This award will support the design and implementation of an integrated research and education program in solar, geospace and atmospheric physics at the CUNY/Queensborough Community College (QCC), a Hispanic and minority serving institution. The year-long research experience has two components: 1) during the academic year, students will be enrolled in course-based research where they will conduct research on real-world problems; and 2) during the summer, students will be placed in research internships at partner institutions. Specific objectives of this project include: 1) to provide QCC students with research opportunities in solar and atmospheric physics as early as their first year; 2) to develop educational materials in solar and atmospheric physics; 3) to increase the number of students, especially underrepresented minorities, that transfer to 4-year STEM programs; and 4) to increase the number of students that obtain Bachelor's degrees in STEM, especially in geosciences related fields. The educational materials will be developed using data from NASA and NOAA, and a modular, interdisciplinary concept approach that will integrate educational materials into the research experience. The project will also use evidence-based best practices (i.e., research experience, mentoring, outreach, recruitment, enrichment and partnership with 4-year colleges and institutions) that have proven successful at increasing the retention, transfer and graduation rates of community college students at Hispanic Serving Institutions. This project will offer benefits to society by providing future researchers with an understanding of space weather impacts on Earth's environment. Through a strong collaboration with CUNY/City College of New York NOAA CREST, University of Colorado's Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Space Weather Research Center, the project will train and retain underrepresented community college students in geosciences related STEM fields. This project will provide a service to the discipline, which is taught at relatively few colleges, by increasing both its visibility and diversity.
