My name is Joselyn Hathaway, and I am a sophomore mathematics major at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and from Gates County, North Carolina.  I am a participant in the Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education Research (CERSER) program with Dr. Linda Hayden.  The CERSER program helps me learn extensive mathematics and science related to my major.

My interest in mathematics and science began the summer before sixth grade in the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) Middle School Program.  The program presented standard mathematics for middle school grades and carried into the academic school year.  Science was also connected to the mathematics by finding measurements and locations on maps.  I have also participated in the North Carolina-Mathematics and Science Education Network (NC-MSEN) Pre-college program on Saturdays with Mr. Milton Bond from sixth grade to twelfth grade.  During the program, there were four classes: English, mathematics, science, and an elective.  The materials that we studied were very similar to what was currently being taught in school.  This enabled me to get ahead in my mathematics classes and receive help with homework before going back to school.  Near the end of MSEN, there was an awards ceremony and competition titled MSEN Day.  The competition included students from Fayetteville State University, North Carolina State University, and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.  During the awards ceremony, I received awards for getting honor roll/principal’s list at my school and won second and third place in mathematics at MSEN Day.  Being in MSEN from middle school through high school has helped me sharpen my mathematics skills. 

During the summer of 2015, I participated in the Summer Transportation Institute (STI) with Dr. Ellis Lawrence.  This program was four weeks long and filled with events each day, which exposed me to various modes of transportation and how mathematics was applied to them.  One formula presented was used to find how much luggage could be put into a plane and also how many people can get into the plane while another was used to find the center of gravity (CG).  Other lessons included mathematical formulas that are used to find resistance and current flow in circuits and used to build a working circuit on a circuit board.  The most important lesson I learned during the STI Summer Program was trigonometric functions, which was recently taught in my Pre-calculus class. 

During the spring semester of 2016, I contributed to a team research project with CERSER at ECSU.  Our team did research on standardized tests and test taking strategies.  We also compared the HBCU’s to see the differences in test scores and the kinds of programs that were offered to help students approach standardized tests.  In April 2016, I attended the ADMI conference in Winston-Salem.  There were representatives and guest speakers from different companies such as Intel and Yahoo.  During these sessions, the presenters shared information about their company and explained internships that were offered.  I also attended the IEEE joint meeting with the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (GRSS) and Women in Engineering (WIE) at NC State University.  At this meeting, Melba Crawford spoke on the ongoing remote sensing project and its results.  I was also able to tour the campus and the Center of Geospatial Analysis.

In the summer of 2016, I participated in a summer internship at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.  During this internship, my research was based on how STEM outreach programs impacted students.  The data collected and evaluated was from the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) program from the past five years to observe student’s performance and how their performance increased during the program.  My research also consisted of collecting statistics on the positive effects of STEM programs on students learning.  Along with the research portion of the internship, I also engaged in outreach in the surrounding schools and communities. The outreach events included interacting and educating a variety of students about polar science and leading activities.

During the spring semester of 2017, I participated in the mathematics education team research project at ECSU.  Our research was titled GLOBE Training for Preservice and Inservice Teacher Education at Elizabeth City State University.  This research was based on learning the importance of GLOBE and what this program does for preservice students and inservice teachers.  GLOBE is based on earth science and consists of protocols in which our team utilized for the research project.  The three protocols that we focused on were clouds, air temperature, and surface temperature.  The team attended a webinar and workshop with Dr. Jessica Taylor from NASA in January.   The team followed up with leading a training session in March to share the protocols that we utilized and used the data sheets, completed by the participants, to represent out research data.  Also, I attended an IMPACTS program training at UNC Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  This program is a science-based outreach program that allows students to lead activities in the community and schools.  After going through the training, I created a prototype and presented the lesson to three groups of middle school students during the Education Research Week.

Staying involved in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs has put me a step ahead especially in my mathematic and science classes.  I continue to learn outside of my regular classes by being in CERSER and preparing for the future.  Being in the CERSER Program widens my view of STEM related fields and exposes me to more educational opportunities.  In the future, I plan to apply and attend mathematics and education internships.  My plan is to receive my bachelor’s degree and become a mathematics teacher while pursuing my graduate degree.  Participating in summer internships will help prepare me for the following school year and present more experience in mathematics, which will prepare me for a career in mathematics.