority students. Many scientists would like to be in a position to take students as summer interns, but few can make the commitment to do so. A major problem is that training and guiding an intern can be a drain on a scientist’s time rather than enhancing his/her productivity. Also, many scientists are understandably reluctant to accept an unknown student with unknown skills into a well-honed research team

We seek to improve on the usual internship process, so that the students would be better prepared to contribute to the research effort. We do this in two ways. First we begin the relationship between student and scientist early. Potential supervisors would be invited to give a guest lecture on campus, and students would spend two days shadowing a researcher at NOAA’s laboratory in Beaufort, NC. This early contact between potential supervisors and interns can remove some of the biggest barriers to choosing to pursue an internship. Not only would the student be able to visualize the work she/he would do, but she/he would have a sense of the personality of the supervisor as well. This should reduce the anxiety of committing to a summer away from home. Likewise, potential supervisors would be able to meet and assess interns before making a commitment to take one on for the summer.

Second, we would teach the skills the students would need for their specific internship project. Persons wanting interns would be asked to identify by the fall term the specific skills the students would need during the summer. Students would develop these skills while working in research teams on campus with the mentors and the program manager.
The proposed program would expand on this collaboration by strengthening ECSU’s ability to train students in the use of remote sensing techniques to characterize the behavior of protected species. Funds would be used to give students formal training during the school year and practical experience through summer internships. We would provide a stipend and housing expenses so students can gain practical research experience during the summer.

An entrepreneur is a person who sees a need and provides a service to address that need. In its broadest context, entrepreneurs do not need to engage in commercial activities—a scientist applying for a grant has identified a scientific need and seeks to provide a service. She/He has many characteristics of an entrepreneur in terms of taking initiative, calculating risk and organizing people and activities to add value to society. To help students develop an entrepreneurial spirit, we would require potential interns to attend two half-day seminars in critical thinking and entrepreneurship organized by the Small Business and Technology Development Center on ECSU’s campus. We would encourage them to view the laboratory in which they intern as a client. We would specifically encourage entrepreneurship by providing continued scholarship help and summer stipends to students who wish to continue with their research projects, provided that they submit a grant proposal and maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. The proposal would have to articulate the need of the laboratory and the service the student would provide. A letter of support from the NOAA agency would be required as a part of the student’s proposal.

We would provide training in entrepreneurship and creative thinking. By allowing students to write proposals for a second year of research with a supervisor, the project would encourage students to take initiative in their schooling and would provide opportunities for students who really want to continue in this field.

Providing an opportunity for students to continue to work in this field after their first year internship has several important advantages: 1) Second year students will be even more useful to the scientists they work with. 2) The proposal format requires students to take initiative and rewards those who do so. 3) The program would encourage student who are most interested in remote sensing techniques to stay in the field.

We propose to recruit students into this program by offering a scholarship of $3000 for each year of participation. Accepting the scholarship will commit the students to work during the school year to develop their skills in using remote sensing techniques, to attend required lectures and training and to spend 8 weeks of their summer in their paid internship. The scholarship is a substantial fraction of the costs of attending ECSU and is expected to generate interest among the best student in math and science.

In this program, we deliberately aim to provide intense training and counseling to a small number of students. We believe that this is a more effective approach to persuading students to make a career in the field of remote sensing than a training program that reaches more students but provides less contact. Our observation is that the personal relationships with role models have great impact on affecting career choices. Also, the more time a student invests in learning a subject, the more likely the student is to continue to use the skills acquired.