Track 1 Proposal to OEDG Program: A Career Path for African-American Students for HBCUs to National Laboratories

This new initiative is developing a pilot program to recruit undergraduate physical science and engineering students from underrepresented groups into the graduate program in the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University, educate them via formal courses and research projects to the M. S. degree in geosciences, and position them for employment as science associates in national user facilities of the U. S. Department of Energy [DOE], including the National Synchrotron Light Source [NSLS] at the Brookhaven National Laboratory [BNL]. This new program builds on the evolving relationship between professors from Historical Black Colleges and Universities [HBCUs] and the NSLS at BNL. An outcome of this relationship has been the creation of an Interdisciplinary Consortium for Research and Educational Access in Science and Engineering [INCREASE], an organization to promote research in HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions [MSIs], involving utilization of national user facilities such as the NSLS at BNL. This award, when combined with matching funds from NSLS, is supporting 3 students per year in this program. This program is addressing well-recognized low levels of participation by African-American students in the geosciences and is fostering development and training of the diverse scientific and technical workshop required for 21st century geoscience careers. In addition to INCREASE and the NSLS, partners in this new initiative include: the Center for Inclusive Education at Stony Brook University and the Office of Educational Programs at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.