The proposed program would have the following elements:
1. Students would be recruited into the program during their sophomore year by offering a scholarship of $3000 for each year they are in the program. We seek funds to support six students per year. During the first year of the program all students would of course be new to the project. However, students may apply for a second or even third year of funding. Returning students would be given priority for scholarships and intern support, as they can make a greater contribution in their second internship and are more likely to pursue careers in this area. To continue in the program, a student must submit a written proposal in which she/he identifies a need of the client (NOAA) and a service that the student can provide to address that need. Proposals would be reviewed by ECSU faculty and the NOAA researchers with whom the student would like to work. No proposal will be accepted without the endorsement of the researcher. Returning students must maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average to stay in the program.

2. ECSU would hire a program manager to implement the program. This person would need to be an expert in remote sensing techniques. She/He who would work with faculty mentors to train the students and to ensure that they are prepared for their summer internship. This would be a part-time position having the following responsibilities:
a. Serve as liaison between ECSU and potential intern supervisors,
b. Organize the guest lecturers and workshop presenters (e.g., with the small business center),
c. Develop with the intern supervisors a list of skills that the students would attain,
d. Ensure that students learn those skills,
e. Supervise any research projects, if any, taking place at ECSU during the school year that is part of this project,
f. Organize the field trip to Beaufort,
g. Arrange the logistics of internships, and
h. Resolve intern problems as they arise.

3. Potential intern supervisors would be invited to campus to give a guest lecture during the fall term. This would allow students to talk to researchers in the field and to visualize the work they could be doing as interns. These lectures would be open to the public. Students in other research programs at ECSU would be required to attend. We expect each lecture to reach an audience of about 40 students.

4. At the start of the fall term, internship supervisors would be asked to identify the research projects that the students would work on during the summer. Summer supervisors would confer with ECSU faculty to develop a research or training project to prepare the student for the summer research experience. The mentors and program manager would ensure that the students learn the requisite skills. This training would be modeled after the successful program now ongoing at ECSU under the direction of Dr. Linda Hayden, in which students meet with mentors for approximately five hours per week to work on research projects that are supplemental to their course work. Students in the proposed program would meet with the program manager each week for several hours for research training on remote sensing and marine mammal investigations. This work would be required under the conditions of their scholarships and would be in addition to their normal course load. They will use the facility at the ECSU Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research. Lectures and hands-on experience would include training in manipulating and analyzing data from NOAA’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers (AVHRR) and NASA’s Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) and other topics specifically requested by summer intern supervisors.

5. Prospective summer interns and other students would participate in two half-day seminars on creative thinking and entrepreneurship, led by The North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center at ECSU. We would open the seminars to any student, and will require the participation of other students in similar research programs at ECSU. Attendance at these seminars may reach 40 students.

6. Students would shadow potential supervisors at the NOAA lab in Beaufort, NC, for two days. This would allow students to visualize the work they would be doing and to get acquainted with potential supervisors.

7. The summer internship would last eight weeks. Four internships would be paid by this grant. Two other students would be funded through other sources. ECSU has an excellent track record of placing science and math students in paid summer internships, and we believe we will be able to find suitable internships for which the sponsoring institution will pay the student stipend. Up to four students would spend the internship in Beaufort, NC, working at the NOAA’s Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, subject to approval by the Center. Potential projects include: studying the distribution and habitat use of marine mammals and sea turtles, analyzing changes in submerged aquatic vegetation and other essential fish habitat, monitoring changes in primary productivity in response to unusual weather events and predicting toxic algal blooms. The decision to take on an intern will be made based on the qualifications of individual students and the needs of the laboratories. The endorsement of the Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research for this project does not obligate them to take students. If we cannot place all four students at the NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, we will place them at other sites. Other possible intern sites include the National Climatic Data Center in Ashville, NC, and the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, MA.

8. All students would draft reports of their summer research experience in the form of a scientific journal article. Students would give a 15-minute talk about their research before an audience of peers and invited scientists from the area.

9. Students who wish to continue to work with their supervisor after their summer internship may apply for another year in the program. Applications for another year would be in the form of a grant proposal, which must identify a need of the supervisor and propose a service that the student can provide to address that need. Applications would be reviewed by a committee of ECSU faculty and would be subject to approval by the proposed supervisor. The research could be conducted either during the school year or during a second summer internship. Students continuing in the program would have to maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better.

10. Students will be encouraged to present the results of their research, with their supervisors, at scientific meetings.